Climate Changed
Drones Across Spain Are Spotting Dodgy Solar Panels and Wind Turbines
- Spain’s biggest utility backs startup to survey wind farms
- Investments are more to understand technology than for profit
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Drones the size of manhole covers are helping Spain’s biggest utility to squeeze costs of green electricity, spotting faulty solar panels and wind-turbine blades way ahead of engineers on the ground.
Iberdrola SA’s 500,000 euros ($586,000) investment in drone maker Arborea Intellbird SL is not only helping the company to gain a better understanding of how technology is reshaping the energy industry -- it’s also demonstrating a new model for venture capital for Europe’s largest utilities.