ROCKETFARM SET TO TRANSFORM GLOBAL ENERGY SECTOR

Rocketfarm, a leader in deploying drones for environmental services, has piloted the first survey of a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plant utilising a thermal & RGB (camera) sensor in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province.

In what is the first practical survey of a CSP solar plant on the African continent, & possibly worldwide, the deployment & data secured for the client is a milestone for the renewable energy sector & the drone industry.

What is CSP?

Concentrated Solar Power (CS) thermal systems (CSP) produce electric power by converting the sun’s energy into high-temperature heat using various mirror configurations. In short, the sun’s energy is concentrated by various reflectors, & this concentrated energy is then used to drive a heat engine & drive an electric generator. The plants that utilise this system consists of two parts: one that collects solar energy & converts it to heat, & the other that converts the heat energy to electricity.

A BREAKTHROUGH

Until Rocketfarm’s breakthrough, no professional services’ team had conducted a drone-based survey to detect broken mirrors, defective heat elements & provide an analysis on future performance. In comparison, it’s been possible to survey Photovoltaic (PV) panels for several years & provide practical intelligence for operators, investors & all stakeholders invested in the performance of the solar facility.

THE SECRET SAUCE

The challenge for the RGB sensors has been the reflective nature of the mirrors, which makes it difficult to build & create 3D images via photogrammetry methods. Rocketfarm’s advances have come as a result of Rocketmine’s secret sauce, says project lead Zander Van Pletzen. “Our team has tens of thousands of hours of flight experience; always deploying the latest technology & research into building new solutions for clients across multiple sectors.” When the opportunity arose to deploy, the team spent weeks brainstorming, building models & applying all their considerable learnings, expertise & tech to provide a world-class & pioneering solution adds Van Pletzen.

BUILDING NEW DATASETS & ALGORITHMS

The key to creating usable & wish list datasets for the CSP Solar farm stakeholders was to dive deep into code & rewrite the AI detection format. These tasks were significant as there was no existing methodology to retrain the sensors & no framework to interpret the data post-survey.

WHAT WE DID & OUR INVESTMENT

With no existing guide, Rocketfarm’s survey & gathering involved our crew flying a sampling of the site at different angles, heights & speeds to conduct the survey & collect the data. Equipped with a multi-spectrum sensor (RGB & Thermal) provided the team with multiple points of data to analyse.

While flying is the simplest aspect of the mission, the interpretation of the data & analysis for the CSP plants owners

And stakeholders has been a complex & insightful undertaking that will provide long-time benefits in maintenance, profitability & possibly greater uptake of CSP Plants, comments Van Pletzen.

“These plants cost billions to build & by deploying drones, Rocketfarm can show breakages & data for reduced output, which will help improve profitability & relationships between all stakeholders. In all likelihood this breakthrough will alter the investment case for these assets,” he says.

OUTPUTS PROVIDED TO REDUCE COSTS & DRIVE FASTER DECISION MAKING

While the output data remains confidential & client specific at this point; the aerial survey did provide major tangible benefits, which are summarized below:

• Less time & resources spent on inefficient manual inspections;
• Improved safety as technician’s no longer have to walk physically through what is a hazardous environment & manually inspect 1000s of mirrors;
• Early detection of broken mirrors & defective heat elements;
• Remote virtual inspections & site tours, which simplify management & auditing;
• The opportunity to predict future performance & income;
• New data creates more opportunities for investors & owners to leverage due to decreasing costs & ability to predict output & volume

WHY IT MATTERS

CSP solar farms are a necessary component of a country’s future energy mix. In comparison to PV solar installations, the chief benefit of a CSP Plant is that they can store & dispatch energy on-demand, which makes it more comparative with natural gas & geothermal power plants. For large scale energy needs, CSP is a proven technology & has grown from 340 Megawatts in 2005 to 5,500 MW in 2018, with more sites coming online especially in deserts & arid environments.

The relative simplicity, robustness & advantages of CSP Plants means that technologies to improve performance, reduce breakages & improve overall efficiency only makes the development of these large multi-billion-dollar plants more investable compared to direct competitors. Moreover, if we combine Rocketfarm’s outputs for investors & stakeholders matched with the growth in green financing, this breakthrough is transformative for the growth of the renewables sector & the environment.

Find-out more about Rocketmine, here.

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