Safeguard Systems Solar Farm Clarius Case Study
GJD, a market-leading manufacturer of advanced external detector equipment partnered closely with Safeguard Systems, a specialist solar farm security company to deliver a remote CCTV monitoring system for a large renewable energy client.
The Challenge
Manage all security threats, and deliver on system objectives
The solar farm, a utility scale site, based in South Wales, required a full technical audit and system upgrade as the current solution was malfunctioning.
Safeguard Systems partnered with GJD to overcome potential challenges around image quality, and low lightning due to the rural location of the site.
Safeguard Systems’ client, a leading solar O&M provider required a security system assessment, and technical audit on a solar site in South Wales.
This was following reports of the security system functioning incorrectly.
The existing system, a monitored CCTV solution, consisted of 28 cameras and four CCTV servers.
The system was malfunctioning and there were other challenges around image quality in low-light, and the potential for false alarms.
Due to the high value of the assets requiring protection, and the rise in solar farm related crime, an improved solution was paramount.
The Process
After conducting a full technical audit of the site, the team at Safeguard Systems encountered a range of technical issues.
Cabling was eroded, cameras redundant and security was compromised.
Furthermore, given the nature of the location Safeguard Systems, also spotted the potential threat that low-lighting and the elements would have on system performance.
Safeguard Systems engaged GJD, to partner on a solution that would deal with issues surrounding image quality, analytics and system performance.
To help manage all security threats, and deliver on system objectives the new solution would be integrated with Clarius LED illuminations.
Issues faced
Although the camera images with built in Infra-Red could be improved by switching on some automatic functions, this can result in motion blur due to low shutter speeds, poor depth of field (due to wide aperture settings) and overall inferior image quality (due to high gain settings).
We found using the high quality GJD Clarius external Infra-Red illuminator considerably enhanced the CCTV image.
Doing this also removed the issue of attracting spiders and insects to the camera lens – a common issue when using cameras that have integral Infra-Red LEDs positioned around the lens.
Insects crawling across the camera lens can cause multiple false triggers with camera analytics and spider webs are highly reflective and this can cause a white out of an image if the Infra-Red is reflected back into the camera.
Conclusion
The combined efforts of Safeguard Systems and GJD resulted in a vastly superior, highly effective solar farm CCTV system.
With all technical and cabling impediments dealt with, along with an LED based illumination solution, the client’s assets and site were now fully protected.
The new upgraded system, covers all security threats and objectives and negates potential issues arising from images being impacted by wildlife.
Get in touch
To find out more about our security solutions, contact us today.
sales@gjd.co.uk+44 (0)1706 363 998