Solar companies are retiring their old inspection gear, like handheld readers, and opting to use drones for solar inspections instead. With the right drone equipment, an inspector can pinpoint issues with a never-before-seen level of detail and accuracy. In this article, we’ll provide the ultimate checklist of drone equipment for solar inspections. Starting with the drone itself and covering everything from communication tools to safety equipment, this checklist outlines everything you need to perform a successful aerial solar inspection.
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Improving Solar Panel Inspections With the Right Drone Equipment
Large solar farm managers used to spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours hiring inspectors to walk their sites on foot, testing solar panels one-by-one with a manual instrument called an I-V curve tracer. However, inspectors can detect problems on the solar field faster and with more accuracy if they switch to using a drone instead.
When compared with I-V curve tracing, drone thermography generates more precise data, minimizes safety risks, and speeds up inspection times. These benefits arise primarily because drones can detect issues at the string, panel, and cellular level of a solar PV system in a single flight as opposed to inspecting one string of panels at a time with an I-V curve tracer.
“Drone thermography generates more precise data, minimizes safety risks, and speeds up inspection times.”
Solar companies can improve their inspection process with the right drone equipment. It’s important that solar companies and drone services providers both know what to include in a drone solar inspection tool kit. With that said, let’s get into our drone equipment checklist for solar inspections.
The Ultimate Drone Equipment Checklist for Solar Inspections
To conduct a successful drone solar inspection, you’ll need not only a drone but also additional tech and gear. Our checklist covers:
- Drone Equipment and Accessories
- Communication and Data Processing Equipment
- Safety Equipment and PPE
- Additional Recommended Gear for Drone Solar Inspections
HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT droneS? START HERE.
Use this checklist to get prepared for a drone solar inspection.
Drone Equipment and Accessories
✔ Drone & Remote Controller
The type of solar assets that need to be inspected and the type of data you need will impact which type of drone you need. We recommend taking these factors into consideration when purchasing a drone for solar inspections: (a) make sure the drone is compatible with your desired thermal sensor and visual camera, (b) opt for built-in flight planning and flight automation features, (c) seek out long transmission range and battery life, and (d) look for reliable GPS positioning and GPS data collection abilities.
The remote controller you choose to pair with your drone will also impact the type and quality of data you’re able to collect. Make sure the remote control features are compatible with your preferred flight planning and data processing software. Many drones come paired with a remote control already while others you can mix-and-match or customize to fit your needs.
For specific drone and remote control recommendations, check out our detailed solar drone ranking: The Best Drones for Solar Inspections.
✔ Infrared Camera
An infrared camera is an essential piece of equipment for solar inspections. Thanks to its ability to detect the infrared band of the electromagnetic spectrum, a thermal camera can reveal incongruent heat patterns across a solar field to uncover any issues in power production.
Ideally, an infrared camera for solar inspections will have a resolution of 640 × 512 or better and a sensor focal length between 13mm – 19mm. Keep in mind that some thermal cameras can produce dual RGB/thermal images while others only capture thermal data. Most drone solar inspectors will benefit from the ability to capture both visual and thermal images together. Companies such as Flir and Zenmuse manufacture infrared cameras designed to pair with specific drones, so make sure the camera you decide to go with is compatible with your specific drone model.
✔ Extra Batteries & Charger
Depending on how large the inspection site is, you may need to charge/replace your drone batteries at some point during the inspection. Commercial drones typically have a battery life of 30-40 minutes. This may not be enough time to complete the inspection, and you also don’t want to risk losing power mid-flight. Decide ahead of time when you will charge your drones batteries. You can speed up your inspection time by bringing extra batteries to swap out right away and get back to flying quickly without waiting for your original batteries to charge.
✔ Tablet
Having portable access to your software and flight apps will help ensure your flight goes smoothly. In the field, it’s preferable to have a tablet with a large screen and high brightness level so you can clearly see the display. We recommend the Apple 11-inch iPad Pro because of its large screen, clear display, battery life, and compatibility with many drone apps.
✔ Extra SD Cards
Keeping extra SD cards on hand during a drone solar inspection will prevent you from losing your data. You can use SD cards to back up your data after a flight. They’re also good to have in case your original SD card runs out of space.
Since most drone inspections require photos to be taken frequently (around every 1.5 seconds) we like using the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Cards because of their fast read and write speed.
✔ Pilot Field Kit
A professional drone pilot should always come to the inspection site prepared with a pilot field kit. This kit should include a preflight checklist, official drone pilot certification or license, drone registration, and flight logs. These documents provide proof of the pilot’s legal permission to operate a drone as well as an outline of important steps for a safe flight.
✔ Lens Cleaning Cloth
Because solar fields are often located in dry, desert climates there can be a lot of dust in the air. A good lens cleaning cloth, like this microfiber lens cleaning cloth, will help clean away dirt and dust from the camera lens, remote and tablet screen.
Take extra caution when cleaning your thermal camera lens, which can be easily damaged. Following the right steps to clean a thermal camera lens sensor protects your lens from excessive wear or damage.
✔ Landing Pad & Cones
A landing pad provides a safe place for your drone to take off and land. Placing cones can also help visibly mark and alert people nearby of drone operations in the area. It’s important to protect your drone from debris, like dirt and sand that can get into the aircraft components causing damage when landing or taking off from the ground. We recommend using the Hoodman HDLP Drone Landing Pad and these bright safety cones to clearly mark your landing and take off points.
Communication & Data Processing Equipment
✔ Laptop & Hard Drives
Bring your laptop and external hard drives to the inspection site to verify data while in the field. One of the most common drone solar inspection mistakes made by inexperienced drone pilots is leaving an inspection site without verifying the data they collected. They might later discover blurred images or corrupted data when they return to the office. So, be sure to use a laptop and hard drive to verify data and store/back up the hundreds or thousands of photos captured before leaving the site.
✔ Airband Transceiver
When operating a drone in an area near an airport or helipad, an airband transceiver (radio) can be used to monitor local manned air traffic. Keep in mind that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires drone pilots to obtain airspace authorization before flying in controlled airspace, especially when flying near an airport. The radio does not enable pilots to communicate with manned aircraft pilots, but it does help the drone pilot establish situational awareness within the airspace. We personally use the FT-70DR as our airband transceiver.
✔ Solar Irradiance Meter
A solar irradiance meter helps inspectors keep tabs on the irradiance of the panels throughout the inspection. The irradiance meter measures the amount of power the panels have collected from the sun and ensures that the levels are high enough for an accurate inspection (usually at least 600 watts per square meter). We recommend the General Tools DBTU1300 as an affordable and easy to read solar irradiance meter.
What's included in YOUR GUIDE...
Techniques for Exposing Warrantiable Items on Your PV Sites.
A Proven Roadmap for Successfully Implementing Drones in Solar.
Strategies for Identifying DC Losses and Avoiding Downtime.
✔ 2-Way Radios
Having 2-way radios in your drone inspection tool kit provides pilots with a way to communicate with other pilots, O&M techs, and other team members involved with the project. On large inspection sites, it’s common to have multiple pilots flying at same time who will need to communicate with each other. The Midland 50 Channel Waterproof GMRS Two-Way Radio is one of the best choices for long-range communication on site.
✔ Anemometer
Use an anemometer to measure wind speeds during an inspection. The pilot should make sure wind speeds don’t exceed 15 mph during the inspection. Strong winds can negatively impact a solar inspection in two ways: destabilizing the drones as well as causing temperature distortions. Strong winds can cause a cooling effect across the panels, making it difficult to locate anomalies. We recommend the BTMETER BT-100 Handheld Anemometer for quickly measuring wind speeds in real time.
Safety Equipment and PPE
✔ Hard Hat
A hard hat is another piece of PPE that is typically required by the worksite. This hard hat is only $10 and is lightweight.
✔ High Visibility Vest
A high visibility vest is often required by the worksite. We recommend this drone pilot safety vest, which also alerts others on the worksite that the pilot is actively conducting an inspection, with a printed application on the back of “FAA Licensed Commercial Drone Pilot / Do Not Disturb.”
✔ Work Boots & Gaiters
Solar farms can be sandy, muddy, and are often covered in high uncut grass. Drone pilots can protect themselves from dirt and pests (like ticks and chiggers) by wearing gaiters and work boots.
✔ Sunscreen
Solar farms are often located in hot and dry climates. Additionally, inspections can put a drone pilot out in the sun for many hours in summer heat. To handle these hot sunny conditions, be sure to wear sunscreen. Even if it is not a hot day, solar panels will reflect the sunlight back up onto your face and skin.
✔ Sunglasses
As previously mentioned, drone pilots inspecting solar farms will often find themselves working in hot and sunny locations. Wearing sunglasses can protect the pilots eyes and will make it easier to see the drone or digital screens when flying.
HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT droneS? START HERE.
✔ Water Cooler
Keep a water cooler stocked with cold drinks to prevent dehydration while working in hot, sunny environments for long periods of time.
Additional Recommended Gear for Drone Solar Inspections
✔ Fire Extinguisher
A fire extinguisher is important to have on hand anytime you are working with LIPO batteries and electricity incase of an emergency. During our flights we always have a good quality fire extinguisher nearby.
✔ Popup Canopy
A popup canopy is an ideal solution for working in hot environments where shade isn’t otherwise available. It also helps provide a protected space to keep your gear so it doesn’t overheat, melt, or get wet in the case of rain. When performing your data backups and reading screens on your electronic gear, the canopy also helps you to see the screen more clearly. We recommend this MASTERCANOPY Pop Up Canopy Tent that comes with a heavy-duty roller bag for easy transport.
✔ Generator
In some cases, drone pilots may benefit from having a generator to charge drone batteries and to power other pieces of equipment. This may be the case if the inspection is conducted in a remote location away from other power sources or if the inspection is being conducted for a very large site spanning tens or hundreds of acres.
Preparing for a Drone Solar Inspection
An equipment checklist is important to have when preparing to inspect a solar site. We hope that this ultimate drone equipment checklist helps you thoroughly prepare to inspect your site. O&M techs preparing to have a contractor conduct the drone inspection can share this checklist with their inspectors to ensure they are fully prepared.
Solar companies looking for a licensed drone professional can reach out to The Drone Life for more information about our drone services for solar farms here.
What's included in YOUR GUIDE...
Techniques for Exposing Warrantiable Items on Your PV Sites.
A Proven Roadmap for Successfully Implementing Drones in Solar.
Strategies for Identifying DC Losses and Avoiding Downtime.
