![]() “We were able to use the drone to inspect the equipment more closely, too,” Meyer said.ĭuke Energy uses drones to inspect wind farms as well, reducing the need for technicians to climb wind turbines and rappel down the blades.ĭrones can assist in construction from beginning to end. Jim Meyer, who worked on the project, said the drone provided an inspection that could have taken days or weeks if lineworkers had to climb the 17 towers. Recently in Ohio, a team was able to do a drone inspection of a transmission tower and right of way spanning the Ohio River. Helicopters remain the primary tool for damage assessment after major storms because they can travel faster and farther than drones, but operators can use drones to perform detailed inspections especially in densely populated areas where a helicopter can’t go.ĭrone inspections helped reduce the number of times employees had to climb these 335-foot tall transmission towers in Wilmington, N.C. In addition to solar plants, drones are able to inspect power poles and substations with thermal imaging. “It could just be a matter of a technician going out there, and in 30 minutes plugging up some wires to get back all of the energy that we were missing before.” “That’s where the real wins come in,” he said. However, if a string of panels appears yellow, it’s probably an easily fixed electrical issue. A single yellow panel usually indicates a faulty panel that needs to be replaced. These bright spots indicate that the panels are not efficiently converting solar energy to electrical energy. Hotter panels appear more yellow than surrounding panels. Technicians have used handheld thermal imaging devices for years, but drones provide an overall view of the field in shades of purple to yellow based on heat signatures. The bright yellow section shown here lets technicians know that there is likely an issue that needs to be inspected based on the heat of the panel. This solar plant was inspected by drone with an infrared camera. Eric Stone, who supervises solar operations for Duke Energy Renewables, said the technology saved more than 260 hours of work since they began using it in 2017. Here are some of the ways Duke Energy is using the technology:įlying a drone with an infrared camera over a solar site eliminates time-consuming electrical testing and helps technicians identify faulty equipment within seconds of takeoff. The drones have infrared and high-zoom sensors that can complete a range of jobs. ![]() Jacob Velky, manager of the Duke Energy Unmanned Aerial System group, said the company has trained about 30 employees to use drones, and they hope to double that by the end of 2018. For example, in February 2018, Duke Energy drone operators engineered a way to help string power lines in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. Duke Energy started using drones in 2015 to inspect wind and solar sites, and the ways the company can use the technology grows each year with tasks becoming more complex. ![]() Industries from real estate to agriculture and retail to entertainment are using the technology to work faster, safer and in new ways. For nearly a century, unmanned aerial vehicles – or drones – were primarily tools for the military, but in the last decade, the use of drones for civilian tasks has skyrocketed.
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