Drones have become a vital part of the Photovoltaic Industry. The need for drones to do solar inspections has grown rapidly and will continue to grow as the solar farm industry itself grows. This expansion will continue to require professional drone companies to understand the software tools available and how to properly use them for solar inspections.
Using thermal cameras, drones are especially well equipped for solar inspections and can save a solar farm time and money through efficiencies not possible with manual inspections. In this article we will explore how professionals in the photovoltaic (PV) industry accomplish this complex task using flight planning and post processing software, and how to choose the right drone software for your solar inspection business.
Table of Contents
The Growth of Solar Farms and the Need for Drones
The basic building block of a solar farm is the solar cell, called a photovoltaic cell. The past few decades have seen slow but steady growth in the Photovoltaic Industry. This is mainly due to the cost of building the solar cell, but the high cost of building these solar cells is changing rapidly. In the previous decade from 2010-2020 the cost to build the solar cell has shown significant decline, driven largely by PV module efficiencies and lower hardware costs.
"Since 2010, there has been a 69%, and 82% reduction in the cost of commercial-rooftop, and utility-scale PV systems, respectively."
As the cost of production declined and efficiencies rose, building solar farms moved from theoretical academic studies to profitable companies. By 2019 the global solar farm market was valued at $61.4 billion, but by 2030 it is projected to increase to $267 billion worldwide.
For solar farms, asset preventative maintenance is a large part of minimizing downtime and keeping high maintenance costs at bay. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become critical in reducing these inspection costs. Identifying more issues than manual inspections, drones can lower inspection times by as much as 90%. Any efficiencies gained from preventative maintenance with UAVs can have a significant impact on overall profitability.
Preventative maintenance is only one of many ways drones are being used in solar farm inspections. Another example is bringing a new facility online which requires a commissioning inspection to ensure proper installation has taken place, and to create a baseline for future inspections.
As the solar farm industry grows, new ways to build solar farms have emerged. Solar farms are no longer something solely built in large open areas of the desert. Solar projects now span from grasslands to urban areas such as solar car ports to huge warehouse rooftops, even floating solar farms, and each of these installations needs to be inspected and maintained. This is where a professional drone company comes in.
The Equipment Needed for Drone Solar Inspections
When planning a drone mission to inspect a solar farm, or any photovoltaic project, you will need to plan on a variety of equipment. The most important piece of equipment is the drone payload imaging system.
“The drone that carries the camera during the inspection should be an industrial-grade multi-rotor, such as the Matrice 200 series, or an enterprise-level fixed-wing, such as the senseFly eBee X."
Solar farm inspections have many challenges and most require a radiometric thermal camera, which records the temperature of the solar modules. In addition to the thermal camera, the drone should also capture the visual color (RGB) imagery of each module. To accomplish this, many professional drone companies will use a dual payload imaging system, capturing both by using infrared (IR) and visible light (RGB) lenses. The drone that carries this image system needs to be an industrial grade drone capable well suited for performing critical infrastructure inspections.
The Role of Software Applications for Solar Drone Inspections
One of the main reasons to use drones for solar thermal inspections is efficiency. Thermal cameras on drones can quickly identify heat anomalies and pinpoint possible faults in a fraction of the time it takes for a team of technicians on the ground.
Thermal cameras and the software used to process the data for these types of inspections look for heat differences that can indicate a possible problem needing to be corrected. These problem areas can be cell-level hotspots or entire strings that are offline. Cell-level defects within the panels may need to be replaced or monitored over time for later maintenance, and string defects are important to identify as they can greatly degrade the output efficiency of entire grids. These string defects are often inexpensive repairs such as a loose cable, or a blown fuse, so they are important to identify.
To prepare for the mission and to identify these problem areas software specifically designed for these purposes is used by most professional drone companies. Pilots no longer need to rely on multiple apps on a phone or tablet to plan a flight, and then manually pour over the collected data. Dedicated flight planning and processing software is needed as much for simplification of complex missions as it is for efficiently analyzing the massive amount of data collected.
When preparing for a solar plant thermal inspection there are two main types of software to be considered. The first is flight planning software, and the second is post-processing software. The software applications you choose depend greatly on your specific mission. Choosing the best options for your use case can better help you prepare for your flight and diagnose problem areas after the flight.
What is Flight Planning Software for Drones?
One of the major benefits to using the right flight planning application for your project is to be able to execute your flight plan using a single platform. Utilizing a centralized planning platform to execute your mission will keep you from having to jump back and forth between multiple applications and vastly improve the synchronization of all mission data.
“By streamlining the entire process, the right flight planning software saves both time and money through increased efficiency and productivity."
A well-designed flight planning application should allow the user to do several tasks within the software such as:
- Create and schedule missions
- Manage mission calendars
- Assign different pilots to each mission
- Choose specific drone equipment for each mission
- Send out mission notifications
- Keep up with weather conditions
- Monitor the current airspace
The software should have the ability to fly manual and automated flight plans and be compatible with many of the current drone models on the market. There are over 400 drone manufacturers on the market today, making sure your drone is compatible with the flight planning software is a must.
Something else to keep in mind when looking at each application is whether they support cross-platform devices. Are they compatible with your drone and with the device you intend to use for mission planning and operating the drone? For example, is it compatible with your drone and with your iPad, or your drone and your Windows machine, and if not, which ones do you anticipate using, and are they supported?
There are many things to keep in mind when looking for the correct flight planning software for your project. Be sure to look at your specific mission use before deciding on any software.
Top 5 Flight Planning Software Options for Solar Inspections
Once you know what equipment you will be using you will need a flight planning software to correctly plan the mission by choosing the appropriate altitude, ground sampling distance (GSD), and angles of flight. You will also want to do route planning to align the flight properly with the solar panel rows setting out a grid pattern. A favorable weather forecast is also important to keep sun glares off the panels during image capture.
Flight planning for each project is unique to the type of mission you are flying. We will look at five different flight planning software options below that will work well for drone solar inspections.
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.
1. DJI Ground Station Pro (GSPro)
The popular DJI Ground Station Pro (GSPro) was introduced in 2016 and can plan complex flight missions with just a few taps. GSPro has been one of the preferred flight data management platforms for solar inspections for many years.
“Drone inspection is so much more than simply image-capturing. It completely eliminates the safety risks of sending personnel in harsh environments, which is a priority in any industry."
Tim Harris, Operations & Compliance Director, RUAS
GSPro will allow you to conduct automated flight missions and manage your flight data in the cloud. The platform utilizes a tap and go waypoint flight system that will let you set a waypoint flight path, define each waypoint action (what to do when it hits a particular waypoint such as aircraft rotation, gimbal pitch, start/stop recording, hover, etc.), and you can set end-mission actions as well.
It also includes a collaboration feature that allows you to work across different projects to run an entire drone program. This will enable you to reference historical information on different flight missions or flight logs.
Specifics to Choosing the DJI GS Pro Platform
Operating Compatibility: iPadOS
Device Compatibility: iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 3, iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini 5, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation), iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation)
Supported Drone Models: Mavic 2 Enterprise, Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Zoom, Mavic Pro, Phantom 3 Standard/4K/Advanced/Professional, Phantom 4/RTK/Pro/Advanced/V2, P4 Multispectral, Inspire 1/Inspire 2, Matrice 100, Matrice 200 V2, Matrice 210 V2, Matrice 210 RTK V2, Matrice 200/210/210 RTK, Matrice 600/600 Pro, A3, N3. (Many of these are available on Amazon.)
Supported thermal and RGB cameras: Mavic 2 Enterprise, Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Zoom, Mavic Pro, Phantom 3 Standard/4K/Advanced/Professional, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Pro, Phantom 4 Pro V2/Advanced, Phantom 4 RTK (SDK Remote Controller), and Zenmuse X3, X5, X5R, X4S, X5S, Z3, Z30, XT2, and XT.
Available Features and Settings: Front and side overlap, speed, shutter interval, shooting angle, capture mode, altitude of flight, pitch of gimbal (in degrees), and end of mission actions. 3D map areas, virtual fences, touch waypoints and routing for fully automated flying.
Supporting Documentation: You can get more information about DJI Ground System Pro on their website, and view FAQ documentation there as well. You can download GSPro from the Apple App Store for free to get started, and the user manual is available for download (it was last updated in November 2018 for version 2.0).
Ease of Use: GSPro is easy to set up and use. The iPad app has an easy-to-understand layout and intuitive software design for adjusting flight perimeters and functionality.
Price: DJI GS Pro is free to download, and users can immediately access features including Virtual Fence, 3D Map Area, and Waypoint Route. There are also additional paid features that are available through in-app purchase that range from $9.99 to $499.99 for the yearly pro. You might be able to work with the free version, but most likely you will need some of their “pro” features to complete a solar inspection.
Summary of DJI GSPro
While GSPro is feature rich and an easy-to-use platform, since it was developed by DJI it is only compatible with DJI drones. GSPro also will not receive any new updates other than maintenance. Being discontinued, it has a limited number of devices it will support (you will need to use an iPad, and newer drone models will not be supported).
The last major update was version 2.0.0, and the latest maintenance update version is 2.0.17, which was released in early 2022. All future updates are strictly maintenance updates. If you plan to use GSPro be sure it already offers support for your specific drone setup since it has entered an end-of-life phase for the platform. Keep in mind that at some point DJI will most likely stop maintenance updates as well.
2. DJI Pilot
DJI Pilot was first released in 2017 and is the flight planning software that comes built into and installed on DJI smart controllers. DJI Pilot works with built-in screens like the Crystal Sky Monitor, DJI Matrice 300 RTK, the Mavic 2 Advanced, the DJI M30T, and the Mavic 3 Enterprise.
One of the major drawbacks of using the smart controller is, at present, it will only operate on the DJI Pilot software. Using 3rd party app/software on the controller itself is under development and we are just now seeing DJI collaborate with 3rd party software companies to install other flight planning apps. There are software tools like UCGS and others we mentioned in this article that can run on the various controllers such as the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, Smart Controller Enterprise (M300), the RC Pro, Mavic 3 Enterprise, and the RC Plus M30. Hopefully this type of collaboration will continue and provide even more value to the smart controller.
DJI has released both iOS and Android versions of DJI Pilot that work alongside the built-in controllers but be sure to check compatibility as each is somewhat limited depending on the system and device.
Unfortunately, DJI Pilot does not yet have the option to allow you to set up a custom pitch and yaw, which is very helpful on solar inspections. This allows the camera to maintain a cardinal heading regardless of flight direction. For example, if you want to continually shoot to the north across a solar array the yaw can be set up to do this within the controller app. DJI Enterprise has reached out to The Drone Life and clarified that “this is not ideal and something we are working with the team on for the future.”
Currently, the gimbal is preset to 90° in mapping missions. Alternatives would be to set the gimbal to free and turn the gimbal (you will need to swap the overlap percentages) if the drone gimbal has this capability, or plan a waypoint flight. In the near future tools like DroneLink, that provide the ability to automate solar flight routes, will work as well.
DJI has also released a DJI Pilot 2 Enterprise App as well, but it currently has limited compatibility and support. Currently Pilot 2 only supports the Matrice 300 RTK, Mavic 3 Enterprise, and 30 series models.
Specifics to Choosing the DJI Pilot Platform
Operating Compatibility: DJI Proprietary OS, iOS/iPadOS, Android
Device Compatibility: DJI Pilot iOS (currently version 1.1.5) is only compatible with Mavic 2 Enterprise and Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual. The iOS app has not been updated in about a year from this writing, so it has not seen many feature or maintenance updates. Android (currently version 2.5.1.10) is compatible with Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, Phantom 4 RTK, Mavic 2 Enterprise Series, Matrice 200 Series V2, Matrice 200 Series V1, Matrice 600 Pro.
Supported Drone Models: The DJI Pilot app supports the latest DJI enterprise drones.
Supported thermal and RGB cameras: DJI Pilot supports the latest DJI enterprise equipped drones with thermal or RGB cameras and lenses.
Available Features and Settings: Front and side overlap, speed, shutter interval, shooting angle, capture mode, altitude of flight, pitch of gimbal (in degrees), and end of mission actions, 3D map areas, virtual fences, touch waypoints and routing for fully automated flying, custom camera settings including sensor settings and focal length, pitch, and yaw controls.
Supporting Documentation: There is no released manual for DJI Pilot and as of this writing it is not something DJI is actively working on. There is some documentation available as part of the Matrice 300 RTK manual showing the DJI Pilot screen menus and options that is helpful. The iOS or Android app can be downloaded from their website.
Ease of Use: Because this flight planning software is built into the controller it works seamlessly with the controller and drone. It has an intuitive layout and easy to create flight maps.
Price: Free. Included with the DJI smart controllers. iOS and Android apps are free to download.
Summary of DJI Pilot
The DJI Pilot flight planning software is a seamless solution for those who will be using a flight controller with a compatible DJI enterprise drone. It has great camera support for things like pitch and yaw and is easy to use for beginners. Unfortunately, DJI Pilot has very limited compatibility across the industry, at this time the smart controller is only compatible with DJI Pilot, and it will only work with DJI compatible enterprise drones. For some additional resources you can find a video playlist for DJI Pilot and for DJI Pilot 2 on their YouTube channel.
3. Hammer Missions
Hammer Missions is a Software as a Service (SaaS) company based out of West London with the stated goal to build aerial tools for the future. Hammer (their flight planning software) is an adaptive flight automation system for commercial drone surveys and inspections.
“Hammer combines all other flight planners into one, covering all possible mission types. No need to use multiple flight planners anymore; Hammer does it all!"
Eagle Drone, NL
Unique to Hammer software, it will let you choose a pre-built mission type and includes a specific mission layout for solar inspections. Hammer software allows you to adjust camera types, altitude, overlap, angles, drone orientation, and gimbal tilt. You can also automatically upload flight logs and it is compatible with most DJI series drone models and cameras. In addition to the DJI models Hammer is currently developing support for PX4, Parrot, Autel and Skydio drone models as well.
Hammer Missions takes a task-centric approach to mission planning and data analysis. You pick the task (”missions”) you want to fly and work with the relevant parameters to generate a flight plan or annotate the captured data. This allows you to use the same software for many different types of missions without having to learn new software for each mission.
One of the unique aspects of using Hammer software is they also have their own post-processing system for mission data. This makes them a possible one-stop solution for planning and flying different types of drone flights with high levels of precision and control with post-processing done through their Hammer Hub application.
Hammer offers a built-in simulator, terrain follow, 3D Views, KML Import, and the software can operate in a connectionless mode where once a planned mission has been uploaded to the drone, no further connection is necessary to execute the mission.
Their flight software also allows you to link 2 or more types of missions together for a large operation and remembers where the missions were paused to support multi-battery missions.
Specifics to Choosing the Hammer Missions Platform
Operating Compatibility: The Hammer web platform (Hammer Hub) can be accessed on any desktop computer via modern web browsers – Google Chrome, Safari & Edge. The tablet app (Hammer App) is available on iOS and Android. The Android app is currently an early release but quickly catching up with the iOS capabilities.
Device Compatibility: The iOS apps and iPadOS apps support the current iPhone/iPad models, and the Android app supports current tablets and phones running Android.
Supported Drone Models: DJI Spark, DJI Mavic Air, Mavic Pro, Mavic 2 Pro, Enterprise Zoom, DJI Inspire 1/2, DJI Phantom 3/4, RTK, DJI Matrice.
Supported thermal and RGB cameras: All fixed Cameras (Spark, Mavic 1/2, Phantom 3/4), X3, X4S, X5R, X5S, XT, X7, XT2
Available Features and Settings: Front and side overlap, speed, shutter interval, shooting angle, capture mode, altitude of flight, gimbal tilt, and drone orientation. Features also include pre-planned missions, Mapping & 3D models, Facades, Roof, Solar Farms, Towers, Pylons, Linear, Magnetic Mapping, Orbits, 360 Panos.
Supporting Documentation: Hammer Missions has developed extensive support and learning options for their flight planning software. The Hammer Missions YouTube channel has a great selection of videos devoted to tutorial learning, and their website has how-to guides, tutorials, and forums to learn the intricacies of their software.
Ease of Use: With the use of the pre-built Hammer “missions” the software does a lot of the work for you. With more complicated aspects of the software, they have excellent support and documentation to help.
Price: Hammer operates on a monthly subscription basis with each tier offering more options and flight plans (missions), and data imaging. The base level tier called “Ascend” starts at $49/month ($39/month if you purchase an annual subscription), the middle tier called “Cruise” is $249/month ($200/month purchased annually), and their “Enterprise” tier is a custom-built plan. It should be noted here that only the Enterprise level supports non-DJI drones as of this writing.
Summary of Hammer Missions
Hammer Missions offers a unique solution to flight planning software for solar inspections. They have built-in pre-made flight missions that are one touch choices within the software, they have large supporting documentation, and compatibility with a long list of drone models. In some cases, they have higher compatibility for DJI drones and cameras than DJI themselves do when compared directly with GSPro or DJI Pilot individually.
The company is actively developing Hammer to be compatible with non-DJI drones and they continue to add features and updates. In 2022 alone Hammer was updated on an almost monthly basis. With frequent updates and features comes a monthly subscription, which can be a considerable investment if you are just starting out or have a small number of solar assets to inspect. Their first tier is reasonable for any size company but misses out on a lot of the features the higher tiers receive.
4. PIX4D Capture
Pix4D is a market leader in photogrammetry software technology based in Prilly, Switzerland with offices all over the world. Pix4D started in research in 2011 and they still have a heavy emphasis on research and development (R&D) in the company today. In fact, Pix4D dedicates 60% of their staff to R&D. They have several different products that span mapping and 3D modeling to data capture. Our focus here is Pix4D Capture, which is their flight planning and image acquisition app developed by Pix4D for Android and iOS.
“The biggest advantage to Pix4D was cloud support, this saved us time and allowed us to process while on-site. The Timeline feature was well received by clients and they reported it as a useful feature."
Nikin Mohan James, FEDS Head of Training & Support
Pix4D Capture is an iOS/Android based app first developed in 2014. It is a flexible flight planning solution that will allow you to fly multicopter DJI and Parrot drones, trigger RGB, multispectral, and thermal sensors. They also allow the user to plan and fly missions online or offline. In Capture you can define the altitude in relation to the ground sampling distance (GSD) you need, set the camera angle, image overlap, and flight speed. Once your mission is complete you can upload images directly from the device to Pix4D software in the cloud for processing. While Pix4D Capture has seen many updates in the past, neither the iOS nor the Android app has been updated since June 2021.
Like Hammer, you can choose a “mission” to fly, but unlike Hammer, they do not have pre-built flights for specific applications such as solar inspections. Instead, their approach allows you to select a mission based on the type of flight you will be flying such as a polygon, grid, double grid, circular, or free flight pattern.
A benefit to Pix4D Capture is compatibility. They currently offer support for DJI drones, but also include support for Parrot and Yuneec drones and controllers. They have an extensive list of compatible drones and cameras that show current compatibility so it would be prudent to check this list to see if your particular equipment is supported. It is also possible that newer drone models (which have yet to be tested) could still work even if it wasn’t listed on their compatibility page.
Specifics to Choosing the PIX4D Capture Platform
Operating Compatibility: iOS for iPhone, iPadOS for iPad, and Android devices running Android 7.0 and up.
Device Compatibility: For iOS and iPadOS you can use any device compatible with iOS version 10.3 or later, and with Android any device that will run Android 7.0 or later.
Supported Drone Models: For an up to date complete list of drones that are and are not supported visit their compatibility page.
As of this writing, for iOS/iPadOS compatible drones include the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2, Phantom 4 Pro, Phantom 4, Mavic Air, Mavic Pro, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual (Only RGB Images), Inspire 1 (Pro), Inspire 2, Matrice 200, 210, 210 RTK, Matrice 100, Matrice 600, Phantom 3 Professional, Phantom 3 Advanced, Phantom 3 Standard, and Spark. Support for Parrot includes the Anafi USA with Skycontroller 3 (RGB Images), Anafi with Skycontroller 3, Anafi Thermal with Skycontroller 3 (RGB + Thermal Images), Bebop 2 with Skycontroller 2, Disco-Pro AG with Skycontroller 2, Bluegrass with Skycontroller 2.
For Android users the drones include the DJI Phantom 4 Pro v2.0, Phantom 4 Pro, Phantom 4, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Matrice 200, Matrice 210, Matrice 210 RTK, Inspire 2, Inspire 1 (Pro), Phantom 3 Professional, Phantom 3 Advanced, Phantom 3 Standard, Matrice 100, and the Spark. For Parrot they support the Anafi with Skycontroller 3, Anafi Thermal with Skycontroller 3 (RGB + Thermal Images), Bluegrass with Skycontroller 2, and the Bebop 2 with Skycontroller 2. For Yuneec drones they support the H520 with E90 camera and ST16S controller (compatible version available from support page).
Supported thermal and RGB cameras: The DJI Zenmuse XT, X3, X4S, and the X5 are supported. The DJI X5R and X5S are possible but have not been tested. Yuneec cameras include the E90 on Android (not on iOS).
Available Features and Settings: Camera angles, front and side overlap, drone speed, altitude of flight, gimbal tilt, 3D mapping and modeling, specific mission projects, and automatic imaging upload.
Supporting Documentation: Pix4D Capture has extensive support documentation available. Their user manuals and how-to articles are very comprehensive, and they even offer online courses and video tutorials. They also have a robust forum community, including one for Pix4D Capture, although some of the forums are more active than others.
Ease of Use: Real world use for Pix4D Capture is straightforward. You select your drone equipment, select the mission you are flying, add your flight parameters, then start the mission flight. If any of the software is confusing for a beginner they have a helpful getting started manual.
Price: Unlimited free use.
Summary of Pix4D Capture
Pix4D Capture is a free and easy to use flight planning solution for solar drone inspections. It is capable of more mission types than just inspections, but it is not quite as feature-rich and in-depth as some of the other options. Because Pix4D specializes in research, they offer a host of mapping and data solutions, not just the Capture software, so development and updates could be slower than a company whose focus is flight planning software alone. As of this writing the last updates to both iOS and Android apps were in the summer of 2021.
One of the biggest benefits to using Pix4D Capture other than the price is compatibility with non-DJI drones and cameras. Since the application includes free unlimited use, a drone company can try out the software with many different combinations of equipment and operating systems to see what works best for them. Keep in mind the compatibility for non-DJI drones is mostly limited to Android devices at the present time.
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.
5. UgCS
UgCS by SPH Engineering is known for their UAV mission planning and flight control software solutions. They offer a complete platform, developed by SPH Engineering in the EU, to plan and fly drone survey missions. They utilize automated drone mission planning, built-in photogrammetry and geotagging tools, map customization and battery exchange option for long routes.
“UgCS is a great example of complete software providing solutions from very simple waypoint missions up to complex multi-drone operations. The ability to customize maps, no-fly zones, different actions at waypoints any many other functions allows to plan and conduct safe automatic flights in professional and simple way."
Ilmars Ozols, TSI/APAC RPAS Director of Training Academic and Professional Aviation Center (APAC)
UgCS is a full desktop application and is very adaptive at any mission project, including a walkthrough for PV solar panel field inspections. Their application is compatible with non-DJI drones and has a large feature set including terrain following (plan flights at a constant AGL altitude), photogrammetry, vertical scan, corridor, circle, waypoint, perimeter, area scan flight planning tools, elevation profile preview, route creation from KML / CSV files, and a 3D flight planning interface. Their higher tier packages include extensive LiDAR tools and simultaneous drone connections.
Specifics to Choosing the UgCS Platform
Operating Compatibility: Windows 7 with SP1 or later, Windows 8, Windows 10/64-bit, Mac OS X Maverick 10.9 or later / 64-bit, Linux: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS / 64-bit.
Device Compatibility: UgCS states that because of the closed DJI infrastructure, to connect DJI drones with UgCS desktop the free Android application UgCS for DJI is required.
Supported Drone Models: UgCS currently supports DJI: M600/600 Pro, M300, M200/210/210RTK, M100, Inspire 2/1/1Pro/Raw, Phantom 4 / 4 Pro/ 4 Pro V2 / 4 RTK with SDK controller only, Phantom 3, Mavic Pro/2 series, N3, A3; Ardupilot, Px4 and other MAVLink compatible multirotors, fixed wings and VTOLs; Mikrokopter; Micropilot; Lockheed Martin: Kestrel, Indago.
Supported thermal and RGB cameras: UgCS supports camera systems mounted to compatible drones and controllers.
Available Features and Settings: Front and side overlap, speed, shutter interval, shooting angle, capture mode, altitude of flight, pitch of gimbal (in degrees), and end of mission actions. Features also include survey planning tools, 3D mission planning, automatic and direct flight modes, software emulator, geotagging tool that syncs timestamps of images with telemetry data, built in no-fly-zones, and the ability to create custom no-fly-zones.
Supporting Documentation: UgCS has a vast support network of user manuals, a Facebook Group, webinars, video tutorials on their YouTube channel, and a support team that can respond directly to users.
Ease of Use: UgCS is a feature packed application that will take a beginner some time to become familiar with and be able to use proficiently. The software may not be as easy or intuitive as a mobile app, but they have more than enough support to point someone where they need to go.
Price: UgCS licenses their application per user and includes the first year of support and updates. The base level package is approximately $750 per user, their “Expert” package is $1,400 per user, and the “Enterprise” package is $2,000 per user. Each package starts with all the features of the Pro version and then adds more as you go up.
Summary of UgCS
UgCS is clearly aimed at professional drone companies and enterprise production users. This is the only full desktop software solution without its own mobile apps, but with a full desktop application comes a lot of features and a powerful comprehensive software solution. You do not need a laptop in the field to use UgCS, but it helps to have one.
Since UgCS is a desktop application it works directly with file structures like KML and CSV files giving the user the ability to make very detailed custom maps and flights. Their software is compatible with drones outside the DJI structure, but if you are using a DJI compatible drone you will need to use a bridge application on an Android device. Currently they are not developing an iOS app and recommend using their Android app solution (an app bridge) for DJI drones.
Flight Planning Honorable Mentions
DroneLink
DroneLink is an intuitive flight software created for drone enthusiasts and professionals that enables users to plan and fly autonomous drone missions with ease. Founded in 2017 by a group of drone enthusiasts, DroneLink has quickly grown into a viable platform with a strong user base who are looking to automate flights and fly their drones autonomously.
Some of the standout features of DroneLink include the ability to fly autonomous missions, integration with multiple platforms, compatibility with a wide variety of drones, and frequent updates to their platform. The software is designed to optimize flight paths and enable users to fly their drones quickly and efficiently. This feature is particularly useful for professionals who need to capture a large amount of data or footage in a short amount of time.
DroneLink’s software is available in two different subscription levels, Professional and Hobbyist. The Hobbyist plan has three versions, which are setup as a one-time purchase for $24.99, $49.99, or $99.99 depending on the features you choose. The Hobbyist plans do not include things like RTK or Multispectural mapping which are considered professional features. The Professional plans are $29.99 or $59.99 a month (with a discount if paid annually). They also have a Professional Enterprise plan that can be setup by their sales team. The professional plans include more advanced features such as:
- Commercial missions
- Terrain follow
- Advanced components & functions
- Multi-user accounts
- Data integrations
- Priority support
- Enterprise drone models
- Dronelink SDK
In addition to its software, DroneLink also provides users with a range of tutorials to help them set up and use the mobile app. These tutorials cover everything from setting up the app to generating missions in the field, pre-planning waypoints and mapping missions, and previewing them in 3D before using the DroneLink mobile app to fly them autonomously in the field.
Litchi
The Litchi flight software is run by VC Technology Ltd., based out of London, and is a young, bootstrapped startup with the goal to make drones smarter and more accessible through software. They cater to both professionals or beginners and offer an intuitive yet powerful waypoint mission engine that is compatible with most DJI drones. The software’s mission planner is available on all platforms, including PC and Mac, with seamless mission syncing between devices. The ability to plan waypoint missions is a standout feature that lets users create unique flight paths around any obstacle or terrain.
Litchi’s “Focus Mode” is an excellent feature that assists you by taking control of both the gimbal and the drone’s yaw axis. This enables you to concentrate on horizontal movements, resulting in amazing detail in photos and video. The Virtual Reality mode is another remarkable feature that immerses you into a new world, bringing you the most immersive first person view (FPV) experience. You can watch your autonomous mission in VR mode or fly manually for added visuals (this requires Google Goggles).
They offer several flight modes, including Panorama, Orbit, and Follow, that are engineered to provide best-in-class results for each mode. For added peace of mind, Litchi creates readable flight logs for each flight, and automatically uploads them to your Airdata UAV account for instant post-flight analysis.
The software can be downloaded on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for a one-time purchase of $24.99 and they have a vibrant community that enables you to join thousands of Litchi pilots on the Mission Hub and explore and view missions from all over the world.
Map Pilot Pro
Map Pilot Pro is a flight data collection app that is designed for professionals who want to capture superior data and avoid costly mistakes that can be made in the data collection process. The app is developed by Drones Made Easy, a company that has years of experience in data collection and processing. Unlike many other data collection apps, Maps Made Easy is dedicated to ensuring the success of its clients by providing a reliable and efficient tool made specifically for drone flight data collection.
Map Pilot Pro is a companion app that is designed to work seamlessly with your Maps Made Easy subscription or processing points purchase. The subscriptions are set up with 4 options: a Free option with limited features, a Base package for $5/month, the Pro subscription at $15/month, and the Elite at $45/month. Each paid subscription has a discount if paid in an annual payment and features and options are dependent on the level you choose.
Map Pilot Pro is an easy-to-use tool that allows you to capture high-quality data with ease. Some of the features they offer are:
- Ability to make your own maps
- 3D model-based stitching
- Georeferencing
- Stockpile Volume Measurement
- Map Pilot App for iOS and Android
- Share maps and data with links
- Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) Processing
- iFrame embed codes
- Fully online processing
Whether you use the app on a tablet or a smartphone, Map Pilot Pro is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it an ideal choice for professionals who need to collect data quickly and efficiently.
What is Post-Processing Software for Drones?
Post-processing software for drones operates on the concept of “work smarter not harder.” Aerial data collected during the flight, including flight data itself, must be collected, stored, and analyzed. Ultimately, companies in the PV industry are turning this data into an asset for a client or their own company, so choosing the right post-processing software for your drone operation is vital.
Drone flights can generate an enormous amount of data with each flight. Depending on the project, thousands of images might need to be analyzed and the process outputted for the client in various formats. The more data collected by each flight, the more difficult it will be to process this information manually, and the greater the possibility that something vital might be missed.
Some of the questions to ask before deciding on a particular post-processing solution might be:
- What type of data will you collect?
- What is my budget for software on a monthly or yearly basis, and how does it compare to self-processing costs?
- How much time will it take to self-process the data vs a software solution made for your flight application?
- How much data do I need to process?
- What kind of turnaround does my client require?
- What file formats need to be presented to the client?
- Who needs the processed data and how do you plan to send it?
- What do you hope to accomplish once your data is processed?
- What data security is needed for your processed data?
These are only a few of the questions you might want to answer when evaluating drone post-processing options.
Top 5 Post-Processing Software Solutions for Drone Solar Inspections
Post-processing for solar thermal inspections usually involves the collection and processing of thousands of images taken through dual camera lenses, one thermal lens and one RGB lens. The thermal images need to be checked for anomalies within heat structures of the cells and panels to determine what areas the PV system might need further maintenance. RGB cameras are used for the verification of potential false positives as well. So, is post-processing software really needed to analyze my solar farm drone data?
“Yes. Despite reducing the time to perform a field inspection by more than 90%, drones still create lots of information that has to be reviewed and converted into usable formats. You may think that it’s easier and cheaper to manually review this information. However, the thousands of photos or hours of video you capture with your drone require large amounts of time to review… and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are much more efficient than humans. They also cost less too."
Below we will look at five of the top post-processing solutions for drone flights for solar thermal inspections. Many of these software solutions have multiple uses, so if you are looking to do missions other than PV inspections be sure to look at each option with your mission type in mind.
1. SiteMark
Sitemark is a drone and aerial data company that has a goal to revolutionize the construction and solar industries. In 2016, they utilized their expertise in the solar industry to introduce the concept of a digital twin that spans the entire lifecycle of a solar site. From engineering to construction of solar installations, their technology solution provides unique insights that cannot be gathered from the ground.
One of Sitemark’s unique offerings is their fast and accurate thermography inspection solutions. By utilizing AI-based thermal anomaly and root cause detection options, they can prioritize critical issues and provide deliverables in reporting that complies with IEC TS 62446–3 standards. This helps to maximize energy production for solar sites. To get started with SiteMark you can request a demo from their support team.
One unified platform that connects site data, teams and processes enabling you to increase productivity and reduce costs.
Source: Sitemark
They have transformed the solar and construction inspection process using intuitive and cloud-based project tracking software for drones. This software enables asset owners, EPC contractors, and O&M providers to improve productivity and avoid costly mistakes.
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.
Specifics to Choosing the Sitemark Solution
Price: Sitemark does not list prices for processing data or for their main application. For pricing information, they request you contact them and request a demo.
User Support: Sitemark does have an extensive resources tab with access to their blog site, webinars, support, and research. They do have available some support documentation with various articles corresponding to their platform. They do have a YouTube channel with some information and active LinkedIn and Facebook pages.
Free Trial: Sitemark does not specifically list information about a free trial for prospective clients, but they will setup a live demo to see the details that are important to your company. Please talk with a sales representative for more information about this.
Report Generation: Sitemark three solar solutions on three different platforms, each one providing different reports and data analysis depending on the options chosen.
Ease of Use: Sitemark is straight forward in their approach to data collection and how it is processed through their system. They offer data exports in multiple formats and make use of CAD files for ease of sharing.
Machine Learning: Sitemark does not specifically state if they utilize machine learning technology with their data analysis or not.
Deliverables: The deliverables include visibility into the operational health of the solar plant, baseline for future inspections, and power loss estimations.
Supported Drones: Sitemark supports a large number of drones by several different manufacturers. Fuse Platform is compatible with many drones and cameras for acquiring and processing. Check out the complete list of drones and sensor requirements.
Supported Thermal and RGB Cameras: Sitemark works with a large number of sensors and RGB cameras. For the best up to date compatibility check their support documentation.
Summary of Sitemark
Founded in 2016, Sitemark offers integrated software and aerial inspection solutions, enabling digitalized design, construction, and operational management throughout the entire solar site lifecycle. Today, in more than 71 countries, the world’s leading renewable energy companies rely on Sitemark to increase productivity and mitigate risks. Sitemark is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium with a diverse and passionate team.
2. Above Surveying
Above Surveying is based out of Essex Great Britain and was founded in 2016 to support solar asset customers around the world. Their stated mission is to “speed up the renewable energy transition through innovation.” Their solutions span the entire solar plant lifecycle from forensic construction to plant management. They work with solar energy companies to deliver plant data and analytics through SolarGain, their processing application.
“Above have been inspecting our portfolio for the past 4 years and the build-up of historic health data is proving hugely valuable for us. Toucan has always recognized the potential in historic data to help predict the future, and with Above and its digital platform, we are building insights not possible through any other means."
Dan Kirk, Managing Director of Toucan Energy
SolarGain is above all, a reporting platform, that offers a host of analytic tools and asset management. You can access, share, and filter inspection reports. The reporting system is robust and very detailed. Through their reporting system you can identify data correlation and diagnose issues and look for trends that might become an issue down the road. It provides you with a portfolio health report, defines root causes of issues, and keeps track of resolutions to the issues found. According to Above Surveying, they have been collecting thermographic module data since 2015 and ensure IEC standards are met for EPC contracts.
Specifics to Choosing the Above Surveying Solution
Price: Above Surveying does not list prices for processing data or for their main application SolarGain. For pricing information, they request you contact them and set up a demo.
User Support: Above Surveying has an extensive blog site with news and information that is helpful, but they do not have any listed support documentation for SolarGain specifically. They do have a YouTube channel with some information but none that is current or specifically related to SolarGain at this time.
Free Trial: Above Surveying is open to providing a free trial for prospective clients. Please talk with a sales representative for more information about this.
Report Generation: SolarGain reporting is one of their specializations and they have extensive reports and options available, and all the reporting is cloud-based. Their reporting uses data correlations to identify issues and then outputs a baseline, asset history, and solar plant health. The reports estimates power loss due to anomalies then tracks the fixes.
Each report will provide an overview of the solar plant health and a detailed view of each module’s state. They identify, assess, and address potential performance issues with the data, and provide the user with a “portfolio report” of information which provides anomalies on inspection data organized by site, type of anomaly, and anomalies by manufacturer. Some of the additional information provided by their output processing includes:
- Geo-spatial solar plant map
- Geo-located data
- Power loss estimation
- Advanced data search
- Normalized thermographic inspection data
- Compare historic reports
- Build & share punch lists
- View reports on mobile
- Assign root cause and status
Ease of Use: SolarGain is straight forward in their approach to data collection and how it is processed through their system. They make sharing across multiple inspection reports possible, and you have quick access to share asset reports with customers.
Machine Learning: SolarGain states they do utilize machine learning technology to produce their solar plant health reports through image localizing, anomaly identification and classification. While they state machine learning is part of their reporting, they do not explain exactly how they use the data they collect to create the reports, how much data they have collected to date, or over what time frame it has been collected. Reporting from 2018 shows they have inspected 8.53 million modules and identified 205,000 anomalies. They do also state that they have worked on over 2500 solar assets which are used in their data collection process.
Deliverables: The deliverables include visibility into the operational health of the solar plant, baseline for future inspections, and power loss estimations. This includes:
- Orthomosaics: a detailed top-down 2D image map view of the entire site
- Digital Surface Model (DSM): a full digital elevation model of the site showing elevation at the pixel level (useful for confirming terrain profiles).
- Above Linework: a line-work map of your site including contours and labels of important features like vegetation, water, power lines, and other obstacles that may be potential sources of shading or obstruction.
- Panoramic Imagery: interactive panoramic images show potential shading from mountains and other landscapes (this is an optional deliverable).
- Summary Report: this provides observations on-site for access to the site, soil-type, and potential hazards or obstructions (this is an optional deliverable).
- Raw Imagery and 3D Project Files: provides the user with these additional files (optional)
Purpose: To produce detailed and accurate solar plant health reports of solar inspection data.
Supported Drones: Above Surveying does not publish a list of supported drones, but they do state that they can work with any drone that can carry the required payload. It was noted that most of their customers use the DJI platform of drones. For an updated list you would need to reach out and contact the company for specifics regarding your equipment.
Supported Thermal and RGB Cameras: The preference is a FLIR sensor for thermography, but they do use DJI thermal sensors such as the H20T.
Summary of Above Surveying
Above Surveying has a vision to provide a comprehensive platform to run solar plants from inspection to processing to data management. They have a suite of solutions to span the life cycle of plant management down to the forensic cell level and they serve customers worldwide. Their data processing solution, SolarGain, has a robust reporting system, provides a cloud-based reporting module, and has a long list of deliverables available to the user. For detailed information regarding your operation, it would help to reach out to the company directly or request a demo.
3.Volateq
Volateq is a relatively new player in the solar energy industry, having been founded in 2020. However, the company’s founders have nearly a decade of experience in the research and development of solar energy, working on various projects at the Plataforma Solar De Almeria (PSA) in Spain and the German Aerospace Center. This experience has given them the insight and expertise to create an innovative solution for autonomous flight with drones and flexible condition monitoring of solar fields.
Volateq’s product is an easy-to-use software for automated condition monitoring of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaic (PV) plants. The company partners with portfolio owners and asset managers to detect and correct anomalies that affect energy production, with the goal of accelerating a global sustainable energy supply.
“Volateq makes it possible for power plants to realize autonomous and flexible condition monitoring of solar fields, which at the same time is far cheaper and quicker than the state of the art. Our product is an easy-to-use software for automated condition and soiling monitoring of CSP and PV plants."
Volateq Founders
Specifics to Choosing the Volateq Solution
Price: Volateq pricing is organized into two parts. A one-time initial setup fee for each installed MWp and a subscription fee for running the analysis. The pricing for analyses starts with € 45,-/MWp (approximately $48 USD) for very small plants/portfolios and is decreasing with the size of the plant and the number of measurements. The more measurements you take the lower the price gets.
User Support: Volateq support is directly with the company representatives. They do not have extensive support documentation on their website at this time but handle support on a person to person basis.
Free Trial: Volateq does not specifically list information about a free trial for prospective clients, but they will setup a live demo to see the details that are important to your company. Please talk with a sales representative for more information about this.
Report Generation: Volateq data evaluation takes the raw drone data then turns it into valuable insights within a few hours. The results are then accessible in the web app.
Ease of Use: Volateq is straight forward in their approach to data collection and how it is processed through their system. In case of new assets they gather some initial information to built a set up for a digital twin in their system. Once the asset is set up, drone flight routes will be provided directly to the controller of your drone. Flight routes are sent on demand from our web portal. In the field, a drone pilot launches the drone according to the flight routes sent by Volateq. After the flight the pilot uploads the image data to the web portal. The flight evaluation then turns data into valuable insights within a few hours. The results to the data analysis are all stored in the web app. You can find the entire history of a plant and share results with anyone using only an e-mail address.
Machine Learning: Volateq uses image processing, DLR technology and AI fused to a powerful easy to use tool for their machine learning technology.
Deliverables: The deliverables include visibility into the operational health of the solar plant, baseline for future inspections, and power loss estimations.
Supported Drones: Volateq states that you can use standard off-the-shelf drones. Their clients have found DJI Mavic 3T to work perfectly and easy to operate with their software solution as an example.
Supported Thermal and RGB Cameras: Volateq works with a large number of sensors and RGB cameras.
Summary of Volateq
Volatteq has a relatively small team but they are well connected in the solar energy market with their many years of activity in industry-related research. They are using this expertise to offer a solution that is cheaper and faster than the current manual and ground based systems available today. Their software offers user-friendly and reliable airborne condition monitoring for solar plants to improve performance, productivity, safety, and cost efficiency.
Overall, Volateq has a promising vision and mission to make a positive impact in the UAV and solar energy industries. To partner with Volateq you can contact them directly from their website.
4. Scopito
Scopito, a Denmark based company with offices in New York, was founded in 2009 with a stated mission to “enable the future of visual inspections.” They do this through their software solution striving to achieve damage assessment in a single click. Their software is said to be flexible, fast, and full featured, but they are mainly focused on creating value for their customers.
“Scopito is hands down the best drone data analysis software tool on the market for energy infrastructure inspection. Measure leverages its intuitive design, powerful functionality, and customizability on a daily basis to serve the diverse needs of our Fortune 500 energy customers."
Scopito is a data management system which optimizes workflow and makes it easier for people to store, analyze, and share large amounts of image data. All inspection data gets uploaded to Scopito to generate a smart report in combination with maps to easily share data and inspections with customers, colleagues, or inspection crew.
They support several different industries, including Solar PV systems. They provide thermal image processing to “look inside your solar assets” with their thermal analysis tool. This provides measured temperatures in a single click and an x-ray-like report on your solar assets. You can rank anomalies in six different levels, annotate remedy actions and leave comments on each anomaly. Once the data has been processed you have several options to download the reports (in PDF or CSV files) and share the data with external or embedded links.
Specifics to Choosing the Scopito Solution
Price: Scopito bases their pricing on a per MW inspected rate. You can upload as many images as you want, and you only pay for the MW inspected. This includes no feature restrictions and access to your data for one year. As an example, you can inspect 100 MWs for approximately $2,000, but they have rates as low as $1/asset inspected. They have an interactive price slider available to price out your mission.
Their pay-as-you-go prices start at $1/asset, which includes one year access to the data, and up to a 50% discount on asset access renewals. For an enterprise license you will need to contact them for exact pricing, but it includes a tailor-made pricing plan for your individual company.
User Support: Scopito has extensive support documentation from guides and sample reports to a full knowledge base with over 50 articles and videos to answer any questions. And if you still need assistance they have a support ticket system for questions, problems, or feature requests.
Free Trial: Scopito offers a 14-day trial on their software that begins once you have signed up for their services. You can also book a demo prior to signing up for the service, so you can see everything in action before starting your trial.
Report Generation: The reporting by Scopito is available to download as a PDF or CSV and provides an overview map with the number of images used in the various sections and how many anomalies were found. It then sorts the anomalies by severity into six different levels and diagnoses the issues found. The report can then group the issues identified, and custom comments can be made.
Then the anomalies generate an information sheet with GPS position and a higher resolution detailed image. Each section of the report, from the front page, summary, index, to the maps are editable by the user to show specific details, or to filter out certain details that are not needed.
Ease of Use: Scopito has a well-designed user interface with an easy-to-read overview screen of the data processed. Faulty panels are easy to annotate manually or using their AI, the overview map provides exact locations of the annotations made, and powerful filtering options let you find images quickly. You can invite stakeholders to view the inspection data directly on Scopito, a great feature included in the cost of the software.
Within the application you have a dashboard that shows a graphical view of your inspections, the number of images used, how many users have access to the data, and how many companies are represented in your data. The inspection section allows you to choose a specific mission, which then gives you the inspection details. A map overlay of the inspection lets you quickly zoom in or out and click on any anomaly to see the details found during the flight.
Once you have a hotspot selected, you can rank the severity, provide a remedy action, a repair cost, or write comments. When ranking severity and choosing the annotation (hotspot, shading, etc.) you can also create your own annotation type, and each type can have their own sub-type. So, if you need to make a detailed structure of annotations this is possible, and quite easy to create. All of this makes for a logical, easy-to-navigate user interface and experience.
Machine Learning: Scopito’s AI inspection annotates faults found in your images quickly and accurately. It does this through models of machine learning using past data collected, making every new inspection better. They offer a fantastic look at their machine learning in an article AI Explainedfor anyone interested in learning more about how this works.
Deliverables: Scopito offers anomaly labeling and localization, a site drawing overlay map, and detailed images from anomalies found. It also offers a detailed information sheet for each individual anomaly including severity levels.
Purpose: Scopito alleviates the pain of managing large data sets with fast loading images, smart keystrokes, and AI fault detection, and includes all essential information in your reports.
Cloud or Desktop Based: Scopito is both desktop and cloud based. The cloud-based platform keeps your data easily accessible and safe and allows you to share inspection results with anyone in the workshop you set up for the mission.
Supported Drones: Scopito does not list the drones supported but does indicate they will accept most data produced by current drone models. For specific equipment they request you contact them to determine the proper data output.
Supported Thermal and RGB Cameras: They recommend using a high resolution 640×512 fully radiometric camera. A dual sensor is ideal for processing data but not necessary. They note that all GPS data must be saved as separate EXIF data files.
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.
Summary of Scopito Surveying
Scopito provides a high-quality product for an economic value. They are priced by the MW to save drone companies money when processing large amounts of data for smaller inspections. They have a very well designed and easy-to-use interface and output sharable asset reports for you and your clients.
A focus for Scopito is their integration with artificial intelligence and machine learning built into their solutions, a feature that produces an advanced AI-analysis of solar assets. This includes processing for thermal images in detail using their thermal analysis tools. Scopito would be a great choice for smaller missions with high volumes of data. They provide good support with software that feels lightweight yet powerful.
5. Raptor Maps
Raptor Maps is a Boston-based start-up founded in 2015 by MIT engineers and has built up a high volume of experience in the PV industry. Their software provides data products across the solar lifecycle in a standardized scalable platform analyzed with machine learning and quality controlled by experts. Their stated objectives are:
“To help those who own and manage portfolios of solar assets use drones and convert that data into accurate, useful, and actionable analytic reports that help owners maintain and optimize the physical condition of their assets."
Source: 2020 Raptor Maps Booklet
Starting in 2017 they moved to focusing entirely on data analysis for solar systems optimized for AI-enabled software. In 2021 alone they analyzed datasets across 20.24 GW of over 66 million modules in 32 countries. This data consisted of 2,587 inspections with drones and 356 with manned aircraft.
Today Raptor Maps builds AI-enabled software that allows solar PV systems to use drone technology for efficient inspections by processing hundreds of thousands of aerial images. It then classifies and prioritizes 100% of all anomalies and provides the exact onsite location of each anomaly to be addressed. Then these results are presented inside the software and are available as downloadable reports for solar companies to use to optimize and increase plant production.
The resulting asset provided to the user is a very detailed, precise report, that can be downloaded for the client company to use to identify possible energy production loss from anomalies and will help to optimize their solar farm performance.
Raptor Maps offers three different levels of PV inspections, an Overview Level, a Standard Level, and a Comprehensive level. These levels differ in flight altitude, data capture time, level of analysis, and the level of detail in the final deliverables. Each level provides a finer detail and resolution to match the mission being flown.
“We’ve had O&M teams fly a few sites and our team loves the Raptor Maps reports. We’ve updated our contracts to require EPCs to use Raptor Maps at commissioning, and the O&M team to use annually. As the long-term asset owners, Raptor Maps adds immediate value so it’s mutually beneficial for us to push their technology into the industry."
Ben Hunter, Director of Asset Management for Madison Energy Investments
The Overview inspection is used for flights with the highest altitude where the inspections are done at a higher rate of speed, allowing for large sites to be inspected quickly. Standard level inspections take a balanced approach to altitude, speed, and site data. The data collected provides performance of 100% of the PV modules. Comprehensive level inspections are performed with IEC compliance standards in mind. This level provides the highest detail, sub-module level granular data, and gives exact temperature accuracy sorted by module and string-level anomalies.
Specifics to Choosing the Raptor Maps Solution
Price: The price of Raptor Maps service depends on the type of inspection, the systems’ size, and number of systems being inspected. They are geared towards enterprise customers but are willing to work with any inspection mission you might need to fly.
Raptor Maps does not publish their inspection prices and they ask each customer to contact them to provide details about the project to provide an accurate quote.
User Support: Raptor Maps work one on one with each customer, so their level of support is very high and hands on. In addition to their personal support, they have an extensive Tech Docs page that will provide a lot of help and documentation.
Free Trial: They do not state if they offer a free trial but since each customer is handled individually you could ask your sales representative about this.
Report Generation: Reports available for download for each inspection show site summaries, site overview, overall findings, an anomaly map, and a breakdown of point-by-point locations for each anomaly found.
Ease of Use: Raptor Maps is relatively easy to use. They provide you with a login where you provide your information, upload your data, and view the maps. This is done through their Raptor App located at https://app.raptormaps.com. The web and mobile portal give you an unlimited number of users, including from outside your organization, so sharing and collaborating information is an option.
Machine Learning: Raptor Maps provides autonomous analysis with a fast turn-around time, AI reviews and classifies thermal and visual spectrum data. According to Raptor Maps their results are quality assured by trained specialists.
Deliverables:
- Reports: View inspection findings online, or print and download in .PDF, .KML, and spreadsheet formats for field use. They also provide anomaly labeling, localization, and site map overlays.
- Clarifying Tables: Tables provide a concise display of inspection findings, including financial impact and anomaly priorities.
- Interactive Map View: Visually review the sites’ condition with an interactive, color-coded, geo-referenced map.
- Customize Performance Impact: Adjust power factors to have performance estimates match the site’s specific power breakdown.
- Site Specific Financial Impact Estimates: Input the PPA rate and peak sunlight hours for each PV system for accurate financial impact estimates.
- Editable Reports: All deliverables offer ability to edit, filter, and sort to present findings and analytics the way you need.
Purpose: Their mission is to enable the solar industry to scale efficiently. They create thermal maps, analyze individual thermal images, and provide reports for solar clients.
Cloud or Desktop Based: The software is primarily desktop focused but the app allows for report viewing.
Supported Drones: DJI models M200, M210, M210+RTK, M200 V2, M300, M600, Inspire 1, Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, M30T. Autel Eco II Dual 640R (V1, V2, Enterprise Models). Sensefly Ebee (Overview Inspection Only).
Supported Thermal and RGB Cameras: Raptor Maps only supports thermal cameras with a pixel resolution of 640×512 or higher, and thermal cameras must also be radiometric. Supported thermal and RGB cameras include the DJI XT, XT2, X3, X4S, X5, X5S, H20T, FLIR Duo Pro R, Autel Built-in Camera, Sensefly Duet T, SODA, SODA 3D, Aeria X.
Summary of Raptor Maps
Raptor Maps provides a complete and comprehensive post-processing solution for PV inspections. Their software takes the guesswork out of solar farm inspections and increases the speed and accuracy over manually processing collected data. For drone solar inspection missions, they provide an extensive asset report for the end user and their software is presented in easy-to-understand inspection levels.
Another benefit, which is sometimes hard to quantify, is having your own project manager to speak with when you have questions. They have real live sales associates and data collection specialists you can speak with. The value of this service cannot be discounted in a world where most support is offloaded to automated systems. Overall, Raptor Maps provides an enormous amount of value for their services.
Post Processing Honorable Mentions
Pix4D Mapper
Pix4D is a company that provides multiple solutions for many different fields and industries. We visited Pix4D Capture in the first part of this article as a solution for flight planning, here we will explore Pix4D Mapper for post-processing.
“Large site surveying can be very long with manual labour, but working with drones makes data collection quick, and Pix4Dmapper gave us the accurate, quality results that our clients needed."
Alvaro Ruiz, CEO of CoatzaDrone
Pix4D Mapper is a photogrammetry software for professional drone mapping and is designed to process solar inspection data. This includes RGB and thermal imagery data to process and generate RGB and thermal orthomosaics assets. Pix4D Mapper is one of the only solutions that supports thermographic image processing alongside camera calibration algorithms.
This means they adjust their processing for specific issues pertaining to thermal imaging like drift which can create non-uniform images over the sensor. This happens by taking a weighted average of the pixels in the original images that correspond to each pixel and then Mapper processes the images using a color balancing technique, adjusting the intensity of the colors for each image so they fit together better. The result is to produce a more accurate and pleasing result in the reporting for the end user.
You can use the Pix4D Capture process directly with Mapper, or you can import your image data to Mapper using the desktop software. The software allows you to digitize your mission, measure and inspect the data, then collaborate and share the data processed with clients and plant managers.
Specifics to Choosing the Pix4D Mapper Solution
Price: Mapper has three different price levels based on your needs. The most economical version is $291.67/month ($3,500 USD) with an annual subscription, $350/month on a month-to-month basis, or a one-time purchase price of $4,990. Each of these options include unlimited desktop processing with high-resolution outputs, personal support, and upgrades. The monthly options allow up to 2 devices to be used simultaneously and the one-time purpose allows for 1 device connection at a time.
User Support: Mapper has a vast and extensive support network included with their application. They have over 100 documents for everything from software installation to troubleshooting available and they have an active community of users along with direct support through sales and technical support personnel. Pix4D also has an up-to-date blog section and an active YouTube channel to assist with just about any question you might have using Mapper. They do make an offline version of their user manual available for download, which is a nice addition to their documentation.
Free Trial: Mapper does have a free 15-day trial on their stable release version. This is available for immediate download once you have signed up for an account with them (there is no obligation made when signing up for an account).
Report Generation: Mapper provides a detailed Quality Report that can be exported and downloaded after processing. The final report constructed for you is based on the options you choose for the Quality Report.
Some options include a summary of data processed, a quality check on the data provided including the full dataset, camera optimizations, matching calibrated images, and geofencing information. It provides a preview of the orthomosaic and corresponding Digital Surface Model (DSM) maps, and then goes through the calibration details. This includes initial image positions, a computer image of GCPs, and manual tie point positions (displayed in a map), the absolute camera positions, and the overlap flown in the mission.
In addition to the Quality Report offered, Pix4D Mapper can also generate these outputs:
- Camera parameters (Internal parameters, External parameters, Bingo, SSK)
- Undistorted images
- Densified point cloud (.las, .laz, .xyz, .ply)
- Digital surface model (Grid DSM, Raster DSM)
- Digital terrain model (DTM: Raster DTM)
- Orthomosaic (GeoTIFF, KML file, Google Maps HTML file)
- Index map (GeoTIFF, Colored KML file, Grid Shapefile)
- 3D textured mesh (.obj, .fbx, .dxf, .ply, .pdf, .osgb, .slpk)
- Contour lines (shp, .pdf, .dxf)
- Video animation (.mp4, .mkv, .avi)
- 3D Digitized objects
Ease of Use: Mapper is a Windows based desktop platform that runs on Windows 10 (there is no current support for Windows 11, but it is in development). The application is a bit on the complex side when comparing it to a mobile application, but with that comes a host of features and options. To ease the learning curve they have a detailed walkthrough of completing a project from A to Z using Mapper, including processing the thermal image data and outputting the data to other software applications.
Machine Learning: Mapper uses what Pix4D calls automatic point cloud classification for their machine learning. This is an automated classification that distinguishes objects with a machine learning process to increase accuracy and performance.
Deliverables: Deliverables for Mapper include orthomosaic maps, anomaly labeling, anomaly localization, site drawing overlay, 2D, 2.5D, and 3D outputs, fly-through animation, and flight paths (downloaded in .mp4), and undistorted (corrected) images.
Purpose: Mapper is designed to process solar RGB and thermal imagery data. The software takes your captured data, digitizes it to then measure, inspect, and process the data to generate RGB and thermal orthomosaic asset reports that can be shared with the users.
Cloud or Desktop Based: Mapper is a desktop based application and requires Windows 10 and does have a detailed recommended systems requirements set up. Windows 11, MacOSX, iOS, nor Android are not supported at this time. They do not have a cloud-based platform specifically for Mapper.
Supported Drones: Mapper can process images taken from virtually any image acquisition app and they have an extensive list of currently supported drones. They do have several drones that have not been tested but recommend doing your own testing to determine compatibility. At the time of this article, the drones they officially support include:
- DJI Inspire 1 (X3, X5, XT), Inspire 2 (X4S, X5S), Mavic Air, Air 2S, Mavic Mini, Mavic Pro, Mavic 2 Zoom, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual, Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, Mavic 3, Matrice 100 (X3, X5, XT), Matrice 200, Matrice 200 V2, Matrice 210, Matrice 210 RTK, Matrice 210 V2, Matrice 210 V2 RTK, Matrice 300 RTK, Matrice 600, Phantom 3 Advanced, Phantom 3 Professional, Phantom 3 Standard, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Pro V1, Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, and the Spark.
- Parrot drones include the Anafi, Anafi Thermal, Anafi USA, Anafi Ai, AgEagle eBee series, Albris, Bebop 2 with Skycontroller 2, Bluegrass, and the Skycontroller 2/3 Controllers.
- Yuneec drones include the H520 and the ST16/ST16S controllers.
- Autel drones include the Evo I, Evo II 8K, Evo II Pro 6K, and the Eve II Dual
- Skydio drones include the 2/2+, X2
- Other manufacturers and models include AeroVironment Quantix, Sentera, Wingtra and Delair UX11
Supported Thermal and RGB Cameras: DJI supported cameras include: Zenmuse XT, XT2, X3, X4S, P1, X5, X5S, and X5R. The Yuneec E90, S.O.D.A. series, Albris, Aeria X, S110 RGB/NIR/RE, Sequoia, Sequoia+, Altum, Altum-PT, RedEdge, RedEdge-P, RedEdge- MX / M, SlantRange-3P, Sentera 6X, La Quinta DB2-Vision, Sony Alpha 7R IV, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1RM2, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX220, and the Sony UMC-R10C. It should also be noted that they support DSLR cameras from Sony, Canon, Nikon, Delair, Hasselblad, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Pioneer, Ricoh, Tetracam, and GoPro cameras.
Summary of Pix4D Mapper
Pix4D Mapper is a comprehensive post-processing solution for solar inspection data. Mapper, a Windows based desktop platform, offers great detailed reporting and deliverables along with a vast support network.
Mapper works with just about any image capture device and has official support for non-DJI drones. They have unique features like their thermal orthomosaics and Pix4D can be a one stop software solution if you use their Pix4D Capture for your flight planning. This is not the most simplistic solution, or the cheapest, but what they offer in exchange can advance the assets you provide to clients and managers.
DroneDeploy
DroneDeploy boasts of mapping over 200 million acres in 180 countries on 400,000 different job sites. Their stated mission is to “make the skies open and accessible for everyone.” Their business consists of data capture, analysis of the data, and then processing the data to output asset reports for their customers. The platform is great for companies of any size and allows them to improve their workflow through data storage, scalable image processing, and shareable real-time drone maps and 3D models. For renewable energy assets through aerial maps and 3D models, DroneDeploy automates analysis and reporting to speed up the site survey process, standardize the deliverables, reduce direct risk to workers conducting inspections, and improve collaboration with stakeholders.
“DroneDeploy automates analysis and reporting to speed up the site survey process, standardize the deliverables, reduce direct risk to workers conducting inspections, and improve collaboration with stakeholders."
Source: DroneDeploy
They also have professional services that can fly sub-contract drone missions for you which then use their processing services. While they do more than just post-processing, their processing solutions are tailored for the PV industry. This includes site surveys to assess project feasibility for solar farms that have not been built yet, project management systems to streamline documentation, and solar module inspection processing.
Important to solar drone inspections, DroneDeploy is one of the only post-processing solutions that has the option to process and make thermal maps within DroneDeploy. Thermal maps are 2D maps showing the thermal (temperature) information from infrared imaging cameras for each pixel. Thermal mapping performed by drones detects subtle temperature variations across large surfaces to locate potential problem areas and it does this through using thermal drone cameras alongside the RGB cameras. These thermal cameras produce a map of solar assets that can visually show anomalies within the modules down to the cell level.
DroneDeploy has an enhanced thermal flight option when using dual-camera drones like the XT2 and Mavic Dual. Thermal “Live Maps” is available for iOS devices (2016 or later) and provides a quick way to capture thermal maps in real time. If this is important to your mission, DroneDeploy is going to be a great option, and they have a detailed explanation of thermal maps if you want to read more about how it works.
“DroneDeploy has helped us stay on track with many of our projects; on average we have saved 4 hours a week in site analysis checking as well as potential risks. This has helped us spot issues and check subcontractor work, which has saved us $2,500 on average for each project. We now have the peace of mind knowing each project is visually documented and stored within our project management software. ~Jose A. Rivera, Director of Operational Excellence, Stiles Construction”
They state they are working to unify the commercial drone industry under one roof by “providing the platform to connect developers, hardware partners, and pilots with tools to integrate aerial data into day-to-day operations.” Another unique aspect to DroneDeploy is their nonprofit arm called the Flylanthropy program which helps nonprofit organizations to improve their data collection, analysis, and communications.
Specifics to Choosing the DroneDeploy Solution
Price: DroneDeploy has two different package prices, one for “Teams” and another for “Individuals.” The Teams package has two different tiers, a Base-Team level, and an Enterprise level. Both commercial levels require a demo request for pricing. The Individual Level also has two tiers, an Individual Level which is $499 per month (or $399 per month billed annually) and an Advanced Level which is $599 per month billed annually.
User Support: DroneDeploy offers a wide variety of support options including extensive learning resources on their website. They have webinars, ebooks, videos, and a help center that supplies a host of documentation from getting started to troubleshooting.
Free Trial: They offer a 14-day trial, which is limited to 10 maps and models.
Report Generation: Their “Issue Report” allows you to create printable or shareable PDF documents of your items, including the type of issue, status, and the summary associated with the issue. You can access all the reports from their website or app and each report can be edited according to your needs. The issue report includes an overview of the total number of issues reported, and then organize them each by type. Each issue will display the type, summary, date created and the status of that issue.
For smaller rooftop inspections, you can use DroneDeploy’s Roof Report to accurately measure roofs or generate 3D models for site planning and energy harvest estimates. Both maps and 3D models can quickly be integrated into industry software for an efficient and improved design process.
Ease of Use: DroneDeploy makes it easy to collaborate from anywhere. You have the flexibility to share on site or back in the office where you can explore maps, photos, videos, and panoramas on any device. You can add comments, annotations, and measurements to any map in 2D or 3D, receive updates, and access the latest data. They also can merge to existing workflows so you can connect multiple projects together.
Machine Learning: DroneDeploy utilizes AI-powered insights to increase detail and accuracy. The more you fly, the smarter the engine gets to deliver outputs tailored to your inspection mission.
Deliverables: Deliverables include a stand assessment PDF report directly shareable over SMS, Email, and most messaging platforms, an interactive map that allows you to review results and overlay data, and a detailed analysis for each image. Data is synced back to the web portal for easy viewing and sharing.
Purpose: To make drone data accessible to anyone, anywhere, transforming the way businesses collect, manage, and interpret drone data. They generate precise 2D maps, 3D models, and 360 panoramas, radiometric thermal maps compatible with FLIR, analyze data to detect anomalies, and host drone imagery, photos, videos, and panoramas.
Cloud or Desktop Based: DroneDeploy has both desktop and mobile apps that both support cloud-based services. They allow up to 10,000 images at once uploaded to their cloud service without specialized hardware or software. They also have scalable cloud infrastructure options available.
Supported Drones: The DroneDeploy Map Engine lets paying customers upload and process your imagery from any UAV setup with embedded geotags. Once the data has been processed, you will also be able to make use of all the additional DroneDeploy functionality (such as sharing, annotations, and analysis).
Processing imagery from the Phantom 4 Multispectral, MicaSense, SenseFly, Mavic Air 2 or the WingtraOne is officially supported. RTK processing from DJI drone image sets not taken in DroneDeploy can be processed on Individual plans and above.
The following are supported drones for post-processing: Inspire 2, Mavic Air, Mavic Air 2, Mavic Pro, Mavic Pro Platinum, Mavic 2 Pro (regular + zoom), Mavic 2 Enterprise Zoom, Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual, Mavic 3 Enterprise drone using the RC Pro Enterprise Smart controller, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Advanced, Phantom 4 Pro (including Obsidian), Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, Matrice 100, Matrice 200, Matrice 210, Matrice 210 RTK, Matrice 200 V2, Matrice 210 V2, Matrice 210 RTK V2, Matrice 300 RTK, Skydio 2, Skydio 2+, Skydio X2, Skydio X2E, Inspire 1, DJI Air 2S, Mavic Mini, Mavic Mini 2, Mavic 3, Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, Phantom 3 and prior, Matrice 600 Pro, Wingtra, Parrot, Yuneec, Flyability Elios, Autel, and the SenseFly.
Supported Thermal and RGB Cameras: X3, X4S, X5, X5S, X7, XT, XT2, H20, H20T.
There is a comprehensive list of supported cameras and lenses on their site, but they do make a few notations. The P1, XT2, Z30, and L1 payloads are NOT supported at this time for flight when using the Matrice 300 RTK. Processing is supported when flown in DJI GS Pro. DroneDeploy says all “Officially Supported” cameras and lenses are tested with DroneDeploy rigorously, but results with cameras other than those listed above may vary.
Summary of DroneDeploy
DroneDeploy aims to make their services available to any size company or individual, so if you are a beginner or just getting started in the industry, they may be a great fit. They offer a wide range of solutions for different industries, including PV inspections, and they can cover vast solar farm array projects to small rooftop inspections. Unique to DroneDeploy is their thermal mapping solution. This is an important part of solar inspections, but DroneDeploy is one of the only solutions to offer thermal mapping within the industry.
Surveying potential solar development areas through their processing solutions is another aspect to their services. This would be highly beneficial to a company in the feasibility stage of planning a new solar farm project. To get started with DroneDeploy they set potential customers up with a 14-day trial or you can schedule a tailored demo for more enterprise solutions. Overall DroneDeploy has a high-quality product with many options for those just getting started all the way to detailed Enterprise solutions.
WESII
WESii is an innovative Italian start-up that has advanced the drone inspection industry using their unique cutting-edge technology. They have a strong background in multispectral remote sensing, which they leveraged to provide multispectral inspection services for businesses worldwide. They specialize in services for a wide variety of applications, such as solar plants, agricultural, naval, and landfill site monitoring.
One of the company’s core strengths combines the use of drones with Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) for automated image recognition, resulting in reliable and cost-efficient services. Their focus is on the PV Industry, offering aerial inspection and AI-based diagnosis services for PV modules.
They have two ways to onboard new customers into their platform, first, they bring you on board the WESii platform by adding all your historical data to their web-portal and give you a 3-month trial of the WESii Portal. For those needing enterprise level access, clients can upload all new European plants and access their analytics tools from within the WESii App.
WESii has developed complex proprietary AI algorithms that allow for the identification and classification of thermal anomalies in PV modules. This process helps to provide reliable diagnostics of the collected images, which are then analyzed to produce an easy, accessible, and accurate view of the PV modules’ health status. This process is highly efficient and accurate, ensuring that businesses can make informed decisions regarding maintenance and repair of PV modules. To get started with WESii you can request a demo from their portal page.
Top 5 Questions to Ask When Choosing the Right Drone Software for Your Business
Choosing the right software solution for your solar business can have a lasting impact on the overall success and profitability of your drone inspection program. It is always important to do your own research and find answers to the questions unique to your company before making that final decision. Each point below should spawn other questions directly related to your specific business model.
Software development advances rapidly. Today new software comes to market faster than we can understand the full benefits they offer. Be vigilant in finding out what works best for your company. Most likely, there will not be a one-size-fits-all solution. And that is a good thing.
Software today can be more made to order, customized for your needs, tailored to make your business grow and thrive. Solutions should not be “too cheap,” will not be a perfect 100% fit, and should grow as your company grows. If you are running a solar drone inspection business, hopefully the information in this article will give you a great head start in finding the best software fit for your company. But always be sure to do your own research, as every business is unique.
1. Clearly Define Your Software Needs & Expectations
What is your business plan? What business problem are you trying to solve with a software solution, and do you even need a software solution? You do not want to waste valuable time and resources looking at potential solutions that are clearly outside your criteria. For solar inspections, some good questions to ask would be:
- How often are your sites inspected?
- Are you looking to reduce O&M costs?
- Do you want to inspect sites more frequently?
- Are you looking to outsource your inspections?
- Which inspection method(s) do you currently use?
- Are these inspections comprehensive enough?
- Is keeping track of anomalies a challenge?
- Is plant downtime required?
- What are the inspection costs?
- How long does the inspection process take?
- What is the dataset turnaround time?
Above all, define exactly what you think you need and what you expect to receive out of any solution you might choose. Talk to respected businesses or leaders in your industry. Competition collaboration usually ends up helping both parties involved. Learning from those with experience can further help in your decision-making process.
2. Compile a List of Software Tools Available
We have tried to do that for you here in this article, but there are many variations and options available. Making a list is a tangible way to do the typical pros/cons and process of elimination. Get creative in your list building options. What software solutions are people talking about in forums or community boards, and how does that translate into what your goals are for your business?
You may want to create a spreadsheet with all the available information compiled together. You can rate each of the reference points yourself or just use a yes/no question. Some points of reference you might want to use could be things we reviewed in this article along with:
- Do they meet your needs and expectations?
- What list of features do they have?
- What are their deliverables?
- Is the software user friendly, is the user interface easy to navigate and understand?
- How much will each solution cost?
- What is their market share, or market presence, in the industry?
- What are their user ratings if they have any?
- Do you know anyone using this solution you can talk to?
- Do they offer training, support, and documentation?
- Is the company actively developing, promoting, or active in the community?
You can learn a good deal of information about the tendencies of a software through problems and issues people are having along with the benefits. Another helpful avenue is to speak with people in your network groups. Talk to your Facebook groups, LinkedIn, Twitter, and those places you are familiar with where you can quickly sort through the noise for the real information.
3. Determine Your Budget
This may be one of the biggest issues in your decision-making process, but it should not be anywhere near the only one. Software today is expensive. Development of any software product, especially those well-established products, took time and resources for a company to build. They had to invest in teams of software engineers, test, support, and plan for future features. So, certainly do not look for the cheapest possible solution as the only criteria. Some questions you might want to answer would be:
- Will you need to raise funding, or have you received funding specific to this software?
- Are there recurring costs?
- Do they charge for renewals and updates?
- Is management on board with the change?
- Who will be using the software, and are they on board?
- Will employees need training, if so, what is the cost?
- How often will the software be used?
- Will there be a ROI? If so, how long will it take?
- Will you need to hire more employees?
Determine your budget well in advance and plan out a budget for your possible solution at least a year or two from when you want to implement the change. Be sure to include all the costs involved.
4. Ask for a Demo, Test, and Review
Deciding on a software package without seeing it function is very difficult. Most companies today do provide at least 14-day trial versions, or if they do not, they may work out a demo for your company. If for some reason they do not have a trial or demo see if the company can walk you through as many details as possible. If they do have a demo, take the demo seriously, it is an excellent way to build up a knowledge base for the questions you have and to find out if this is a fit for your business.
- Check for the features you need the most.
- What are the features current customers find most difficult?
- What features do current customers like the best?
- How often does the company provide updates?
- Are there limits to the number of users you can have?
- Can you control access for each user?
- Who should have access to the trial or demo?
- Note the issues that arise to be addressed later.
- Run tests on real data if you can. Import solar inspection data from a previous mission and process the data.
- If you do not have previous inspection data, ask for sample reports to see how they process data.
- Once you have the report, compare it with your needs and expectations, how does it compare?
- How does this report compare to the other trials and demo reports?
In your review process be sure to talk to your team members and try to get helpful feedback from them, especially from those who will be using the software. Your internal team can be your biggest asset in making the best decision for your company.
5. Plan for Scalability & Growth
Of course, nobody can predict what the future holds for your company, but planning is different. Will the software you choose scale with your company? What is your 1-year, 5-year, 10-year plan, and how will this software fit into that plan?
Many software companies will publish a roadmap for future development, and if they do not, they will often talk openly about where they see their business in the future. No two businesses will align perfectly, but are there some similarities in direction, mission, and vision for the future? Some questions you might want to look at would be:
- Does this software align with your priorities?
- Have you communicated with those who will be using the software?
- Did you make them a part of the decision-making process?
- How is the user interface? Is it difficult or easy to use?
- What features or changes will be made to the interface?
- Are there existing workflows available or will you need to develop your own?
- Is it compatible with your existing drone fleet?
- Will it be compatible with future drone models?
- Is it scalable for data, users, drones?
- Is reliable support available when needed?
There is a lot to consider here. Hopefully you will have a team around you to help in the decision-making process. If not, seek out leaders in your industry and speak with them. Often, they will be more than willing to talk over any questions you might have or at least point you in a positive direction.
Summary of the Best Drone Software for Solar Thermal Inspections
In this article we examined in detail the differences between two of the most important software solutions when flying drone solar inspection missions. First, we looked at flight planning solutions, why they are needed for solar inspections, and the role flight planning applications play in managing flights. We looked at the top five options for flight planning in 2022, GSPro, DJI Pilot, Hammer Missions, Pix4D Capture, and UGCS.
Second, we walked through the top five options available in post-processing solar drone inspection data. We looked at how post-processing is used in the drone industry, why it is important to use a processing solution over manual processing, and what asset reports you should look for when processing is complete. For these applications we took a detailed look at Raptor Maps, DroneDeploy, Above Surveying, Scopito, and Pix4D Mapper.
Each one of these companies have devoted a significant amount of time and energy into their own application, and each one has some great benefits. With each solution, there is significant overlap in what features they offer; however, it is made clear that all software offerings were developed through the lens of their own company mission and vision.
Which one of these solutions lines up closest to your company? What features are must-haves for your specific missions, what is your budget, and how are you planning to implement the change into your workflow? Hopefully we have raised some good questions for you to consider when going through your decision-making process. These are not easy questions to answer when it can impact the future of your drone inspection program, but do not allow uncertainty to hinder the opportunities for innovation moving forward.
Have More Questions or Need Additional Guidance?
One of the suggestions we made in this article was to speak with a professional in your industry. For drone solar inspections, it is highly encouraged to consult with a drone professional who specializes in the solar (PV) industry. The Drone Life has extensive experience in flight planning, thermography, risk management, airspace regulations, aviation safety, and has thousands of flight hours of critical infrastructure operations. We would be more than happy to speak with you and answer any questions you might have.
Additionally, there is more to successful inspections than the drone equipment itself. Drone solar inspections can become very complex and require a large skill set to perfect. Understanding the workflow involved from start to finish, from the client’s requirements, to delivering the finished product, are all vital skills for a professional drone company.
When looking to hire a drone inspection company, they should be able to evaluate the needs of your project and design a customized plan specific to the outcomes you desire. A highly experienced professional will be able to process and analyze all the data collected and give you the tools you need to make the best decisions possible for your company. This is where hiring licensed professionals can save you time, money, and frustration.
We work with EPCs, owners, investors, and more to create unique plans specific to your project. We have an expert team of highly qualified licensed professionals ready to document your very own project. You can schedule a free consultation with a drone expert today.
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.
