The future of solar farm security lies in communications technology. And in an optimised cooperation between security service providers and authorities. PES wanted to find out what advancements had been made at viamon since last hearing from them.
Worldwide – but especially in sun-drenched regions such as the so-called Sun Belt near the equator – the number of large solar farms is growing continuously. But the environmentally friendly production of electricity and heat with solar collectors is now also booming in regions that are comparatively less sunny. In the UK, for example, more and more agricultural land is being used for the ‘cultivation’ of photovoltaic (PV) modules to harvest solar power.
However, the valuable solar modules arouse desires. Protecting installed systems from specialised and often well-organised gangs of thieves is a complex challenge for security service providers. After all, the security-relevant objects are placed – visible to everyone – under the open sky.
Solar farms are, of course, not placed on greenfield sites completely unprotected. But many operators of on-grid PV systems have already found out that their technological assets are not sufficiently protected by fences, surveillance cameras and alarm systems alone. A fact that also affects off-grid systems, such as water pumps or smaller home solar systems. The thieves usually come at dusk or at night, they are well equipped, unscrupulous, and fast, and often have well-functioning logistics and distribution networks. The biggest challenge is therefore the effective tracking of stolen collectors.
Need for new, smart solutions with long-term effect
It is difficult to quantify the annual damage caused to solar system operators and their investors by theft. ‘Insurance companies do not provide clear figures on this,’ stated Oliver Strecke, Managing Director of viamon GmbH, in an earlier PES interview in 2014. ‘In any case, it is certain that insurers have a great interest in improving security and that the issue is currently a hot topic for the entire industry.’
viamon GmbH is currently the only provider of GPS/GSM-based security systems specifically developed for solar systems. The bustling full-service company based in Kaiserslautern, Germany, relies on locating, identifying and, this is crucial, tracking the stolen goods in its security concept. By combining proven communication technology specially adapted to the use with PV modules and a service package tailored to the needs of the solar industry, the company is treading a new path.
The idea of chipped PV modules plus services is as simple as it is ingenious and together forms a highly sophisticated, high-performance tracking system: The hardware, a smart connection box, and a modular component consisting of motion sensor, GPS sensor, GSM modem and battery, are, as mentioned above, only one part of the solution. The second part is made up of viamon’s services.
The advantages over conventional security, which relies solely on obstacles, motion detectors and video recordings, are obvious: if neither fences nor acoustic alarms have provided sufficient defence, the modules can be dismantled, loaded, and reused elsewhere faster than security services or the police can do anything to prevent this.
Often the thieves wear masks or act outside the areas monitored by CCTV, so that even highly sensitive cameras cannot provide meaningful images that would help to identify the persons involved. It is not uncommon for surveillance cameras to be put out of action simply by a cover or by force in the run-up to the theft.
But stolen PV modules do not have to be lost – as the case of a solar farm in central England demonstrates. Here viamon were able to prove that they are on the right track with their holistic approach.
