Page 17 - North American Clean Energy July/August 2020 Issue

Bird movement captured in video. A series of small video frames will be used for a computer model to learn what a bird would look like. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)
Birds spotted at Argonne’s solar facility (indicated with red boxes). Flight paths prior to perching are shown with red lines. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)
from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, as well as solar technology and avian ecology experts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, conservation groups, the solar industry, and governmental agencies.
At the end of the project, Argonne will have developed a camera system that can detect, monitor, and report bird activities around solar facilities. The system will also notify solar facility staff when collisions happen. The technology will then be ready for large-scale field trials at many solar facilities, said Hamada.
The resulting data could be used to detect patterns and begin answering key questions: Are certain types of birds more prone to strikes? Do collisions increase at certain times of the day or year? Does geographic location of the solar panels play a role in the types of interactions? Do solar energy facilities provide viable habitat for birds?
The technological framework can also be used to monitor other wildlife by retraining AI with appropriate data. “Once we identify patterns, that knowledge can be used to design mitigation plans,” Hamada said. “Down the road, once a mitigation strategy is in place, the same system can be used to evaluate the strategy’s effectiveness.”
Christina Nunez works in communications for Argonne National Laboratory, which seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely
with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state, and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership, and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
Argonne National Laboratory
/// www.anl.gov
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) supports early- stage research and development to improve the affordability, performance, and value of solar technologies on the grid.
SETO /// energy.gov/solar-office
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research
in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.
DOE Office of Science
/// energy.gov/science
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13 or IP65 when the protective cap is closed. The PN 8000-099/000-1764 is a CAT 6A RJ45 Female/Female bulkhead connector rated up to 10 Gbits/s. The PN 8000-099/000-1765 is a USB 3.0 Female/Female bulkhead connector rated up to 5 Gbits/s.
WAGO /// www.wago.us
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