Solar farms are getting bigger every year, and with them, so are the challenges of design, construction and maintenance. Drones are flying to the rescue to lower costs, improve safety and optimise output. Today, drones are being deployed across the full solar lifecycle, from site surveying and construction monitoring to post-commissioning O&M.

In this episode, we explore how drones can deliver the most value for the industry. Joining us to share their insights are Suneil Sastri, VP of product management at Zeitview, Joshua Baum, commercial lead at Percepto, and Rehaan Shiledar, senior power industry analyst at GlobalData.

We discuss drone use cases across the value chain, BVLOS regulations, Drone-in-a-Box and AI potential, and where the industry’s heading.

⁠Jackie Park⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, editor-in-chief of GlobalData's energy titles, is the host and producer of this episode.

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(00:00) Intro

(01:08) How drones are used across the value chain

(02:46) Where can drones most and least help?

(06:07) Navigating BVLOS operations

(09:17) Drone-in-a-Box: achieving full autonomy

(10:54) AI and the software-first evolution

(13:24) The next frontier

Resources from this episode:

• GlobalData’s 2025 Drones: Strategic Intelligence report
• GlobalData’s 2025 Future of Work in Power report