Solar's Ultimate Guide to Remote Monitoring & Response with Robotics
Case studies, top use cases, ROI, and how to successfully integrate and operate autonomous docked drones on solar farms
Over the course of a solar farm’s lifecycle, unexpected issues are bound to arise, while anticipated problems may occur more frequently than initially expected. Addressing issues as they come up—such as repairing faulty equipment, mitigating fire risk, and preventing erosion issues—can be costly and time-consuming. Hence, it is crucial to identify and remediate issues in a timely and efficient manner. Autonomous drones that reside on-site, ready to be operated remotely, present a cost-effective and labor-efficient solution to these challenges.
Historically, the solar industry has often utilized piloted drones for one or two aerial thermography inspections per year. The introduction of autonomous docked drones not only increases the frequency and flexibility of these inspections but also dramatically expands the spectrum of applications for solar asset owners and operators.
The ability to be remotely operated becomes especially valuable in critical situations, such as a fire outbreak or after a storm, allowing for faster and more informed response.
Integrating the docked drones with software (such as Raptor Solar Sentry) enables early detection of issues such as melting connectors or misaligned trackers that might otherwise go unnoticed. Additionally, they can facilitate regular and responsive DC health inspections, identify erosion and other civil infrastructure problems, and monitor substations - all of which are essential for preventing losses.
As a result, an autonomous docked drone solution can establish a robust system for issue identification, localization, and remediation, ensuring optimal performance and reliability of solar plants.
This eBook provides a comprehensive guide to proven use cases for autonomous drones on utility-scale solar sites, showcasing case studies and return on investment (ROI) metrics and walking through how you can integrate robotics into your construction, operations, and asset management workflows.
Why Autonomous Docked Drones?
Autonomous docked drones represent the latest advancement in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology. These drones are housed in a self-contained, weatherproof “drone dock” that remains on-site at all times and can be remotely operated. The drone dock protects the drone when not in use, provides connection to the cloud for remote command and data upload, and facilitates battery charging without manual intervention. This setup allows the drones to be deployed both on a scheduled or ad-hoc basis, leveraging conditional flight programming to execute missions based on the needs of the site.
Using drone dock technology dramatically reduces the labor cost associated with data collection by eliminating the need for an on-site pilot and thus significantly reduces the incremental cost of additional data collection missions. It can also conduct inspections that can replace more labor-intensive site walks or ground inspections. However, the hardware is a blank slate that requires integration with a specialized, solar-specific software solution, such as Raptor Solar Sentry, to operate and capture data within the needed parameters that facilitate the breadth of analytics necessary to take full advantage of the robot.
In addition to mission management, a complete autonomous docked drone solution must also provide a robust analytics solution that can deliver actionable, localized insights from the imagery data collected. Localization of these insights is critical to supporting downstream users, such as technicians and O&M managers.
By making it less costly to collect data more frequently, an autonomous docked drone solution makes it easier for performance engineers and asset managers to uncover early trends in underperformance, respond more rapidly to anomalous scenarios, and resolve detected issues more safely and efficiently.
Collect Data Remotely: The docked drone resides on-site and can be operated remotely through specialized software
Reduce Operating Costs: Remote operation of the docked drone minimizes the need to send pilots and technicians to the site, prevents multiple visits for the same issue, and cuts down on the expenses associated with personnel and equipment deployment.
Enhance Mission Flexibility: Launch data collection missions and deploy drones at set schedules or at any time
Accelerate Response Time: Quickly act on insights from real-time analytics and rapidly deploy the drone to gather critical data, significantly reducing time to action.
Increase Safety: Minimize the risk to personnel by avoiding hazardous situations and ensuring they are well-informed about necessary PPE when mobilization is required.
From construction to end of life, an autonomous docked drone solution like Raptor Solar Sentry can provide advanced monitoring, improve reporting, and support maintenance activities.
During construction, autonomous docked drones enable asset owners to closely monitor civil work, validate installation progress against project milestones, and avoid financial penalties for delays.
In the commissioning and capacity testing phases, it plays a pivotal role by providing comprehensive data that confirms a site is ready for operations and performing to standards. The ability to deliver geo-referenced diagnostics and analytics significantly streamlines the remediation process, allowing for swift resolution of issues as they arise and making sure the site reaches operation with fewer disruptions.
Storing the data and insights in a geospatial Digital Twin of a solar plant creates an auditable and interactive system of record that can be handed over (along with the drone dock itself) from the construction team to the asset owner and/or operator teams, ensuring no context is lost to history.
As the plant transitions into operations, autonomous docked drones continue to play an important role in empowering more effective O&M and asset management. They can conduct more frequent aerial inspections and replace labor-intensive ground inspections. For example, it can inspect wiring for loose or melting connectors, critical infrastructure such as substations, and site conditions for erosion and other civil work issues.
Additionally, they are invaluable for security and safety monitoring, quickly responding to incidents, performing routine perimeter checks, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements like NERC. By automating these essential tasks, drone docks not only improve site performance and reliability but also significantly reduce operational costs, making them an indispensable tool throughout the lifecycle of a solar farm.
Top Use Cases
As the drone dock hardware is a blank slate, the autonomous drone must be programmed through software to navigate around a solar farm and capture data according to defined standards for each analytics use case. A Digital Twin of the solar farm provides the blueprint through which the drone be remotely operated, defining flight paths, altitude, and other variables, and the data uploaded and localized to precise GPS locations.
Similar to traditional aerial thermography, data must be collected to specific standards for each use case to be usable for analytics. Extensive R&D and testing has been conducted by the Raptor Maps team to define those standards for each use case in the Raptor Solar Sentry (“RS Sentry”) mission library. The following section provides details on the top use cases within the RS Sentry solution.
Click the "+" to expand details for each use case category.
Proven ROI: In-the-Field Examples
Return on investment for autonomous docked drones depends on various factors, including site size, the financial value of power produced, executed use cases, and site underperformance. The ROI estimates provided below, ranging from 14x to 17x of Year 1 Cost, are derived from case studies with current RS Sentry customers, allowing us to specific data on ROI.
For Owners, Operators, and EPCs, autonomous docked drone solutions can be a powerful tool to boost solar project financial performance, with 4 main levers for achieving ROI:
Recovery of lost revenue
Maintenance of project milestones
Deployment of labor efficiently to reduce costs
Reduction overall site risk (damage, fires, erosion)
Assumptions: The annualized ROI of Raptor Solar Sentry (software enabled autonomous docked drones) mirrors that which was either observed or projected alongside Raptor Solar Sentry Customers from 2023-2024. The financial benefits were approximated using a series of case studies and referenced in tandem to achieve a total ROI for the solution. Each case study references a real deployment of Raptor Solar Sentry; while site sizes and total package costs may vary, the perceived or projected return on investment of each value driver was updated accordingly to the program costs.
ROI Case Studies: 4 Key Value Drivers
Two site owners with roughly 150 MW solar farms, each losing about 5% of annual revenue, found significant value in increasing inspection frequency using autonomous docked drones. Originally conducting 1-2 aerial thermography inspections per year, these sites now perform 1-2 inspections monthly at no extra data cost. This increased surveillance improved the identification of site issues, informed maintenance, and confirmed successful remediation, leading to a projected 50-75% decrease in underperformance, especially in combiners, strings, and trackers. The resulting revenue uplift was 6-10x the investment cost.
Key Takeaways: Autonomous docked drones significantly enhance site performance, particularly in revenue recovery. Frequent inspections boost power production by quickly addressing anomalies and preventing site issues from worsening.
Implementing Autonomous Docked Drones
Successfully implementing drone docks on solar farms requires an integration with a hardware-agnostic software platform that can operationalize the hardware with the complexities and nuances of each solar farm in mind. A Digital Twin, or an enhanced virtual replica, of the solar farm is an essential factor in both the remote operation of the drone and the resulting analytics.
Of course, each deployment of the drone dock needs to be tailored to the specific needs of each site. With more than 3GW of drone dock deployment to-date, Raptor Maps provides an all-in-one installation and operationalization solution, which includes a thorough site assessment to determine installation and regulatory compliance requirements.
The following section provides more detail on the key components of an autonomous docked drone operationalization checklist, based on that experience.
Pre Installation & Operalization Checklist
Beyond Visual Line of Sight Waivers (BVLOS)
Remotely operating an autonomous docked drone typically requires obtaining a "Beyond Visual Line of Sight" (BVLOS) waiver, as regulations in most areas mandate that drone operators maintain visual contact with their aircraft. The waiver removes the need for a pilot or “visual observer” to be on-site watching the drone fly.
Raptor Maps has extensive experience in securing BVLOS waivers, having successfully obtained multiple nationwide and site-specific BVLOS waivers at various altitudes: this allows us to configure BVLOS operations aligned to customer requirements.
Procurement & Delivery
Raptor Maps can supply the hardware directly or work with an existing to supply a docked drone unit. The docked drone will typically be delivered to the site via freight carrier.
Site Selection
When installing the dock, considerations include: where to best place the unit on site for maximum effectiveness, site layout, elevation, obstructions, and clearance around the dock.
Constructing Platforms or Using a Portable Dock
The dock can be kept on a fixed platform or housed in a portable dock such as a trailer. The Raptor Maps team provides guidance on where to place a dock and which materials to use for a platform.
Docks are often placed on top of a shipping container to maximize radio communications and keep equipment away from future vegetation, but a dedicated platform with a cement slab or leveled gravel can also be used.
Portable systems are also popular when sites are under active construction, and in this scenario a dock system sits on a small portable trailer.
Power & Internet
The electrical installation of the dock must conform to local codes, typically requiring direct hardwiring as it does not include a power cord. Access to internet with minimum uplink speeds, such as through a provider like Starlink, is required for communication with the cloud.
There are scenarios in which an off-grid option is necessary for sites with complex terrain considerations, and Raptor Maps can walk customers through options in such cases.
Security: Safeguarding Your Robotics
Raptor Maps advises installing a third-party security camera near the dock, ensuring it offers a comprehensive view of the operational zone. This setup enables the remote operator to verify the area is clear of personnel before initiating operations. Other surveillance and protective considerations, such as fencing, are advisable depending on a dock’s placement and scope of operations.
Building a Digital Twin of Your Site
The final step in operationalizing autonomous docked drones is to create a Digital Twin—a unified system of record that transforms your assets into interactive, map-based digital solar farms. This Digital Twin consolidates both geospatial and time-based data, providing a comprehensive historical record of your sites that is analyzable through the Raptor Maps API. It also serves as the foundation for the autonomous drone to navigate the site accurately, ensuring that all data is captured properly, and ingested and localized for precise, site-specific insights.