#SolarEnergy #SolarPanels #RosarioSoftware #RenewableEnergy

Have you ever wondered if artificial intelligence could help improve renewable energy? Many companies spend millions of dollars a year to carry out the control and maintenance of their solar parks, and even then they cannot detect all the faults that can occur in miles and miles of cells.

In recent years, the industry related to renewable energy has grown thanks to innovation and social awareness. The increase in solar panel fields and power generation is a fact, and one of the novelties is the automatic inspection of the large extensions of land where they are located.

Looking for alternative solutions

In this context, one of the great difficulties in maintaining solar panels is the periodic inspection, detection and maintenance that solar cells need. In fact, according to the United States Department of Labor, workers who perform this type of maintenance are in the top 10 of the most dangerous jobs.
Consequently, Rosario Software (an Argentine company dedicated to the development of innovative applications) has been developing and researching artificial intelligence models that allow faults to be found in solar panels without the need for human intervention. But how does it work?
A drone travels the field where the panels are located and takes thermal photographs with cameras specialized in detecting heat. Then, those images are automatically analyzed by artificial intelligence algorithms (Computer Vision) where the fault (and the type of fault) in the solar cells is detected.

In this way the fault priority can be classified and determine if the panel must be inspected and/or maintained by humans. We can detect and classify: dirt, diode failure or cell breakage.

A path to follow and develop

Large industries are working side by side to take care of the environment in the face of the climate emergency we are currently experiencing.
Solar energy is one of the most widely used renewables in Spain and much of Europe, which uses solar energy thanks to solar thermal and photovoltaic technology. This is why we need to be able to apply the new developments and potentials that Artificial Intelligence offers us at the service of the generation of «clean energy», facilitating the installation and maintenance of the necessary resources to carry it out.