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Automatic detection of solar photovoltaic arrays in high resolution aerial imagery

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  • Malof, Jordan M.
  • Bradbury, Kyle
  • Collins, Leslie M.
  • Newell, Richard G.

Abstract

The quantity of small scale solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays in the United States has grown rapidly in recent years. As a result, there is substantial interest in high quality information about the quantity, power capacity, and energy generated by such arrays, including at a high spatial resolution (e.g., cities, counties, or other small regions). Unfortunately, existing methods for obtaining this information, such as surveys and utility interconnection filings, are limited in their completeness and spatial resolution. This work presents a computer algorithm that automatically detects PV panels using very high resolution color satellite imagery. The approach potentially offers a fast, scalable method for obtaining accurate information on PV array location and size, and at much higher spatial resolutions than are currently available. The method is validated using a very large (135km2) collection of publicly available (Bradbury et al., 2016) aerial imagery, with over 2700 human annotated PV array locations. The results demonstrate the algorithm is highly effective on a per-pixel basis. It is likewise effective at object-level PV array detection, but with significant potential for improvement in estimating the precise shape/size of the PV arrays. These results are the first of their kind for the detection of solar PV in aerial imagery, demonstrating the feasibility of the approach and establishing a baseline performance for future investigations.

Suggested Citation

  • Malof, Jordan M. & Bradbury, Kyle & Collins, Leslie M. & Newell, Richard G., 2016. "Automatic detection of solar photovoltaic arrays in high resolution aerial imagery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 229-240.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:183:y:2016:i:c:p:229-240
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.08.191
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    11. Li, Kangping & Wang, Fei & Mi, Zengqiang & Fotuhi-Firuzabad, Mahmoud & Duić, Neven & Wang, Tieqiang, 2019. "Capacity and output power estimation approach of individual behind-the-meter distributed photovoltaic system for demand response baseline estimation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    12. Mao, Hongzhi & Chen, Xie & Luo, Yongqiang & Deng, Jie & Tian, Zhiyong & Yu, Jinghua & Xiao, Yimin & Fan, Jianhua, 2023. "Advances and prospects on estimating solar photovoltaic installation capacity and potential based on satellite and aerial images," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    13. Marcela Bindzarova Gergelova & Slavomir Labant & Stefan Kuzevic & Zofia Kuzevicova & Henrieta Pavolova, 2020. "Identification of Roof Surfaces from LiDAR Cloud Points by GIS Tools: A Case Study of Lučenec, Slovakia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, August.
    14. Müller, Jonas & Trutnevyte, Evelina, 2020. "Spatial projections of solar PV installations at subnational level: Accuracy testing of regression models," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    15. Hu, Wei & Bradbury, Kyle & Malof, Jordan M. & Li, Boning & Huang, Bohao & Streltsov, Artem & Sydny Fujita, K. & Hoen, Ben, 2022. "What you get is not always what you see—pitfalls in solar array assessment using overhead imagery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    16. Tan, Hongjun & Guo, Zhiling & Zhang, Haoran & Chen, Qi & Lin, Zhenjia & Chen, Yuntian & Yan, Jinyue, 2023. "Enhancing PV panel segmentation in remote sensing images with constraint refinement modules," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 350(C).
    17. Mayer, Kevin & Rausch, Benjamin & Arlt, Marie-Louise & Gust, Gunther & Wang, Zhecheng & Neumann, Dirk & Rajagopal, Ram, 2022. "3D-PV-Locator: Large-scale detection of rooftop-mounted photovoltaic systems in 3D," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    18. Juan-Pablo Villegas-Ceballos & Mateo Rico-Garcia & Carlos Andres Ramos-Paja, 2022. "Dataset for Detecting the Electrical Behavior of Photovoltaic Panels from RGB Images," Data, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-12, June.
    19. Edun, Ayobami S. & Perry, Kirsten & Harley, Joel B. & Deline, Chris, 2021. "Unsupervised azimuth estimation of solar arrays in low-resolution satellite imagery through semantic segmentation and Hough transform," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    20. Li, Binghui & Feng, Cong & Siebenschuh, Carlo & Zhang, Rui & Spyrou, Evangelia & Krishnan, Venkat & Hobbs, Benjamin F. & Zhang, Jie, 2022. "Sizing ramping reserve using probabilistic solar forecasts: A data-driven method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    21. Fabio Giussani & Eric Wilczynski & Claudio Zandonella Callegher & Giovanni Dalle Nogare & Cristian Pozza & Antonio Novelli & Simon Pezzutto, 2024. "Use of Machine Learning Techniques on Aerial Imagery for the Extraction of Photovoltaic Data within the Urban Morphology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, February.
    22. Erdener, Burcin Cakir & Feng, Cong & Doubleday, Kate & Florita, Anthony & Hodge, Bri-Mathias, 2022. "A review of behind-the-meter solar forecasting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    23. Slavomir Labant & Patrik Petovsky & Pavel Sustek & Lubomir Leicher, 2024. "Accuracy of Determination of Corresponding Points from Available Providers of Spatial Data—A Case Study from Slovakia," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, June.

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