The word drone conjures many negative connotations, but in California, solar company SunPower is flying drones to maximize their solar output. The drones are being used to survey wide regions of land to help design solar farms that can fit more panels on a piece of land, more quickly and for lower costs than it previously could. A decade ago, a survey of a project site would require dispatching a crew to gather information such as the steepness of a slope and the vegetation of the region. With drones, SunPower is able to design projects 90 percent faster while helping the company cut down on the amount of land used by solar farms, which has additional benefits for the environment.
Drones are helping the solar industry design more efficient solar farms
More of Today's Solutions
4 training mistakes that shorten your long-term strength
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Most people training for strength are working toward the wrong goal. The standard template of heavy loads, eight ...
Read MoreSolar fridges lift African farmers’ incomes by 50 percent
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Up to 40 percent of food produced in Africa is lost between harvest and market. Not from drought ...
Read MoreNaviLens: championing inclusive urban transport for the blind and visually im...
Every journey in the fast-paced urban transportation world presents its own obstacles. For people with visual impairments, riding public transit might feel like starting ...
Read MoreRestoring Indigenous stewardship: Yurok Tribe to co-manage National Park lands
As the Yurok Tribe makes great progress towards regaining its ancient lands, the reverberations of history may be heard in the towering redwoods of ...
Read More
