Renewable Energy
Wind turbine inspections, solar farm surveys, and O&M documentation
European renewable capacity will double from 2,455 GW to 5,107 GW by 2034, making inspection efficiency critical for maintaining profitability. The offshore wind O&M market alone represents €4.3B in Europe. Yet inspection workflows remain surprisingly inefficient: technicians spend hours documenting blade defects in notebooks, take hundreds of photos that need manual organisation, and return to base before data can reach planning systems. Geocadra provides the structured inspection platform that renewable energy O&M demands.
O&M Challenges in Renewable Energy
Renewable energy inspection requires reliable tools for remote locations, dangerous conditions, and rigorous documentation standards.
Rope Access Inspections Are Slow and Dangerous
Traditional wind turbine blade inspections require technicians to rope access down blades, spending 3-6 hours per turbine in dangerous conditions. Every minute on the rope is expensive and carries safety risk. Yet much of that time involves documentation work—photographing defects, recording locations, estimating severity—that could be streamlined with better tools.
Wind Farms and Solar Sites Lack Mobile Coverage
Offshore wind farms, remote onshore sites, and utility-scale solar installations are often located far from mobile infrastructure. Cloud-dependent inspection apps fail precisely where renewable assets are located. Technicians resort to paper notes or lose data entirely, requiring repeat visits that compound efficiency problems.
Scale of Inspection Requirements
A single wind farm might have 50+ turbines each requiring regular blade inspections. A 150MW solar farm contains tens of thousands of panels needing periodic thermography and IV-curve testing. The sheer volume of inspection data overwhelms manual documentation systems and makes consistency nearly impossible.
Drone Inspection Data Workflows Remain Fragmented
Drone inspections of turbine blades or solar panels generate thousands of images requiring annotation and analysis. Getting these images from drone operators into asset management systems involves multiple manual handoffs. Metadata gets lost, annotations don't transfer, and engineers spend hours reorganising data instead of analysing conditions.
IEC Standards Require Specific Documentation
IEC TS 62446-3 specifies requirements for solar thermography inspections. IEC 61400 covers wind turbine design and operational requirements. Meeting these standards requires systematic documentation with specific data fields and photo evidence. Generic inspection tools don't capture what standards require.
How Geocadra Supports Renewable Energy O&M
Designed for the specific challenges of wind, solar, and other renewable energy inspection.
Streamlined Documentation Reduces Rope Access Time
Pre-configured inspection forms with photo capture let technicians document defects quickly and systematically. Dropdown menus for defect types, severity ratings, and location references speed data entry. The faster documentation happens, the sooner technicians can move to the next blade or safely descend.
Bulk Inspection Workflows for Large Portfolios
Efficient navigation through large numbers of assets. Duplicate recent records when conditions are similar. Track completion across entire wind farms or solar installations. Dashboard shows inspection progress and highlights assets requiring attention.
Integration-Ready Exports for Drone Data Pipelines
Export inspection data in formats compatible with drone image annotation tools and asset management systems. Import drone survey results and link to ground-level observations. Create unified inspection records combining multiple data sources.
IEC-Compliant Inspection Templates
Pre-built templates following IEC TS 62446-3 for solar thermography and supporting IEC 61400 wind turbine documentation requirements. Capture the specific data fields standards require, with photo evidence organised according to inspection protocols.
Common Workflows
See how renewable energy O&M teams use Geocadra across their inspection programmes.
Wind Turbine Blade Inspections
Document blade defects including delamination, leading edge erosion, lightning strikes, and surface damage. Capture photos with blade position, span location, and severity ratings. Track defect progression across inspection cycles.
Solar Panel Thermography
Record thermal anomaly locations with panel-level precision. Document findings from IR inspection with supporting visual photos. Export data structured for IEC TS 62446-3 compliance and performance analysis.
Tower and Foundation Assessments
Inspect tower sections for corrosion, structural damage, and coating condition. Document foundation condition including grout, anchor bolts, and surrounding terrain. Photo evidence supports maintenance prioritisation.
Substation and Electrical Equipment
Condition assessments of transformers, switchgear, and control systems. Capture equipment nameplate data and condition indicators. Track inspection completion across all balance-of-plant equipment.
Site Environmental Compliance
Document environmental conditions including vegetation, wildlife observations, and site access. Support environmental management system requirements with photo evidence and GPS-located observations.
Maintenance Documentation
Record component replacements, repairs, and maintenance activities with before/after photos. Create maintenance history supporting warranty claims and lifecycle cost analysis.
Measurable Results
Renewable energy O&M teams using Geocadra report measurable improvements in inspection efficiency.
The most important outcome is same-day data availability from remote sites. Inspection findings reach planning systems immediately when technicians sync, rather than days later after manual processing. This accelerates maintenance response times and improves asset availability. Complete inspection records with timestamped photos support warranty claims that might otherwise be disputed. Reduced repeat visits—through comprehensive first-time capture—lower O&M costs while improving inspection coverage.
Compliance & Standards
Geocadra helps renewable energy teams meet the documentation requirements of industry standards.
IEC TS 62446-3
The IEC TS 62446-3 technical specification covers photovoltaic system thermography requirements, including inspection procedures, documentation standards, and reporting formats. Geocadra's solar inspection templates capture the specific data fields and photo evidence the standard requires.
IEC 61400
IEC 61400 covers wind turbine design requirements and operational considerations, including inspection and maintenance documentation. Our wind turbine inspection templates support the systematic documentation that demonstrates compliance with operational requirements.
ISO 9001
ISO 9001 quality management systems require documented evidence of inspection activities, findings, and follow-up actions. Geocadra creates the audit-ready documentation that demonstrates systematic inspection processes and supports certification requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we integrate drone inspection data?
Export formats are compatible with common drone image management and annotation tools. Import drone survey results and link to ground-level observations. We're also developing direct integrations with drone inspection platforms for future releases.
How do inspection records support warranty claims?
Timestamped, geotagged photos with defect descriptions create contemporaneous evidence of when issues were first observed. Export complete inspection histories demonstrating systematic monitoring. This documentation has helped O&M teams substantiate claims that might otherwise be disputed.
How do we manage inspections across multiple wind farms?
Each site gets its own project with turbine layouts and inspection schedules. Dashboard shows completion status across all sites. Assign inspection programmes to specific technicians and track progress portfolio-wide.
Does Geocadra capture thermal images from IR cameras?
Geocadra captures photos from your device's camera. For thermal images, photograph the IR camera display or export thermal images separately and link to Geocadra records. We're developing direct thermal camera integration for future releases.
Ready to transform your Renewable Energy workflow?
Join teams who've already made the switch