Can satellites solve the persistent problem of power outages in California?
The state of California has witnessed a series of blazing wildfires and large-scale power outages in recent years. But 2020 beat all records. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the year 2020 was the largest wildfire year ever recorded in California history. During the 2020 wildfire season alone, 8100 fires have been recorded in the state.
Powerlines and untrimmed vegetation growth are a dangerous combination, and there have been major incidents of wildfires in the past caused due to powerlines coming in contact with trees. In some instances, high winds can blow nearby trees and their branches into powerlines, sparking fires. In other cases, wind can snap wooden distribution line poles, causing live wires to fall onto nearby dry grass, setting it on fire. In every case, power lines and vegetation need to be kept away from one another.
This is what AiDash, a San Francisco Bay Area-based AI-first SaaS company, is working towards and enabling utilities to tackle their vegetation management woes with a unique Satellite-powered product. AiDash Intelligent Vegetation Management System (IVMS) uses high-resolution multispectral satellite images combined with on-ground reports to increase visibility on the overgrowth of vegetation around transmission and distribution lines.