AID4PV project

The activities of the research project are divided in 8 work-packages (WPs).

WP1 – Project Management

This work package integrates all the actions leading to the management of the work developed in with main objectives:

To take both preventive and corrective actions to ensure the accomplishment of the workplan covering all the objectives.
To monitor the work status of the project.
To avoid delays.
To identify next-steps and actions by also taking feedback from the external advisory board of experts in order to maximize the industrial exploitation of the project results.
To ensure efficient communication and interaction between partners.
To identify risks, analyse them and plan the responses and monitoring & controlling.
To manage the IPR produced by the partners during the project implementation.

WP2 – PV plants characterization

WP2 objectives are:

Identification and characterization of the defects occurring in a PV plant and their occurrence probability, exhibited patterns and affected parameters, which are key parameters for the development of Artificial Intelligence algorithms for optimum O&M practices.
Characterization of the structure of the PV plant (e.g. modules structure, communication methods, etc.) and integration of this characterization in the UAV platform.

WP3 – UAV platform

WP3 concerns the design and development of a fully-functional Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platform. Its specific objectives are to:

Develop or modify a platform to perform PV monitoring
Integrate all required systems and sensors for optimised data collection
Provide autonomous architectures for flight attitude
Research and development of a mechanical cleaning system

WP4 – RGB & thermal (IRT) processing

WP4 integrates all the activities that are in connection with the RGB & thermal images acquired by the UAV-based robotic platform. The objectives of this WP are:

To analyse and review state-of-the-art RGB & thermal defects categorization both from images (taken by the operator) but also from UAV-based platforms
To develop algorithms for both defects detection and categorization using RGB & thermal images
To geoposition all the defects for output generation
To investigate in RGB & thermal orthomosaic generation in PV plants

WP5 – Electroluminescence processing

The main objectives of WP5 are to:

Enhanced detection and classification failure accuracy by leveraging machine learning image processing learning techniques.
Development of advanced EL image processing decision tool to enable the online comparison of acquired EL images from drones against failure image database.
Hybrid PV power plant failure decision entity to optimally diagnose failures by analysing both acquired EL images and outdoor acquired performance datasets.

WP6 – Visualization platform

WP6 aims to collect all the generated information (e.g. electrical data, both raw and processed images, detected defects, among others) and visualize it in a friendly way. Specifically, WP6 objectives are:

To explore advance visualization capabilities to integrate images, geospatial information and electrical variable analysis in a friendly way
To explore interoperable mechanisms to share the information across several platforms and architectures

WP7 – Deployment, validation & testing

In this work package, a fully-functional experimental prototype UAV-based platform will be deployed, validated and tested. The objectives of WP7 are:

To deploy validate and test the solution in operational environment
To identify weakness/strength of the developed solution

WP8 – Dissemination and exploitation