Automatic Detection of Photovoltaic Farms Using Satellite Imagery and Convolutional Neural Networks

The number of solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays in Greece has increased rapidly during the recent years. As a result, there is an increasing need for high quality updated information regarding the status of PV farms. This information includes the number of PV farms, power capacity and the energy generated. However, access to this data is obsolete, mainly due to the fact that there is a difficulty tracking PV investment status (from licensing to investment completion and energy production). This article presents a novel approach, which uses free access high resolution satellite imagery and a deep learning algorithm (a convolutional neural network—CNN) for the automatic detection of PV farms. Furthermore, in an effort to create an algorithm capable of generalizing better, all the current locations with installed PV farms (data provided from the Greek Energy Regulator Authority) in the Greek Territory (131,957 km2) were used. According to our knowledge this is the first time such an algorithm is used in order to determine the existence of PV farms and the results showed satisfying accuracy.