Usually photovoltaic (PV) solar panel field inspection requires use of two sensors - infrared (IR) and daylight cameras, to detect faulty panels which heat up because of connection issues, physical damage or debris.
To minimise time required for inspection usually both sensors (cameras) are used simultaneously requiring a drone with enough lift-off capability. Semi-professional drones with changeable cameras also can be used but this will require double amount of time - to enable survey flight first with daylight camera and then repeat the flight after changing to IR.
“Without doubt the usage of UAV for area surveying or infrastructure inspection is time and cost saving. Continuous development of UgCS drone mission planning tools enables UAV professionals to customize each mission according to application requirements.”, said Janis Kuze, Sales Director at SPH Engineering.
UgCS supports most UAV platforms and provides useful tools such as Photogrammetry tool, Image geotagging tool, custom map and DEM data import. In the latest UgCS update functionality is added to show position of camera (image centre) from EXIF data on the map as marks, which enables to control in-the-field if significant image gaps exist.
Detailed guide of using UgCS Photogrammetry tool for solar panel field inspection is published in collaboration with aerial inspection professionals Industrial Aerobotics.
Full article: https://www.ugcs.com/solar_panel_inspection