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16 unmanned systems inside April/May 2016 AIR INSPECTION Wind turbines aren't the only renew- able energy sources that need inspec- tion. Solar panels must be maintained as well, and some companies are starting to turn to UAS manufacturers to get it done. AM-UAS Ltd., has performed solar panel inspections for about two years and works with some of the major players in Europe, operations manager Zander Cornish-Moore said. The big- gest beneft? Speed. Instead of taking days, drones can complete solar panel inspections in a matter of hours. "We can capture a lot of data quicker than we could from the ground," Cornish-Moore said. "It's very accurate and saves somebody from having to go up and down the rows with a hand-held camera as they have in the past. It's also cost effective." Solar panel farms tend to be pret- ty large, some with 8 foot by 4 foot panels that cover as much as 4,000 acres, said Russel Peck, director of Worldwide Inspection Services for Strat Aero. Strat Aero has per- formed a few solar panel inspections and plans to do more. They use the Sensefy eBee for these fights. The data collected during these inspections can tell owners if a panel isn't functioning properly, Cornish- Moore said. They look for abnormal patterns in the string confguration and make sure heat signatures look normal. If everything is performing as it should be, the panels will have a uniform surface. Once the inspec- tion is complete, AM-UAS provides owners with a detailed report that's customized to their company's workfow and needs. "It's good for them to know which panels are working and which have hot spots or debris," Peck said. "We can fy over the farm with an infra- red camera really quickly, go back and process the data or the pictures and then tell them exactly what areas are hot and what areas are cold that should be hot. At a lot of farms pan- els are set up in a series, so if one goes out the whole row goes out like Christmas lights." Like with any industry, there are chal- lenges with deploying UAS for solar panel inspections. Often the large ex- panses of land used for solar farms are in controlled airspace, Cornish-Moore said, which means it's critical to work with a company that has the right skill set to comply with regulations and the safety elements of fying UAS. Know- ing where you are in the solar farm is also important. All the images look very similar, so it's you need to have a system that makes it easy to identify the panels. Each company has its own mainte- nance routine, Cornish-Moore said, but most try to complete these inspections at least once a year. They usually spend a lot of time walking up and down the panels looking for problems, which is a time consuming and costly task. UAS makes it much easier to get the infor- mation needed to ensure panels are working properly, and to fx the ones that aren't before they cause a larger problem. While this is still a relatively new use for UAS, so far Cornish-Moore's cus- tomers are happy with the results. "It's the most effcient way of in- specting solar panels," he said. "There's still a bit of industry learning that needs to go on. It's not as wide- spread as it could be, but that's usu- ally the case with new technology. It's defnitely the future." SOLAR PANEL INSPECTION The UAS AM-UAS uses for solar panel inspections. Image of a solar panel farm taken during a Strat Aero ainspection. On bottom right corner of the panels, the row one up from the bottom is inoperative. That was discovered during the inspection. Photos courtesy of AM-UAS Ltd. and Strat Aero