Revolutionizing Wind Assessment with First Airborne

We're joined by Boaz Peled, co-founder and CEO of First Airborne, to discuss their groundbreaking technology that revolutionizes wind resource assessments. First Airborne's cloud-based anemometer system, suspended from a remotely controlled drone, allows highly accurate measurements of wind speed and direction across existing wind farms, significantly improving the efficiency and optimization of wind turbines. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com Allen Hall: Welcome to the special edition of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I'm your host, Allen Hall, along with my co host, Joel Saxum. Our guest today is Boaz Peled the co founder and CEO of First Airborne, an innovative company that is revolutionizing wind resource assessments. First Airborne has developed a cloud based cutting edge anemometer system that is suspended from a remotely controlled drone, allowing highly accurate measurements of wind speed and direction at various heights and locations across an existing wind farm. The groundbreaking technology is poised to significantly improve the efficiency and optimization of wind turbines. We're excited to have Boaz join us to discuss First Airborne's unique solution and his insights on leveraging drones and advanced sensor technology to enhance wind energy production. Boaz, welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. This is going to be an interesting discussion because First Airborne has some new technology, and in wind energy, you don't see a lot of sort of earth shattering technology, but this is one where it's a power producer, right? In the wind business, we're here to produce power. The power comes from the wind. We need to know as much about the wind as we can. Problem is if you have an existing wind farm with a couple of met towers it can be hard to discern what's happening on a complex site. That's where First Airborne comes in. And would you just briefly describe what your product is? I gave a little summary and introduction, but it's unique. Boaz Peled: The best way to think of First Airborne's technology which we call Windborne by the way, it's actually very easy to explain for wind power people. Because what it is a windmast, but it can fly. So it's a flying windmast. Imagine your windmast just grew wings and started flying any way you'd like to within your wind farm. And back to the question of complex terrain. I think I'd suggest that is simply let's say one kind of exotic application. But the question, which wind is hitting my turbine? Is I think the most maybe sought after question in wind power. And if you have a flying wind mast, you position it anywhere you like for any for this turbine or the next, and you'll get that answer. Allen Hall: Because once they've done a site survey, and usually there's a pre survey done before the wind turbines are installed, that survey is pretty good. Depending how old that survey is, that survey may be 20 years old. It could be that old, right? And things change. And the one that happens mostly in the United States, Joel has pointed out numerous times on the podcast, is there's another wind farm installed in front of your wind farm. And another wind farm in front of that one. So the winds you are now receiving are not what you had initially planned on. And then trying to understand what those winds are and how to maximize production in that environment is almost impossible without your kind...