Introduction
Solar UHD inspections are an RGB photo based inspection designed to detect very small/fine defects in modules such as delimitation or hair-line cracks in the protective glass.
An industry trend in the protective glass on the module getting thiner and thiner has lead to widespread issues of cracked glass in varying degrees. This data product aims to identify and localise those issue so that the site team can efficiently go and repair the damaged modules.
Benefits
Due to the nature of these cracks they are often very difficult to identify in the field with manual inspections. If you couple this with the scale of utility sized plants and the logistical challenges that they come with, reliably finding and localising these manually is almost impossible.
When it comes to the UHD inspection, there are a number of benefits to doing this inspection by drone and digitising it on the Sitemark platform:
Using drones to capture the data will greatly increase the amount of modules that you can inspect per day.
Apart from scale, the drone is able to more safely access those difficult areas; meaning that you don't need to put your personnel at risk.
Using our platform we can pinpoint the specific modules that contain the cracks and provide anomaly referencing to locate them in the field
Additionally if you have access to our Field Link application, you can use this to navigate to the broken module and track any remediation/module replacements.
Deliverables
RGB orthomosaic
UHD inspection images
Broken module location
Anomaly referencing
Recommended add-ons
Field link
Digital twin basic (or advanced)
Frequently Asked Questions
What hardware is compatible with this inspection?
At the moment the best options are the P1 camera and the M3E. Both are capable of getting the 0.15cm GSD requirement.
Can you detect micro-cracks with this inspection?
No, micro-cracks are often not visible to the naked eye and therefore are not reliably detectable by standard RGB imagery. Specialised inspection methods such as electroluminesce testing would be needed for this.
What can this inspection be used for?
This inspection can be used to detect visual damage to modules ranging from small hairline cracks from over-tightening of mounting brackets to shatter damage from grass cutting or other debris.
Can snail trails be found in this inspection?
If the GSD of the inspection is flown at 0.15cm GSD it’s possible to detect snail trails on modules.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to our support team at support@sitemark.com.