Global Renewable Drone Market - 2022-2029

Global Renewable Drone Market - 2022-2029

Market Overview

The global renewable drone market reached US$ XX million in 2021 and is expected to reach US$ XX million by 2029, growing at a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period (2022-2029).

Drones are becoming increasingly useful in wind turbine inspections. In the case of a manual inspection, the operator must cling to the wind turbine with the help of a rope and do the examination. It takes time and can put safety at risk. Drones minimize safety concerns while doing tasks fast. During an inspection, the lighter color of cells can detect failed solar cells. Manually inspecting solar panels in a whole solar park takes many days and is difficult. Drones help developers to explore the entire field and help in the optimized fitting of solar panels on a piece of land more quickly than the traditional methods. Various companies use drones, robots, software solutions and sensors to design and build solar farms. It helps optimize land used by solar farms by improving the layout.

Detailed images of land acquired using a group of drones can be used to overlay blocks of solar panels and other components of solar plants. The software can be utilized to fit as many components as attainable in a layout. Factors like transmission line layout, the slope of the terrain, a shadow from a structure, etc., can be evaluated after deciding on the layout using the software.

Market Dynamics

The global renewable drone market is expected to boost with growing demand for automation in the renewable sector to reduce time and increase the efficiency of projects.

Growing demand for automation in the renewable sector to reduce time and increase the efficiency of projects

Drones can be used to collect data from solar and wind installations. Several solutions are currently in use worldwide and are being developed further in the renewable energy sector. Drones are helping to enhance plant efficiency, lower overall costs and shorten the time it takes to complete diverse tasks across solar and wind farms. Drones equipped with thermal cameras allow for speedy and large-scale examinations. Engineers on the ground can examine solar panels for irregularities that might go undetected or take a long time to find.

AI is required in the case of automating the flight of drones and analyzing the data gathered by robots. In the case of scanning and inspecting huge acres of land for solar farms, drones need to travel in a precise path to avoid missing any area. AI/automated drones can help by pre-defined paths for drones that can scan and travel the entire length of a solar farm.

A drone examines vast solar farms that span acres of land gather many high-definition photos and videos, generating many gigabytes of data that must be evaluated. Going through each photograph and video takes a long time for a human. AI tools can assist in analyzing this data in a short amount of time while also improving accuracy.

In 2022, Innvotek and Mapair successfully trialed a drone system that uses infrared technologies and artificial intelligence to inspect composite structures, including wind turbines, for defects. Firefly Inspect hovers above wind turbine blades using a 1,000-watt heat lamp to test for defects. According to companies, this is the first time such a powerful heat source has been fitted to a drone.

Stringent regulations on the use of drones

Regulations concerning the use of drones are a major challenge for the use of drones. Drones are incredibly instrumental to utilities for performing inspection processes. However, legal requirements have constrained advancements in the drone market. The Federal Aviation Authority is the regulatory body for drone operations. The regulations in many countries, like flying insight of operators, hamper the use of better AI-powered drones in large solar farms.

However, recently various governments are easing up the rules on the use of drones. Realizing the immense potential of drones that can substitute humans for performing difficult and time-consuming tasks, the Indian Government launched ‘Drone Rules, 2021’, which comprised upgrades of the existing drone norms. The new regulations enabled commercial usage of drones and made the market more liberal for its application in various segments.

The wind turbine inspection drones need a high initial investment, which must not be feasible for small projects. It is a very high initial investment unless the company has large solar and wind farms. The payback period and Initial investment with drones are major challenges in the progress of these solutions.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis

The global renewable drone market suffered a slight downfall due to declined investments and installations in the renewable sector during the COVID-19. However, the use of drones increased in the renewable sector due to the stricter protocols for reducing the spread of the virus and changing working environments. During the first half of 2020, renewable electricity capacity additions were almost 11% lower than in the same period last year: developers connected an estimated 40 GW of solar PV, down 17% from last year, while wind expansion was down roughly 8%. Policy deadlines govern wind and solar PV expansion in the U.S, where renewable deployment is generally exempt from COVID-19 constraints. Wind developers rushed to commission projects to satisfy federal tax incentive deadlines, causing U.S renewable capacity additions to nearly quadrupled in the first half of 2020 compared to last year. Although new renewable energy capacity additions in Europe were lower in 2020 than in 2019, the pace of installation accelerated in the second quarter as lockdowns and restrictions were lifted.

In addition, 13 nations awarded about 50 GW of additional renewable capacity to come online between 2021 and 2024 in the first half of 2020, the greatest amount ever. In June 2020, China's national solar PV auction awarded 25 GW, setting a global trend. Despite a steep slowdown in building, India awarded 11.3 GW of solar and over 1 GW of wind capacity in central and state auctions, reversing a declining trend that began in the second half of 2019.

Segment Analysis

The global renewable drone market is segmented based on type, solution, application, end-user and region.

Rising use of drones for mapping and layout in solar farms will boost the market demand

The global renewable drone market is segmented into solar, wind, and wave based on end-user.

Drone Surveys thrive in the renewable energy business because of a passion for technology and a desire to help diverse industries. It is critical to ensure the quality of the solar power plant to provide adequate electricity generation, cost savings and asset longevity. Drone adoption in the commercial sector is rapidly increasing and the solar industry is no exception.

Drones are cost-effective for inspecting solar installations, from residential to utility-scale. Drones assist businesses in avoiding dangerous man-hours, lowering maintenance, inspection and repair costs and maximizing energy production. For the PV system itself and surrounding infrastructure such as utility lines, substations and fencing, valuable use cases have been established across pre-construction, commissioning and operations & maintenance.

The solar sector has great potential, but it is hampered by the inefficiency caused by changing weather conditions, darkness and infrastructure problems. Solar companies may more easily keep their farms running at full capacity by utilizing aerial insights. Using drones to map and layout a solar farm would save months and speed up the process by more than 50%. Traditional surveying a site would require assigning a crew to gather diverse information on the land, which would take a long time. Using old manual procedures, visual assessment of massive solar facilities scattered across acres of land might take days. Drone-assisted inspection reduces time and allows work to be completed in hours. Drone-captured images and videos can be studied further in offices.

Geographical Analysis

Rapidly expanding renewable sector to replace fossil-based applications will boost the market demand in Europe

According to the European Commission, renewable energy is critical in preserving Europe's energy security. Europe still imports 58% of its energy, primarily fossil resources, from countries with significant geopolitical threats. Wind energy is domestically produced and less expensive than imported fossil fuels. Every wind project helps Europe become less reliant on imported fossil fuels. By 2050, the European Union intends wind energy to account for half of its electricity. It entails increasing onshore wind capacity from 173 GW to 1,000 GW and offshore wind capacity from 16 GW to 300 GW. The Commission estimates that another 30 GW of wind energy might be installed by the end of 2030 and the 450 GW predicted in its decarbonization scenarios. The cumulative installed solar capacity in the EU advanced to 137.2 GW in 2020, with 22 of 27 EU member states installing more than the year before. Moreover, 30.8 GW of solar will be added in 2023 and 35 GW in 2024, bringing the total installed capacity to 252 GW.

In 2021, In partnership with Sulzer Schmid, European company Vestas announced the completion of its wind turbine rotor blade inspections in 14 EU countries. Sulzer Schmid provided its drone to collect smart data on the status of the wind turbines. Eighteen wind turbines were inspected per day and Vestas was used to optimize its asset management and maintenance. The wind turbines inspected are in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland

Competitive Landscape

The global renewable drone market is consolidated and has a limited number of players. Major players in the market include JI Enterprise, Terra Drone, Aerodyne Measure, Parrot Group, ABJ Drones, DRONE VOLT Group, FORCE Technology, Above Surveying, Siemens, Raptor Maps, Nearthlab, AirProbe, Measure Australia, Helvetis, Cyberhawk, among others. The major players in the market are known to incorporate numerous market strategies to achieve growth in global renewable drone market; these include projects, mergers, acquisitions, product launches and collaborations.

Nearthlab

Overview: Founded in 2015, Nearthlab delivers AI-powered O&M solutions for the infrastructure inspection market. Nearthlab integrates AI and computer vision to crack inefficiencies at inspection sites and enable the digital transformation of industrial asset management. With experience in wind turbine blade inspection. Nearthlab’s portfolio spans wind energy, bridges, oil & gas, railway, dams and telecom towers. Various leading energy corporations have chosen Nearthlab as their autonomous drone solution provider.

Product Portfolio:

Drone Inspection Service: The drones leverage state-of-the-art AI technology for hassle-free inspection. Its performance allows for a collection of highly accurate and consistent inspection data.

Key Development: In 2020, Nearthlab announced the successful completion of an offshore wind turbine inspection in Taiwan in partnership with Formosa I Wind Power Ltd and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.

Why Purchase the Report?

To visualize the global renewable drone market segmentation by type, solution, application, end-user and region and understand key commercial assets and players.

Identify commercial opportunities in the global renewable drone market by analyzing trends and co-development.

Excel data sheet with numerous renewable drone market-level data points with four segments.

PDF report consisting of cogently put together market analysis after exhaustive qualitative interviews and in-depth market study.

Type mapping available as excel consists of key products of all the major market players

The global renewable drone market report would provide approximately 69 tables, 61 figures and almost 209 pages.

Target Audience 2022

Service Providers/ Buyers

Industry Investors/Investment Bankers

Solar Companies

Wind Farm Companies

Education & Research Institutes

Research Professionals

Emerging Companies

Manufacturers

Distributors