Autonomous solar field and receiver inspections based on polarimetric-enhanced imaging

1. A polarimetric imaging system for providing thermal and visual imaging of a concentrating solar power plant, the system comprising:

polarimetric imaging drones configured for imaging visible and infrared wavelengths received from one or more components of the concentrating solar power plant, wherein the one or more components comprise one or more heliostats and/or one or more receiver tubes;

algorithms for autonomous detection; and

measurement protocols,

wherein the polarimetric imaging system is configured to:

receive one or more visible polarimetric images and one or more infrared polarimetric images of the one or more components of the concentrating solar power plant from the polarimetric imaging drones;

detect edges and corners of the heliostats with a detection speed of less than about one second of receiving the one or more visible polarimetric images and the one or more infrared polarimetric images, and/or detect a peak flux of the one or more receiver tubes, and,

identify one or more errors, defects, and/or soiling conditions of the one or more components of the concentrating solar power plant from the one or more visible polarimetric images and the one or more infrared polarimetric images.

2. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 1 , further comprising a controller.

3. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the polarimetric imaging system is configured to detect facets of the concentrating solar power plant.

4. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the polarimetric imaging system is configured to monitor mirror soiling and solar-weighted reflectance of the concentrating solar power plant.

5. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the polarimetric imaging system is configured to inspect and monitor receivers of the concentrating solar power plant to detect hot spots, tube defects, and paint degradation.

6. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 1 , wherein at least part of the polarimetric imaging system is coupled to a power tower.

7. A method of imaging a portion of the concentrating solar power plant, the method comprising focusing the polarimetric imaging drones of the polarimetric imaging system of claim 1 on at least a portion of the concentrating solar power plant.

8. A polarimetric imaging system for providing thermal and visual imaging of a concentrating solar power plant, the system comprising:

a plurality of polarimetric imaging devices configured for imaging visible and infrared wavelengths received from one or more components of the concentrating solar power plant, wherein the one or more components comprise one or more heliostats and/or one or more receiver tubes; and,

a controller operably connected, or connectable, to the plurality of imaging devices, which controller comprises, or is capable of accessing, computer readable media comprising non-transitory computer executable instructions which, when executed by at least one electronic processor, perform at least:

receiving one or more visible polarimetric images and one or more infrared polarimetric images of the one or more components of the concentrating solar power plant from the plurality of polarimetric imaging devices;

detecting edges and corners of the heliostats with a detection speed of less than about one second of receiving the one or more visible polarimetric images and the one or more infrared polarimetric images, and/or detecting a peak flux of the one or more receiver tubes, and,

identifying one or more errors, defects, and/or soiling conditions of the one or more components of the concentrating solar power plant from the one or more visible polarimetric images and the one or more infrared polarimetric images.

9. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 8 , wherein one or more of the plurality of polarimetric imaging devices are mounted onto unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs).

10. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 8 , wherein one or more of the plurality of polarimetric imaging devices are mounted onto one or more power towers of the concentrating solar power plant.

11. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 8 , wherein one or more of the plurality of polarimetric imaging devices comprise one or more full-stokes polarimetric imaging sensors.

12. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 8 , wherein one or more of the plurality of polarimetric imaging devices comprise one or more integrated silicon metasurfaces with metallic nanowire polarizers.

13. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 8 , wherein one or more of the plurality of imaging devices comprise one or more CMOS image sensors.

14. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to identify the one or more errors, defects, and/or soiling conditions in less than about 1 second of receiving the one or more visible and infrared images and with a probability of detection of more than about 0.95.

15. The polarimetric imaging system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to receive different polarization parameters selected from the group consisting of: intensity, degree of linear polarization (DOLP), angle of polarization (AOP), Stokes parameters (S 0 , S 1 , S 2 , S 3 ), and degree of polarization (DOP).

16. A method of conducting an autonomous concentrating solar power field inspection using a plurality of polarimetric imaging devices, the method comprising:

receiving one or more visible polarimetric images and one or more infrared polarimetric images of one or more components of the concentrating solar power plant from the plurality of polarimetric imaging devices, wherein the one or more components comprise one or more heliostats and/or one or more receiver tubes;

detecting edges and corners of the heliostats with a detection speed of less than about one second of receiving the one or more visible polarimetric images and the one or more infrared polarimetric images, and/or detecting a peak flux of the one or more receiver tubes, and,

identifying one or more errors, defects, and/or soiling conditions of the one or more components of the concentrating solar power plant from the one or more visible polarimetric images and the one or more infrared polarimetric images.