residential solar array inspections
prerequisites:
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time of inspection: solar noon (when the sun is at the highest point)
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weather conditions: few if any clouds during the morning of the flight
how it works:
irradiance is the amount of sunlight that travels from the sun to the earth. solar panels collect that irradiance and turn it into electricity. the higher the irradiance, the more energy that is being transformed. inspections occur at solar noon, when the sun's irradiance is at its peak, which ensures that the cells are working at their highest capacity. thermal cameras measure the amount of energy (in the form of heat) produced by each cell. temperature differences between one cell and the next is the visual representation of cells that are performing optimally, cells that are not working at capacity, and cells that are not producing.
benefits:
there are multiple issues that can effect a solar panel's performance: delamination, faulty modules, and string outages, among others. none of these issues can be seen with the naked eye, yet any of them could cause an array to under perform or shut down entirely. regular inspection of residential solar arrays ensures that any problems are caught early on, before they can effect the whole system.
results:
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hand-stitched orthomosaics (rgb (color) and thermal of the solar array (a detailed, distortion-free image that's created by stitching together multiple aerial photos.) typically, orthomosaics are created by a drone on a pre-planned, automated flight to capture all of the images necessary to create one big picture. residential solar arrays are not large enough to allow for an automated inspection, so both the flight and the stitching of the orthomosaic images have to be done by hand.
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a link (good for 30 days) to all of the content from the flight. the orthomosaic is the final product that will be created and used to determine where the problem lies, but having access to all of the flight imagery can be useful for addressing any issues.
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3 - 5 days to create the orthomosaics and prepare all raw content for delivery to the client.