Wind turbine inspection with drone: Advantages and disadvantages

The facilities on wind energy generation are increasingly finding usage areas in line with the ecologically friendly energy generation approach. One of the important activities of wind power generation facilities, which have high investment cost, low operating cost and low environmental impact is the maintenance and repair of wind turbines. A preventive maintenance approach is dominant to reduce maintenance times and eliminate lost time in wind turbines. Damage inspection of turbines has been evolved from tower crane access, rope access, camera viewing, and other applications to image with manual drones over the years. However, when these methods are evaluated within the framework of criteria such as cost, performance, occupational safety and data reliability, they are still insufficient and the need for inspection with autonomous drones arises. The advantages and disadvantages of autonomous drones used in the determination of damage in wind turbines are analyzed and the results are considered to contribute to the practitioners operating in the sector and academicians working in the field.