All the thermography at the APP’s range

Global Solar Fund was among the first operators in Italy to apply the technology of the drones in the photovoltaic field for the thermography of the panels in order to detect any anomalies and failures. Although this type of instrumentation allows us to perform a good monitoring on 138 MW, we have found gaps. While the drone is able to perform a wide range analysis and in a short time, on the other hand, its “wide angle” does not allow you to have reports with the level of detail required to report the fault modules. In practical terms this translates into further manual checks on the spot by our O&M operators and in a consequent increase in the intervention times. The solution we have identified consists in integrating the drone technology with a geolocation App that, like a satellite navigator, helps the operator to accurately identify the positions of the defects together with their typology. According to the information contained in the satellite image displayed on the tablet, the technician can decide the sequence of the panels on which to intervene and optimize all the maintenance operations.