Abstract
Enel Green Power is an Italian company which realises and manages large photovoltaic (PV) plants around the world. The company is involved in a huge number of research projects and one of them involves the use of drones for PV inspection in order to guarantee the correct operation of the plants. In this paper, the use of drones the maintenance of PV plants is analysed from a technical and economic point of view, as function of plant size. First, the use of drones for thermography and visual inspection is briefly described, then, on the basis of on-field activities, the technical specifications of drones and the procedure for the inspection are defined. The results of a thermal infrared analysis performed on six PV plants are analysed. In particular, the failure rates of PV modules are estimated, describing each failure. Finally, an economic analysis is performed in order to evaluate the competitiveness of drones for PV inspection compared to manual maintenance.
Highlights
E e Gree P wer is w r i g i vati a d sustai abi ity i severa sect rs I particu ar the e ergy sect r is experie ci g a phase f r b tisati i rder t i crease the sustai abi ity f pr cesses by a i g dai y perati s cheaper a d faster icr crac s a d crac s i the ce s with u predictab e reducti s i pr ducti
The company is involved in a huge number of research projects
of them involves the use of drones for PV inspection in order to guarantee the correct operation of the plants
Summary
E e Gree P wer is w r i g i vati a d sustai abi ity i severa sect rs I particu ar the e ergy sect r is experie ci g a phase f r b tisati i rder t i crease the sustai abi ity f pr cesses by a i g dai y perati s cheaper a d faster. Acc rdi g t f ight architecture there are tw types f u a ed aircraft syste (UAS) r t r based a d fixed wi g The first type f dr e is s a ight a d easy t c tr whi e the sec d devices are faster ca reach higher a titudes a d carry heavy ads. A a yses f visua a d ther a i frared i ages are perf r ed after the i specti usi g appr priate patter rec g iti a g rith s I the future dr es wi perf r data a a ysis thr ugh patter rec g iti a d cha ge detecti Predictive eth ds wi be used t it r the pr ductivity f PV p a ts pti isi g strategic & resp ses
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