Many solar companies are turning to drone platforms to help them improve efficiency and reduce their creation costs, but how exactly do solutions like IMGING make an impact on costs for solar companies? There are five key ways a drone site survey can help.
More Efficient Site Surveys
Site surveys are an essential but time-consuming process. If you can increase the speed and quality of site surveys, you can reduce costs by getting more done. Thanks to the automated flight plans built into many surveying platforms, a drone site survey lets solar companies gather the property data they need in around 10 minutes without climbing on the roof. Many solar companies report getting 2-3 times the efficiency out of their site surveyors using some surveying platforms.
Lower Operating Costs
Drone solutions replace a lot of cumbersome equipment for surveyors. Instead of trucks, ladders, and other equipment, surveyors only need their drone kit, which often fits in a small hard or soft case. Without the need for ladders and other gear, solar companies could stop leasing trucks and start leasing hybrid cars, which can help them reduce fuel costs along with their carbon footprints. Plus, when each surveyor can triple their efficiency, it’s easy to see how big of an impact a drone solution can have on labor costs as well.
Flexible, Scalable Labor Force
Automated flight planning makes it easy for anyone to conduct a drone site survey. When demands are high, solar companies can more easily hire and train new surveyors to conduct a drone-based survey instead of a manual inspection. When the technology itself ensures consistency and quality, solar companies can rely on just about anyone to gather survey data for solar designers.
Faster Design Processes
Some drone platforms provide designers with autogenerated 3D models designers can export to CAD. This way, they can cut design time in half and more quickly produce planning and engineering packs.
Reduce Risk of Injury-Related Expenses
Falls are the second leading cause of accidental death in the world. At some point, somebody must get on the roof to install panels, but solar companies can reduce the risk of someone falling by keeping as many people off of roofs as possible. While not directly related to creation costs, an injury to a surveyor can be expensive. With drone solutions, solar companies can prevent injury or death and reduce the likelihood that they’ll have to pay for costly injuries or increases in Workers’ Comp fees and insurance premiums.
Conclusion
Drone solutions are helping solar companies reduce their creation costs by up to $.08 PPW, keeping surveyors safer, and even bringing new sales opportunities to surveyors in the field. For most, the savings in creation costs alone make drone site surveys a big win.
If you’re curious how IMGING can help your solar company improve survey speeds, cut CAD design time, and reduce creation costs, give us a call to schedule a demo.
