Solar Industry News & Insights
Solar Leaders Discuss Future of Industry at Raptor Maps Conference
Raptor Maps hosted its first-ever conference, RaptorCon, last week in Austin, Texas. The conference brought together top industry leaders who shared unique and tech-forward...
What’s New at Raptor Maps?
Legacy processes are everywhere in solar, and here at Raptor Maps we're committed to moving them forward so the industry can scale. Our recent product iterations have...
Aerial Thermography Findings from the Field: The Lesser-Known Impact of Shading on Power Production
PV module shading comes from a wide variety of sources, including trees, ground vegetation, soiling, adjacent rows, and debris. While each instance of shading is unique and...
GreenPowerMonitor and Raptor Maps Unlock New Analytical Category for Solar
EV Solar featured as launch partner to integrate SCADA data with aerial inspection analytics Boston, MA, November 23, 2022 — Raptor Maps, the leading provider of solar...
Preparing for Extreme Weather Events on Solar Farms
Steps for building technical resilience for solar plants given the increasing frequency of extreme weather Hurricane Ian’s trajectory is expected to affect roughly...
JinkoSolar Partners with Raptor Maps to Streamline PV Module Warranty Process
Software support affirms JinkoSolar’s exemplary customer service and saves time for owners and operators Raptor Maps, the leading provider of solar lifecycle...
Measuring the Warm-Up Time for Large-Scale Solar Equipment
An investigation into how long pilots should wait for PV inverters to come online before beginning an IR inspection Having all solar modules online is a precondition for...
Industry Leaders Identify Top Solar Energy Risks in Comprehensive Report
Raptor Maps found that power affected by anomalies increased to 2.63% last year as large-scale solar installations become more common. BOSTON, MA, Aug 10, 2022 ―...
Raptor Maps Announces Former Wood Mackenzie Exec James Wagstaff as CRO
James Wagstaff, Raptor Maps CRO Wagstaff and other key hires will help the solar analytics software leader advance its mission to make the industry more productive and...
Cypress Creek Renewables Chooses Raptor Maps’ New Insights Platform to Maximize Returns Across Its Portfolio
Data, analytics and insights allow more intelligent decision-making for the solar industry. BOSTON, MA, May 2, 2022 — Cypress Creek Renewables, one of the largest...
Solar Lifecycle Management Software Leader Raptor Maps Raises $22 Million to Advance Analytics & Insights
Funding round led by MK with substantial contribution from the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund highlights the power of data and analytics in lifting solar...
Raptor Maps Publishes 2022 Global Solar Inspection Report
Analytics and benchmarking software finds 2.63% of power affected across 20GW. BOSTON, MA, March 10, 2022 — Raptor Maps, the leading provider of solar lifecycle management...
Scan PV Module Barcodes into a Digital Twin to Lift Productivity
A digital twin based on your as-built empowers your company to track where solar modules come from, lift productivity, and reduce risks and expenses. In this audio...
CEO Reveals Origins of Solar Software Company
How did Raptor Maps, the leading solar lifecycle software company, get started at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology? And what was the original idea that...
Cleaning up the Solar PV Supply Chain Won’t Happen Overnight
Revealing the origins of solar panels can uncover labor and toxicity problems that can occur during manufacturing processes. But this year’s protocol and commitment from...
PV Supply Chain Shortage Cushioned with Solar Investment Tax Credit
Solar energy supply chains have been delayed due to the COVID health crisis — impacting everything from PV modules to inverters to brackets. This can put solar asset...
Raptor Maps Unveils New Productivity Features for Its Solar Lifecycle Software Platform
"Solar staff scanning and logging PV module serial numbers in the field." Analytics and insights software platform, Raptor Solar, now includes unlimited inspection reports,...
Rosendin Electric Uses Raptor Maps Software to Capture Nearly 1 Million Module Serial Numbers
One of dozens of technicians populating the digital twin with supply chain data. Leading EPC turns to latest technology to map 300+ MW PV system. ANAHEIM, CA—Rosendin...
Raptor Maps Unveils Manned Aircraft Manual for Solar PV Inspections
Raptor Maps - Solar software company publishes best practices to reduce risk and increase production and IRR. Raptor Maps released an industry-first manual for solar...
Raptor Maps Announces Madison Energy Investments as SaaS Launch Partner to Maximize Asset Performance
Leading C&I Owner-Operator Partners with Raptor Maps to Launch New SaaS Offerings that Improve Solar Production. Raptor Maps, the leading software startup in...
22 Reasons Why Your Counterparty Should Prioritize You
This article was originally published on the Solar Builder Magazine website. They asked us to share the latest trends in the industry, specifically — where should owners and...
Press Release: Raptor Maps Releases 2021 Global Solar Aerial Inspection Report
Above is a first-of-its-kind industry network graph illustrating the collaboration between users in the Raptor Maps software on a subset of data. Smaller clusters tend to be...
How to Select a Vendor for Aerial Thermography of PV Systems
Aerial thermography is now the rule, rather than the exception in the solar industry. Requests for proposals will include a scope such as “Perform an aerial thermography...
Press Release: Raptor Maps Raises Series A
Raptor Maps Raises $5M for its Solar Lifecycle Management Software Company will use the funding to build on its successful software platform and meet customer demand ...
Client Highlight October 2020 – Cypress Creek Renewables
In the first edition of the Client Highlight series, we’re honoring Cypress Creek Renewables, one of the United States’ leading solar and storage companies and a partner of...
Utility-Scale Solar PV Systems Face Higher Degradation Rates
Study Finds Utility-Scale Solar Plants Degrade More Than Owners Initially Assume Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National...
Raptor Maps and Enel Green Power Fireside chat, hosted by Greentown Labs
Greentown Labs, the world’s largest cleantech incubator, hosts Raptor Maps and Enel Green Power to discuss start-up and corporate partnerships. Greentown Labs invited Raptor...
Fix it on day 1, or pay in year 2: Diode and string anomalies are 60% more frequent after the first year of operation
“Rarely does a single investment yield both significant social and financial benefit. In this way, solar is unique: this rapidly growing asset class offers the...
Madison Energy Investments and Raptor Maps Partner to Maximize IRR on its Fast-Growing C&I Portfolio
Owner-Operator to Require its EPC and O&M Contractors to Utilize Standardized Software for Commissioning and Preventative Maintenance to Make Data-Driven Decisions...
How to Inspect Solar PV Systems with Drones (UAVs) Part 2
Start Successfully Inspecting Solar PV Systems with Thermal Imaging Drones This is the second part of the two-part series on the most effective and efficient...
How to Inspect Solar PV Systems with Drones (UAVs) Part 1
Innovation in the Solar PV Industry The processes for inspecting solar PV systems has changed greatly over the last few years. Recently the use of a drone...
An Introduction to the Portfolio Case Study
Raptor Maps recently released a case study that reports on five heavily impacted sites owned and managed by a large, U.S.-based asset owner. The owner’s solar...
3 Ways Comprehensive Inspection Data Capture Services and Data Analytics Improve Profitability
Asset owners share the interest of maximizing a site’s production with its investors. When key steps are taken to improve asset management and operational efficiency a portfolio’s performance increases and savings are passed onto investors.
Introduction to Aerial Thermography: Comprehensive Aerial Inspection
Comprehensive Level The following series breaks down the three most common levels of aerial thermography inspections used by Raptor Maps to identify defects,...
Introduction to Aerial Thermography: Standard Aerial Inspection
Standard Level The following series breaks down the three most common levels of aerial thermography inspections used by Raptor Maps to identify defects,...
Introduction to Aerial Thermography: Overview Aerial Inspection
Overview Level The following series breaks down the three most common levels of aerial thermography inspections used by Raptor Maps to identify defects,...
The Benefits of Utilizing Aerial Thermography: Solar Commissioning Inspections
Solar PV Commissioning and Aerial Thermography Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems are the world’s fastest-growing source of renewable energy, holding an annual growth...
How Solar Construction Verification Software Benefits Asset Owners, EPCs, and Engineers
Benefit from Optimization Solar PV is one of the world's fastest-growing sources of renewable energy, with 2.1 GW installed during Q2 of 2019 in the United States...
9 Questions to Ask a Drone Service Provider Before You Hire Them
Today, in the solar industry there are hundreds of drone service providers (DSP) offering aerial inspection services, ranging in quality, experience, deliverables,...
Webinar Recap: Live Q&A with Raptor Maps and FLIR: Thermal Drones and Solar Inspections
Raptor Maps partnered with FLIR Systems for a live 5-part webinar series on the use of thermal drones in solar inspections. The 5th part was a live Q&A webinar, the...
How Drones can be Used to Support Solar Inspections for Warranties
Aerial PV system inspections can be used for a variety of applications and reasons. The purpose of this blog post is to discuss the benefits of using drones and Raptor Maps for the inspections of sites for warranty reasons.
Raptor Maps and FLIR: Limitations of Thermal Drone Inspections
Raptor Maps partnered with FLIR for a five-part series with four videos and a live Q&A webinar on the use of thermal drones for solar inspection. The 4 part video series covers a variety of topics, this one highlights the limitations that need to be considered before performing a solar PV inspection with your thermal drone.
Raptor Maps and FLIR: Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Service Provider
Raptor Maps partnered with FLIR for a five-part series with four videos and a live Q&A webinar on the use of thermal drones for solar inspection. The 4 part video series covers a variety of topics, this one offers the questions that will give you an idea of the service provider’s quality and experience.
Raptor Maps and FLIR: Thermal Drone Best Practices
Raptor Maps partnered with FLIR for a five-part series with four videos and a live Q&A webinar on the use of thermal drones for solar inspection. The 4 part video series covers a variety of topics, we explain the best practices to follow when performing your solar inspections with thermal drones.
Raptor Maps and FLIR: Value of Adding Thermal for Solar Inspection
Raptor Maps partnered with FLIR for a five-part series with four videos and a live Q&A webinar on the use of thermal drones for solar inspection. The 4 part video series covers a variety of topics, this one breaks down the multitude of benefits that come from using thermal drones when performing your solar inspections.
How to Inspect Your Solar Farm at the Right Altitude
Understanding GSD (AKA Thermal Image Resolution) and How Altitude Affects Your Inspection Costs and Efficiency Important Aspects to Successfully Inspect a Solar Farm: Part 2...
Raptor Maps Closes Investment to Boost Solar Farm Output and Improve Project Finance
Raptor Maps, the global leader in aerial inspection software for solar systems, announced a new round of funding from veteran energy investors. The round was led by Blue Bear Capital, specializing in data-led energy investments, with participation from Congruent Ventures and Powerhouse Ventures, and previous investor Y Combinator.
Raptor Maps and senseFly Partner to Deliver Best In Class Thermal Drone Inspection Solution
We’re excited to announce that Raptor Maps, a Boston-based enterprise software company, has partnered with the Swiss-based drone provider senseFLY on the new senseFLY Solar 360. The collaboration between the two companies brings artificial intelligence solar software to industry-leading fixed wing drones. The automated thermal drone solution, combined with Raptor Maps’ software, is designed to maximize efficiency of solar farm inspections.
Major Solar Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Provider SOLV, Inc., a Swinerton Company, Selects Raptor Maps as its Partner for Nationwide Drone Inspections
Raptor Maps is proud to announce that is has been chosen to support SOLV’s drone operations in regards to post-processing and reporting on PV plant inspections. Raptor Maps software will be used for all commercial, industrial, and utility-scale solar installations managed by the SOLV team across the US, totaling over 4 GW of solar PV assets.
How to Inspect a Solar Farm FASTER
This is the first of several articles to help you understand how to successfully inspect a solar farm with a drone and thermal camera. The goal of this specific post is to clarify how to reduce your drone solar inspection and flight time by more than 75% by adjusting the sidelap (lateral overlap) of your drone flight to 20%.
Solar Software Industry Leaders Raptor Maps will Support Cypress Creek Renewables’ Self-Operated Drone Inspections
Raptor Maps is excited to announce that it has reached an agreement with one of the US’ leading solar companies, Cypress Creek Renewables, to support their internal UAS team with data-analytics and reports from PV plant inspections.
The Fastest Way to Obtain your Remote Pilot Certification Under the Small UAS Rule (Part 107)
You may hear the Remote Pilot certification referred to as the “Part 107,” as this certification enables you to fly small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) as specified by Part 107 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Passing the test and earning your Remote Pilot certification is a simple, straightforward process.
10 Most Common PV System Anomalies Detected by Drones (Part B)
Solar companies are increasingly moving to UAS (drones) to replace field work that involes large amounts of time and money. Field walks, IV curve tests, voltage checks, and handheld thermal scans of modules are just a few examples of tasks being replaced with drones by Asset Management and O&M teams around the world.
Opportunities for Drone Inspections in Solar: PV System Commissioning
The renewable energy sector has seen a tremendous amount of growth over the last few years, and PV (solar) has shifted to the forefront of new clean energy development. Drones will play a key part in supporting this continued growth. Using drones within the commissioning of a new PV system is a quick and effective method to assess the quality and operational health of a new plant.
When To Perform Your Drone PV System Inspection: 3 Key Factors to Keep in Mind
Collecting aerial solar inspection data using your drone can be tricky. With numerous factors impacting the outcome of your data, it is essential to plan drone flights. People often ask Raptor Maps what’s the best way to collect clear and report-worthy data?
10 Most Common PV System Anomalies Detected by Drones (Part A)
Solar companies are increasingly moving to UAS (drones) to replace field work that involes large amounts of time and money. Field walks, IV curve tests, voltage checks, and handheld thermal scans of modules are just a few examples of tasks being replaced with drones by Asset Management and O&M teams around the world.
Raptor Maps Awarded MassCEC Grant for Real-Time Identification and Classification of PV Faults
Raptor Maps is excited to announce we were recently selected as a finalist for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s (MassCEC) latest round of InnovateMass awardees. We will be collaborating with Enel Green Power (EGP) to develop brand new capabilities within PV system inspections.
Webinar Recap: One-on-One with Gresco and Raptor Maps: UAS, Solar Software, and PV System Inspection Reports
Raptor Maps partnered with Gresco for a webinar covering the specifics of UAS, Solar Software, and PV System Inspection Reports. The webinar covered topics including why UAS (drones) are a valuable tool for solar farm maintenance, recommended hardware, and how teams can turn drone data into actionable reports.
5 Benefits of Using Drones for PV System Inspections
Drones are revolutionizing how solar farms are inspected, operated, and maintained. They’re making solar site inspections faster, safer, and delivering more accurate reports on the overall DC health of a site.
Live Webinar: One-on-One with Gresco and Raptor Maps: UAS, Solar Software, and PV System Inspection Reports
Live Webinar: May 8, 2018 at 1:00 PM EDT. One-on-One with Gresco and Raptor Maps: Drones, Solar Software, and PV System Inspection Reports. Do you design, build, manage, and/or own PV plants? UAS are quickly becoming common tools used in every stage of a solar project. Learn more about UAS and solar in this webinar.
Raptor Maps Recognized as a Top 5 Software Startup Solving the Biggest Challenges in Solar
Greentech Media (GTM), a leading platform in the global energy market, recently recognized Raptor Maps as one of the ‘5 Software Startups Solving the Biggest Challenges in Solar’.
Webinar Recap: RMUS and Raptor Maps Present the Entire Process of Inspecting a Solar Farm and Creating Reports
In partnership with RMUS, Raptor Maps recently participated in a webinar to cover the specifics of using drones for the inspection of PV systems (solar farms) with both infrared and high-resolution cameras.
Do I Really Need Software to Analyze My Solar Farm Drone Data?
Despite reducing the time to perform a field inspection by more than 90%, companies with mature drone programs are still stuck having to review and convert this information into usable formats and actionable reports unless they use software and AI.
Greentown Labs Features Raptor Maps in Startup Spotlight Article
Greentown Labs has featured Raptor Maps as a startup “paving the way for industrial inspection and AI-driven data reporting.”
Live Webinar: RMUS and Raptor Maps Present the Entire Process of Inspecting a Solar Farm and Creating Reports
Live Webinar: April 25th, 2018 at 2:00 PM EDT. The Entire Process of Inspecting a Solar Farm–From Turning Props to Turning Wrenches. Join Jon McBride, VP of Technology at RMUS, and Nikhil Vadhavkar, CEO and co-founder of Raptor Maps for a webinar on how to perform a solar farm inspection, from flight planning and piloting the drone to the creation of final deliverables.
Announcing the Winner of the Raptor Maps Contest
We held a drone inspection contest last month to promote Raptor Solar and showcase some of the best drone pilots, service providers, and aerial thermographers on Earth. Entries poured in from around the world, including small commercial rooftop PV systems to utility-scale solar power plants. Find out who won!
Webinar Recap: Inspecting Solar Farms with Thermal Imaging Drones (Part 2)
In partnership with FLIR Systems, Raptor Maps recently hosted a webinar to cover the basics of inspecting solar farms with drones. Part 2 contains answers to questions received during Q&A.
Webinar Recap: Inspecting Solar Farms with Thermal Imaging Drones (Part 1)
In partnership with FLIR Systems, Raptor Maps recently hosted a webinar to cover the basics of inspecting solar farms with drones. Part 1 of our recap contains a summary of the live webinar.
Read Our SolarPro Magazine Article on Leveraging Drones for PV Plant Inspections
Our CEO, Nikhil Vadhavkar, recently authored an article on the value unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) aka drones bring to the Solar industry.
Live Webinar: Inspecting Solar Farms with Thermal-Imaging Drones
Live Webinar: March 6, 2018 at 1:00 PM EST. The 5 Fundamentals of Inspecting PV Systems with a Drone. Are you using drones to inspect solar farms? Solar farm inspection is the leading industrial application for infrared (IR) thermal imaging with drones.
How to Inspect Solar Farms with Drones
Your ultimate guide to solar farm inspection using aerial thermal imaging. Methods, tips, and best practices for detecting defects in PV power plants with drones.
Watch: Raptor Maps Thermal Mapping Webinar Hosted by RMUS
In this webinar, we discuss post-processing, virtual inspection, and most importantly, how to generate deliverables.
Raptor Maps Helps Launch The Engine at MIT
Yesterday, MIT launched The Engine (engine.xyz) to tackle “tough tech” challenges that will have widespread global impact. The Engine is bringing together funding, specialized equipment, affordable workspace, and startup expertise…
Raptor Maps CTO discusses drone innovation in South Jersey
Eddie Obropta went from Middle Township High School to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he majored in aerospace engineering. After he graduated from MIT, he started back there working on a Ph.D…
Raptor Maps launches as a Y Combinator company
After much anticipation, we’re super excited to finally announce that Raptor Maps is a YC company. It’s been a tremendous journey in the Summer 2016 batch. We’re excited to share our experience building innovative products…
Space: The Here-and-Now Frontier
“Students in AeroAstro don’t have to wait 30 years for the next Boeing aircraft to come out, or for NASA to send humans to Mars,” says doctoral candidate Edward Obropta ’13, SM ’15. The chief technology officer of a young drone technology company…
Raptor Maps Gains FAA Section 333 Exemption for Commercial Drone Operations
Raptor Maps, Inc. was granted an exemption under FAA Section 333. This allows Raptor Maps to conduct commercial daylight operations using specified sUAS (Small Unmanned...
The City of Cambridge Congratulates Raptor Maps
The Cambridge City Council authored a resolution of support for Raptor Maps and congratulated the team for winning the 25th annual MIT Entrepreneurship Competition. We...
Raptor Maps Wins the MIT 100K Entrepreneurship Competition
We are happy to announce that Raptor Maps won the 25th annual MIT 100K entrepreneurship competition! We were one of 194 teams that participated. The competition helped us...