Aerial Vehicle Solar Panel Failure Detection System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional solar power panel failure detection methods are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and difficult to implement on large-scale installations, especially in expansive and hard-to-reach locations, as they require manual operation and fixed equipment installation, which complicates maintaining optimal detection angles and distances, and pinpointing precise malfunction sites.
Innovation Solution
A solar power panel failure search and detect system utilizing a remotely controllable aerial vehicle equipped with a flight control mechanism, angle control, thermographic camera, and ultrasonic/laser beam detection means, which maintains a fixed distance and angle for accurate heat measurement and marking of malfunctioning sites, and includes automatic obstacle avoidance and emergency protection mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual inspection or fixed thermographic camera systems are used, then detection can be performed, but labor intensity and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical inspection with an automated aerial vehicle system that uses thermographic cameras and ultrasonic/laser detection means to automatically detect failures in solar power panels. The aerial vehicle can autonomously navigate and scan large areas, substituting human labor with automated mechanical and optical systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The aerial vehicle system performs self-navigation and self-detection operations without requiring continuous human intervention. The system autonomously moves through the solar power panel array, automatically captures thermal images, and identifies failure sites, enabling the detection process to serve itself rather than relying on external manual operation.
2Ease of operation
If fixed observation point systems are used, then equipment installation is simplified, but maintaining optimal detection angle and distance becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic aerial vehicle system that can adjust its position, angle, and distance relative to the solar power panels in real-time. Unlike fixed installations, the aerial vehicle dynamically adapts its detection parameters to maintain optimal measurement conditions while moving through the array, ensuring precise detection angles and distances are consistently achieved.
3Measurement precision
If attachment type systems with mechanical control are used, then fixed angle and distance can be maintained, but equipment installation becomes costly and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the detection system from the ground-based fixed installation and relocates it to an aerial vehicle platform. This extraction eliminates the need for complex mechanical attachment systems and ground-based support structures, simplifying overall equipment installation while maintaining the ability to achieve fixed detection angles and distances through aerial positioning control.
4Reliability
If thermographic cameras are used to detect failure sites, then temperature anomalies can be identified, but pinpointing precise locations in large-scale installations becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary computer system that processes thermographic image data and automatically identifies and pinpoints failure locations. The computer acts as a mediator between the thermographic camera detection and the final failure location identification, rapidly analyzing thermal patterns and precisely locating anomalies without requiring manual inspection of each panel.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient, accurate, and safe detection of solar panel malfunctions from a distance, reducing labor and equipment costs, allowing for precise pinpointing of failure sites and preventing damage during replacement, while ensuring safe operation and minimizing installation complexities.
Implementation Method 1
malfunction detection systems and the like have been developed for performing repair that use thermographic cameras to detect not only heating owing to module and/or cell failure
Implementation Method 2
the search unit measures/detects heat generation amount of modules and/or cells constituting the solar power panel individually using an ultrasonic and/or laser beam
Implementation Method 3
the search unit measures/detects heat generation amount of modules and/or cells constituting the solar power panel individually using an ultrasonic and/or laser beam
Implementation Method 4
The solar power panel, which is an electric power generator that uses the photovoltaic effect to convert solar energy directly into electric power
Data Source
AI summary
A solar power panel failure search and detect system to search and detect malfunctioning or failed sites of a solar power panel. A search unit is installed in a remotely controllable aerial vehicle. The search unit maintains a constant distance between a solar panel and a failure detector, and maintains the failure detector at an optimum angle. A control unit controls a flight path and a flight angle of the aerial vehicle and controls/regulates an angle of the failure detector, a receiver, a processor, and the search unit. The search unit has an angle sensor, the failure detector, an angle adjuster and an imaging device. The control unit has a transmitter to transmit the search result data.