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Data Acquisition PV

Data Acquisition PV

Below is a checklist of what you need to keep in mind when it comes to data acquisition.

Note: Volateq can only start the process described below if there is a purchasing confirmation, such as a Signed Sales Order or a Purchase Order.

Upon reception of the purchasing confirmation we will schedule a short pilot briefing call to go through the points listed below. This will clarify any questions and make sure everything is ready for takeoff.

Before flight day

Make sure that all info requested in Checklist solar plant data PV has been sent to Volateq two weeks prior to flight day
Volateq team informed you that the flight routes are ready for your site
RTK is best for precise flight routes and high quality data. make sure your RTK service is active and connecting on your drone. For more info see: RTK and NTRIP setup. Flying without RTK bares the risk that in case of unsufficiently accurate GPS positions data cannot be processed by Volateq. That risk cannot be covered by Volateq.
We recommend using the VolaFly Drone App. Instructions on how to install it on your drone controller can be found here: VolaFly App: Download and installation for Mavic 3T
Check if you have a fast enough SD card. Recommended SD cards: SanDisk Extreme 128GB V30 microSDXC or SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB V30 microSDXC

 Conditions and preparations before drone flight

weather:
Wind speed below 5 m/s
Less than 10% of sky are covered by clouds. If a cloud casts shadow on parts of the solar field during the drone flight, the flight has to be repeated some 10-15 minutes after the cloud has left
The weather is clear and sunny, no clouds, with irradiance (plane of array POA) > 650 W/m2
for thermography data acquisition:
The solar field has to be in full operation, make sure there is no clipping in any part of the solar field at the time of flight.
Defects can only be detected by thermography for operational modules. All other modules will be shown as “open circuit”
Solar field is clean. Solar field cleanliness > 0.97 (less than 3% soiling losses)  
ONLY for soiling:
clean at least 2 modules before the drone flight at the location previously communicated to Volateq team accurate to ~5m
soiling can be detected during shutdown or clipping and obviously in soiled condition
Only for tracking PV field:
make sure to complete your flights within no more than 2 hours before or after solar noon.
during data acquisition, all module’s tilt must be below 50°
No shadowing of adjacent rows during flights - especially in winter!

Drone:

Make sure to start the drone at the designated starting point of your flight routes (first waypoint)
Make sure the drone settings are put correctly depending on which app you use for flight execution:
Description on how to launch your drone in the VolaFly Drone App: Volafly App: Flight mission execution
In case you fly with litchi, please configure these settings in DJI Pilot 2 DJI Mavic 3T/3E and Matrice 30T : Drone configuration and flight execution with DJI Pilot 2 or https://volateq.atlassian.net/wiki/pages/createpage.action?spaceKey=VKB&title=PV%3A%20DJI%20M2E%20Advanced%3A%20Drone%20configuration%20with%20DJI%20pilot%20app%20for&linkCreation=true&fromPageId=3115548680
and then launch the drone like this: Litchi App: Settings and flight mission execution
Avoid touching any controller wheel or button during the flight, you might change the video settings. As a result, this flight cannot be evaluated
Only start the flight with a full drone battery
if solar plant conditions change during flight execution by more than 10% (cloud passage, tracking motor malfunction, …): pause image acquisition (go to home) and resume after 10-15 mins in constant conditions

After flight

Upload data (raw videos and metadata files, not as .zip) to the analysis for your plant in Volateq’s WebApp; go to analysis, select current analysis and upload data: https://app.volateq.de/analyses
Use the “Show coverage” tool in the data upload window to check completeness of data. The blue dots should cover solar fields in a regular pattern. See screenshots below
Once coverage has been confirmed, check the box “data complete” as in screenshot further below. From there on, Volateq staff will be informed and will proceed with the evaluation of your analysis.
image-20250526-114726.png
start the coverage check tool

 

coverageMap.png
Example coverage map of a partial data upload. The north eastern field sections have not been covered.
image-20250520-101643.png
Set an upload to complete. Only do once you have confirmed that data is complete

 

 

Further Reads:

VolaFly App: Download and installation

Volafly App: Flight mission execution