pictometry international
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pictometry international corp. - company overview pictometry international corp. specializes in aerial oblique image capture and software solutions… | pinteres…
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pictometry international' s president, rishi daga, currently has an approval rating of 64% . pictometry international' s primary competitors are
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pictometry international corp. provides geo - referenced aerial image libraries and related software for government and commercial applications. pictometry international was founded in 01 / 2000. pictometry international' s headquarters is located in roche ...
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pictometry international corp. provides geo - referenced aerial image libraries and related software for government and commercial applications. pictometry international is a private company. rishi daga is the president of pictometry international and has an approval rating of 64 from owler members. pictometry international' s top competitor is nearmap, led by rob newman, who is their ceo. pictometry international has 78 followers on owler .
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pictometry international is a company offering technological solutions in the gis, measurement and analytical space .
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the company reincorporated as pictometry international in 2000. john ciampa retired and kaplan took over as ceo .
aerodata is perceived as one of pictometry international' s biggest rivals. aerodata was founded in 1992 in deurne, antwerp. aerodata operates in the application software industry. aerodata generates $ 4. 4m more revenue than pictometry international .
esri is a top competitor of pictometry international. esri' s headquarters is in redlands, california, and was founded in 1969. esri competes in the application software field. esri generates 8, 671% of pictometry international' s revenue .
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nearmap is one of pictometry international' s top competitors. nearmap is a public company that was founded in circular quay, new south wales in 2000. nearmap is in the systems software field. nearmap has 64 more employees vs. pictometry international .
pictometry international has employees and is the seventh highest among it' s top 10 competitors. the top 10 competitors average 64 .
pictometry international' s revenue is the second highest among it' s top 10 competitors. the top 10 competitors average $ 2m .
i applied through college or university. the process took 1 + week. i interviewed at pictometry international corp. (rochester, ny) in may 2016 .
“once you start talking about it, you can think of ideas and ideas, ” says steve schultz ’89 (computer science), chief technology officer, pictometry international corp .
since 2005, pictometry established an international division which licenses its technology to partners in europe, middle east, africa, asia, australia, north and south america. [ 5 ]
the company estimates that 80% of the u. s. population is covered by a pictometry image. these images may be directly licensed by pictometry .
sandhills aviation is an aviation service provider focused on providing aviation solutions for aerial survey operations. our primary client is pictometry international, part of eagleview technologies, which is on the forefront of the geospatial world .
stephen schultz, who co - founded pictometry international almost 20 years ago, has been named chief technology officer for cryptolabs, a fast rising startup company at rochester institute of technology' s venture creations business incubator .
eagleview’s image library covers more than 1 million square miles, according to the statement. the parent company of pictometry international corp. and eagle view technologies inc. has offices in rochester, new york, and bothell, washington .
1996 – steve schultz became first employee of newly incorporated pictometry inc. in rochester, ny
bothell, wash. , and rochester, ny, jan. 7, 2013—eagleview® technologies, the leading provider of automated 3d measurement technologies and analysis solutions and pictometry® international, the leader in geo - referenced aerial image capture and visual - centric data analytics, jointly announced today that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which eagleview and pictometry have combined their businesses into a single entity. eagleview and pictometry closed the transaction on january 7, 2013 .
eagleview technologies and pictometry international, a newly merged company specializing in high - resolution aerial photography, automated 3d measurement technologies and overall software solutions, announced that rapid access technology has been engaged for recent catastrophic storm events in oklahoma and texas as well as wildfires in wisconsin .
schultz helped launch pictometry in 1996 and developed most of the underlying technologies on which the aerial imaging company operated. it eventually grew to over 300 employees, and he left after pictometry merged with eagleview technologies in 2014 .
the top 10 competitors in pictometry international' s competitive set are nearmap, aerodata, esri, icaros, digital map products, terra remote sensing, smithfield & wainwright, simsol software, understory and accurence. together they have raised over 55. 1m between their estimated 5. 1k employees .
contributions of rit grads ranging from 1975 to 2006 helped get rochester - based company pictometry off the ground, literally .
since inventing geo - referenced aerial oblique imaging in 2000, pictometry international has defined the global standard for visual - centric data analytics, integration and reporting. professionals across government agencies and commercial market segments use pictometry’s patented technologies daily, overlaying gis data and integrating existing systems to enhance productivity, gain unique insights, and change lives. with over 35 million images added annually to its cloud - accessible servers, the company’s unparalleled library now contains more than 210 million images– each mapped to the individual pixel. to learn more, visit urltoken or follow @ pictometry .
pictometry contracts with companies that fly the small planes taking the pictures. the imaging systems are built at pictometry headquarters, and the pilots are instructed to fly precise grid patterns over areas to be mapped. typically, 12 shots of each parcel in the grid are captured. the hard drives containing the images are sent back to pictometry for processing and incorporation into the ever - growing database .
“pictometry is going to be one of the most successful companies to come out of the rochester area, ” says ceo dick kaplan .
while traditional satellite and aerial photography provide a straight - down view, pictometry’s images are shot at an angle. this gives an oblique, 3 - dimensional view that provides much more information to users. pictometry also offers higher - resolution images than typical satellite photos .
98 – percent coverage in u. s. in terms of population (approx. 90% from pictometry imagery; 8% other )
under the terms of the merger agreement, eagleview and pictometry merged in a stock - for - stock merger - of - equals transaction pursuant to which both eagleview and pictometry became wholly owned subsidiaries of a new entity. as a result of this transaction, the former shareholders of eagleview and pictometry will each hold approximately 50% of the outstanding capital stock of the combined company on a fully - diluted basis. the merger was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of eagleview and pictometry and was approved by the shareholders of both companies. allen & company llc acted as eagleview’s financial advisor, and dla piper acted as eagleview’s legal counsel. barnes & thornburg llp served as legal counsel to pictometry .
last year, pictometry entered into a five - year agreement with microsoft corp. to provide aerial images for use in microsoft’s windows live local system .
software such as pictometry’s changefinder shows changes in a location over multiple years, which can be used for risk analysis and valuation. credit: eagleview technologies .
pictometry captured its first imagery in spring 2001 and delivered its first complete library to arlington county, va. the arlington county fire department later used the imagery during the response to the september 11 attacks on the pentagon. pictometry also flew ground zero to help in the search, rescue, and recovery efforts .
in september 2005 blom entered into an exclusive license agreement with pictometry® for 23 countries in europe. pictometry® is a completely new and unique method for the collection and processing of angular and vertical aerial photographs, a technology that, in our opinion, will have a long - term impact on the geographic information market .
the bird' s - eye images, captured by pictometry international using low - flying planes, are integrated with road and satellite maps to simulate 360 - degree panoramas that can be viewed from any of the four different compass directions. users can choose between directional views, for instance, to see the front or back sides of buildings, or zoom closer using on - screen navigation tools and preview tiles .
“the ability to capture images and provide structural reporting is essential for rapid recovery after a catastrophic event, ” stated chris barrow, ceo and president of eagleview technologies and pictometry international. “we are committed to flying every major storm event and having images available directly afterward. we are focused on constant development of improved aerial image capture, leading - edge software solutions and the fastest and most scalable operations available today. ”
pictometry had unique technology but no actual product. kaplan, who has no technical background, figured out how to wrap the technology into a product. schultz made it work .
rit graduates are central to pictometry’s success. of 71 employees in rochester, 26 are rit alums. within the software engineering department, nine of the 12 engineers are rit grads .
© 2018 eagle view technologies, inc. and pictometry international corp. all rights reserved. reports issued by eagleview technologies are covered by one or more international and u. s. patents and pending applications, including u. s. patent nos. 8, 078, 436; 8, 145, 578; 8, 170, 840; 8, 209, 152; 8, 515, 125; 8, 825, 454; 9, 135, 737; 8, 670, 961; 9, 514, 568; 8, 818, 770; 8, 542, 880; 9, 244, 589; 9, 329, 749; 8, 938, 090 and 9, 183, 538. other patents pending .
using an oblique view obtained from aerial imagery (at two inches per pixel resolution), solar installers can determine obstructions that cast shadows on parts of a roof. credit: pictometry .
pictometry international is a rochester, new york - based company that provides detailed aerial photography. its images are taken at a 40 degree angle from low - flying airplanes. its electronic field study software allows a variety of measurements to be taken directly from the image, including height, distance and area as well as elevation and bearing. contour lines can be dynamically created by the user. its images can be overlaid with shapefiles and gis information can be exported from the images as well .
chris barrow, eagleview’s chief executive officer, will lead the management team of the combined company as its president and chief executive officer, while pictometry’s chief executive officer, rick hurwitz, will exit the business having worked closely with both companies in support of this transaction. this fulfills his vision to develop pictometry into an end - to - end solutions provider that derives actionable information from aerial images. the management team of the new company will draw on a talented group of executive leaders from both companies with the six - member board of directors comprised of three eagleview directors and three pictometry directors. the company will operate with offices in bothell, wash. and rochester, ny while also maintaining satellite offices in other locations .
schultz was working full - time at rit’s chester f. center for imaging science when he left to join pictometry. he says some colleagues questioned his decision to leave a secure position to go with an unproven start - up. schultz had no doubts .
“bringing together the complementary talents and capabilities of these two category - defining companies represents a crowning step in pictometry’s strategic evolution, ” said hurwitz. “this merger creates an integrated company with greater scale and diversification that will afford tremendous upside to customers and shareholders. ”
sandhills aviation, llc was founded in may 2015 upon the request from pictometry international, inc. to expand their current fleet capabilities. our founders, who had worked directly with pictometry in some shape or fashion since 2007, we' re excited about the prospect of working with a growing, successful company. we currently operate 8 cessna 172 skyhawks, but are expecting significant growth for the future. we currently operate 8 cessna 172 skyhawks, but are anticipating significant growth of our own in the future. although we are a newly founded company, we are not lacking on experience nor the resources needed to provide our customers with their aviation - related needs when it comes to aerial imagery. with our headquarters in lincoln, nebraska and our base of flight operations located at millard airport (kmle), we are strategically located in our country' s
heartland
and emphasize safety and efficiency with our hard - working nature .
this spring, about 40 planes will be capturing images for pictometry in the united states, with 12 more in europe. schultz expects to have 80 percent of the u. s. population covered soon – which amounts to about 15 percent of the country’s geography .
“it can be such a crap shoot when you hire someone, ” says schultz, “so if you know how they work or what they can do, that’s a huge plus. the rit grads are a good match for the work we’re doing at pictometry. ”
eagleview is the unparalleled provider of pictometry® aerial imagery, data analytics, property data, and gis solutions for local and federal government agencies, including assessment, public safety, and gis, as well as the construction, insurance, solar, and energy infrastructure industries .
with the company growing at a rapid pace, schultz turned to a former rit colleague, frank giuffrida, to help the business scale. together they created the new pictometry capture systems that would collect oblique imagery from all four cardinal directions as well as nadir. with a customer base doubling in size annually, the business went from capturing imagery with six planes to using 50 aircraft in just a few short years. by then, the patented pictometry oblique camera systems became the first and only ones to receive u. s. geological survey certification .
to launch pictometry, schultz didn' t just create new algorithms, he created a paradigm shift. traditional aerial photography was based on the premise of taking photos from directly overhead and using a variety of interpretation techniques to analyze the content of the photos — a science known as photogrammetry .
servicing government agencies, commercial insurance carriers and restoration contractors, the company is able to gather post - event imagery within days of an event for disaster recovery support. in addition to pictometry image capture, eagleview reporting services can also provide rapid reporting for structural restoration with exact measurements for claim completion .
to let users view, interact with, and extract data from the imagery, pictometry created electronic field study (efs). this unique desktop application allowed users to measure distances and heights from a single image, surpassing the industry standard of the time that required two or more overlapping images to extract vertical measurements .
the oblique photographs shows buildings, infrastructure, and land from all sides. pictometry also shoots looking straight down from the airplane. in general, this approach results in much more visual detail than using [ satellite photography, because there are multiple perspectives, with overlap resulting in as many as 12 to 20 images of the same location .
“pictometry and eagleview each offer a highly valued set of solutions, which are excellent complements in the geo - referenced aerial imaging industry, ” said barrow. “in combining pictometry’s world - class data and aerial image capture assets with eagleview’s remote measurement and analysis solutions, we are leveraging a portfolio of incredible technologies and world - class insights. this will create a compelling platform for continued strong growth and accelerating innovation. now, with an even larger set of high - resolution imagery and unmatched data reports and services, we can offer more data, more compelling solutions and more value to our respective government and commercial clients, while also creating additional opportunities across multiple new market segments and geographic areas. ”
besides collecting the images and processing them into a usable database of images, pictometry also develops software suited to customers’ particular needs. for instance, a fire department wanted to be able to superimpose a map showing the location of water mains and hydrants over the aerial photographs of a neighborhood. another fire department requested an interface that allowed firemen wearing bulky gloves to navigate the keyboard .
while consolidating the business under the eagleview brand in 2017, eagleview president rishi daga became leader of the business. the former executive vice president of commercial sales, daga has been with eagleview since shortly after its establishment in 2008. frank giuffrida, who developed the pictometry image capture systems, also continues to lead and innovate at eagleview in his role as executive vice president and chief engineer .
in 2013, pictometry merged with eagleview technologies, creating a business focused on developing progressive technology to automate manual activities across industries. by then, the business had launched the connect™ platform, which includes the connectexplorer™ application. this cloud - based software solution offers the functionality and benefits of the efs desktop solution remotely through a web browser. further innovations over the following years included photorealistic 3d models and change detection technology .
no wonder the rochester - based company’s sales revenues have doubled for each of the past four years. pictometry captures digital images with specially equipped airplanes and uses the information to create a seamless mosaic of pictures that customers can access using the company’s interactive software. the company’s growing list of customers includes 125 counties, major metropolitan areas including new york city and los angeles, several states, federal government agencies and private businesses .
after obtaining a patent on the methodology in 1993, ciampa turned to steve schultz, a former student and colleague from rit, to turn it into reality. schultz worked part - time to validate the concept and in january 1996 became employee number one of the newly incorporated pictometry inc. for the next four years, schultz refined the algorithms, created the initial hardware, operated the capture systems, and developed the first working prototypes .
this company' s focus was on capturing aerial images and allowing the end - user the ability to measure what is in the images from their desktop. by far, this was the most rewarding experience in my career. i worked with some of the most intelligent people and learned a great deal during my time with pictometry. what this company produced for it' s users was like giving candy to a baby. there was an annual user conference and it was obvious that the customer' s appreciated pictometry' s leaders and held them in very high regard. i even heard a leader from another company say that he considered the annual event to be a
love fest
. the team i worked with was one of the most cohesive teams i had ever worked with. after the 2nd ceo left the company was never the same and was one of the reasons for my departure .
one company that sells aerial imagery to solar planners and engineers is eagleview technologies, formed two years ago by the merger of pictometry, which had been collecting oblique imagery for 12 years, and eagleview, which had patented the ability to measure roofs and overall structures. the company sells geocoded imagery of the tops and all four sides of buildings, at three - inch resolution on average, as well as cad files with exact measurements of the tops and sides .
in 2006, the company launched pictometryonline, allowing users to view and interact with their imagery via a web browser. by that time, county customers had found more uses for pictometry imagery. call takers in enhanced 9 - 1 - 1 call centers were using the imagery to pinpoint caller locations and identify nearby landmarks. assessors began to do more work than ever before from their desks and found they could use the imagery to reduce the number of costly appeals .
pictometry' s oblique imagery and accuplus products are by far the finest in the industry. their oblique imagery has so many applications that making sales presentations to state and county government agencies was like making a public service announcement. their sales force is among the smartest and best qualified professionals that i have ever worked with. their dedication to the product and their business accumen is nothing short of amazing. however, i cannot say the same for the new executive management team. while seasoned professionals in their own right, they have no experience in pictometry' s core business and they are trying to take the business in a different direction. in taking the company in this new direction, little attention or resources are being allocated to support the existing outside sales force. as a result morale has fallen to dangerously low levels and key people are beginning to leave voluntarily. a company with a superb product and sales force but with an executive management team which has lost its way .
over the years, eagleview has produced more than 350 million images and covered more than 90% of the most populated areas in the united states. altogether, more than 1, 440 cities, counties, and municipalities rely on pictometry imagery in their local government offices, and eagleview’s aerial property measurement reports and data have assisted countless roofing contractors and insurance companies in their everyday workflows. eagleview remains committed to providing professionals across industries and agencies with the data they need to save time and money and reduce exposure to risk .
the company' s most numerous customers are state and local governments, which use images of cities, counties, and entire states for such things as planning and development, emergency response (police, fire and 9 - 1 - 1), and property assessment. it also has applications in insurance, real estate, roofing, solar, engineering, and utilities. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] microsoft licenses pictometry imagery for the
bird' s eye
feature of their virtual earth service .
microsoft plans to expand the bird' s - eye view coverage with its exclusive partnership with pictometry to cover as much as 90 percent of the u. s. population, which means the big cities but not all the
corn farms in nebraska ,
said stephen lawler, general manager for mappoint and msn virtual earth. the bird' s - eye images are also likely to be refreshed every year, with areas such as the tree - filled northeast updated during the winter when the leaves are not obscuring the view, he added .
possibly that is due to connections formed at rit. five of the top engineers were members of computer science house (a special - interest campus residence for technically inclined students); schultz and frank giuffrida ’89 (electrical engineering), pictometry’s vice president of engineering, were co - founders in 1981of the modern csh. the two were responsible for obtaining a pdp - 11 minicomputer for the house. they also worked with barry culhane (now executive assistant to rit president albert simone) to develop “ritciss, ” an early computer information system kiosk for students .
this press release contains information about our management’s view of our future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward - looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. actual results may differ materially from historical results or those indicated by these forward - looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. for example, the merger involves the integration of two companies that have previously operated independently with principal offices in two distinct locations. eagleview and pictometry have conducted only limited planning regarding the integration of the two companies. the combined company will be required to devote significant management attention and resources to integrating the two companies. delays in this process could adversely affect the combined company’s business, operations financial results and financial condition. even if eagleview and pictometry were able to integrate our business operations successfully, there can be no assurance that this integration will result in the realization of the full benefits of synergies, cost savings, innovation and operational efficiencies that may be possible from this integration or that these benefits will be achieved witw4hin a reasonable period of time. some other factors include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with our financial condition, our ability to sell our products and services, our ability to compete with competitors and the growth of the existing aerial imagery and analytical software solutions markets as well as the development and growth of new markets and geographic areas for the combined company’s products and services .
solar power is booming in the united states. “every three weeks, ” president obama said in his 2015 state of the union address, “we bring online as much solar power as we did in all of 2008. ” geospatial technologies—especially remote sensing and surveying—play an important role in siting, designing, and constructing solar arrays, from a few panels on the roof of a house to hundreds of thousands of panels in huge solar farms .
john heiser (foreground), a senior environmental research engineer at brookhaven national laboratory (bnl) collects solar data at the long island solar farm—a 200 - acre, 32 mw facility located on the bnl campus. credit: bnl
the biggest challenge to maximizing the power output of solar panels is … shade! passing clouds, topographic features, trees, buildings, rooftop installations such as hvac systems, and even adjacent panels can block the sun’s rays from reaching solar panels. smart design and construction can mitigate shading, but site selection based on high - resolution aerial imaging and surveying can minimize it up front .
currently, a popular solar energy project type is utility ground - mounted solar arrays. “agricultural fields or different parcels of land get acquired for the purpose of designing and installing solar systems, typically by developers who have projects and have obtained power - purchase agreements with utilities, ” says sam laughlin, who runs the civil engineering department at blue oak energy, a company that designs commercial and utility solar photovoltaic (pv) projects for rooftops, carports, and open real estate across the united states and abroad. “they will ask us to engineer the system for them and put together the construction documents. ”
blue oak energy uses a multidisciplinary engineering team to plan solar installations, such as this car port at an rei store .
as with any large industrial installation, many considerations come into play when deciding where and how to build a pv solar array. they include the topography of proposed sites, whether the panels should be mounted on a fixed - tilt or a tracking system that follows the movement of the sun, whether to have energy storage, and whether to connect to the electric grid .
“the site’s location helps to determine the proper orientation for the solar array and whether a tracking system makes sense over a fixed - tilt system, ” says laughlin. his department works within a multidisciplinary engineering team that enables it to tie together the energy modeling aspects with the land constraints to fully optimize solar energy facilities .
his group also provides all the structural engineering aspects of solar projects, such as the foundations for supporting solar arrays and inverters .
“for net metered [ energy offset ] solar projects, the site’s energy consumption profile and utility rate structure play a huge role in tilt angle azimuth orientation. for utility - scale solar farms, the energy is typically being sold to a utility company off - taker at a specific value per unit of energy ($ / kwh). the value of energy and whether it is a fixed rate or a variable rate plays a huge role in determining the technology and orientation of the mounting system. ”
the company engineers the systems and creates the construction documents. credit: blue oak energy, inc .
“you have to optimize your output to your energy use, ” says john heiser, a senior environmental research engineer in the biological, environmental & climate sciences department of brookhaven national laboratory (bnl), on long island, new york. for instance, he points out, the long island solar farm—a 200 - acre, 32 mw facility located on the bnl campus—is optimized for summer - time use at 3: 00 pm, not for optimal power production on a total year basis .
“if you optimize an array for a westward sky, your sell - back to the local electrical utility may be very low because you are underutilizing during the part of the day when the sun is high. however, if your goal is to maximize energy production at the time of peak use—which for most u. s. households is in the evening—then a westward orientation might be preferable. so, you have to decide what you want to get out of your solar installation and whether you want to be on - grid or off - grid, ” says heiser. “if you don’t have storage, then you probably want to optimize for peak use. ”
when comparing sites for planning purposes, there’s not much to work with besides google earth and other publically available data websites, according to laughlin. “you can take the satellite imagery, focus on the particular site, and look at the topography [ and ] the surrounding environment, determine what permitting agency has jurisdiction, look at nrcs public soil data, look at any gis layers that the county might have and what you can learn from them, where the adjacent power lines and utility substations are, look at fema maps. if the site is in a flood plain or a blue line stream or a jurisdictional water body or a wetland, you are going to have more headaches, additional civil engineering requirements, and more site encumbrances. ”
however, satellite imagery is not detailed enough to perform the final engineering for commercial and utility scale solar projects, laughlin points out. “rooftop and ground - mounted obstructions don’t really get picked up with the web - based imagery technology currently available. we always have to go to the site and survey in person so that we know what’s actually there. if our dimensioning is off by one inch in some area of a complex large - scale solar array, the effects can cascade through the entire project. we have found that spending a little extra care and time and money at the early stages of the project can save immensely on the back end. ”
its solar energy business began with residential installations because solar companies were looking for a faster way to measure roofs and to expedite the design and production of panels to install on roofs, recalls heidi ellsworth, the company’s executive vp of marketing. “one of the big benefits of aerial imagery for placing solar panels on any building is that we can see all of the obstructions, ” she says. “we can see the vent, the hvac unit, and we can draw them and measure them so that the solar companies know what is up there. we produce a cad file that the solar company engineers can then import into whatever engineering program they are using .
“they are then able to place panels very precisely, with the imagery and the precise measurements of the roof, saving a tremendous amount of time for the guys out in the field not having to measure and for the engineers not having to re - draw it once they get the measurement. they are also starting to use this imagery in the sales and marketing process because they can look at it very quickly, figure out where the panels would go, and give some estimates. ”
the company’s solar reports give the azimuth of roofs, their pitch in degrees, and what percentage is facing south. ellsworth says, “we always try to fly leaf - off so that we can see the buildings and get really strong measurements. sometimes, however, solar companies want to see leaf - on so that they can see the shading, so we also do that. every industry has different needs. ”
something that eagleview technologies has been doing in other markets and may become of interest in solar is change detection: using its imagery archive to show what has changed in a certain area. are there more or fewer trees? are there more buildings? are there more high - rises? “we can let them know what’s a good area, what is changing, and give them some of that analysis that helps them make decisions, ” says ellsworth .
the amount of shading on solar panels depends on the shape and size of objects between them and the sun as well as a site’s latitude. at lower latitudes, where the sun is on average higher in the sky, obstructions will have a smaller impact than at higher latitudes, where the sun is on average lower. “that’s something that we always have to take into account as we space the rows of solar panels, ” says laughlin. “with topography, the slope affects how one row shades the next one. in conjunction with topography, we perform the energy modeling. if you have a north - facing slope, you will probably have to space your arrays out farther because of the production lost and the shading. so, it is most always better to have a south - facing slope. ”
topography plays a crucial role in deciding how the pv racks will be installed. credit: blue oak energy
solar arrays consist of racks of pv panels mounted either on tubular steel or h beams with a fixed module tilt of typically 20 degrees or 30 degrees, depending on the latitude, or on single - axis trackers that face north - south and rotate the panels east - west. (dual - axis trackers can also track the sun north - south to adjust for seasonal variations. however, while trackers can increase solar panels’ energy production, they also create parasitic losses because of the energy required to operate their motors. )
whether fixed - tilt modules or trackers, the racks cannot be installed on very steep slopes. therefore, planning and design needs to take into account the cost of grading and altering drainage to meet the racks’ installation requirements. “often, ” says laughlin, “creating nominal slopes in certain directions will improve the constructability of the array. so, the topography is everything for figuring out how the pv racks are going to work in the field, and it is all integrated with the structural design of the piles, with the production of power, with the grading and the drainage and the maintenance and so on .
“that’s why the more precise surveying equipment and technology that [ … ] you use as a base file, the more you can accurately minimize grading and the fewer headaches you will have in construction. you can save money, quicken the schedule for construction, and so on. so, getting detailed survey maps is really important .
“the main thing we’re after, ” he adds, “is the cad file with all the existing information to use for design. that is in a particular coordinate system and datum in space, and we keep it there, so when we build the array on top of it, a surveyor can pick up from the same monument or the same datum and do the construction staking off of that design. ”
brookhaven national laboratory (bnl), on long island, new york—one of 17 large research facilities owned by the u. s. department of energy—hosts the long island solar farm (lisf), a 200 - acre array that uses 164, 312 solar panels from bp solar to generate 32mw for the local electric utility. it was engineered by blue oak energy and began operating in november 2011 .
in exchange for an easement to locate the farm on the lab’s campus, lisf, a privately owned facility, financed the establishment of the lab’s northeast solar energy research center (nserc), which operates the largest research solar array in the northeast. when completed, the research array, which uses suniva monocrystalline silicone panels tilted at 23 degrees, will generate a little more than 1 mw. “we are looking at sustainable energies and how they can be exploited to the fullest extent, ” says bob lofaro, group leader of the renewable energy group in the sustainable energy technologies department at bnl .
nserc installed its own monitoring instruments on the lisf—including pyranometers that measure solar insulation and “total sky imagers” that take pictures of the clouds as they move over the array—so it is continuously collecting very high resolution data for research purposes. “we can do such things as validating different models that we developed for our solar arrays, ” says lofaro. “we can actually forecast how much power we get out of the array based on the weather conditions. we also have power - monitoring instruments in the array measuring how much power comes out of each of the inverters .
“their variability is very interesting. one of the big problems with these large solar arrays is that their power output varies as clouds come over. we are interested in seeing how you might be able to manage that so that it does not impact performance on the grid when they are connected to it. ”
the long island solar farm consists of 164, 312 solar panels from bp solar that provide enough electricity for roughly 4, 500 households. credit: bnl
nserc will test smart inverters and energy storage devices. it hopes to install smart grid sensors and do micro - grid demonstrations. it will also mount some panels on single - axis trackers that will follow the sun from sunrise to sunset to compare their performance with that of the vast majority of their panels, which are mounted on a fixed tilt. “we have empty racks where vendors can come in, install their own technologies, and do reliability performance testing and comparisons against other technologies, ” says lofaro .
bnl, as a department of energy - owned facility, operates and controls its own power grid. therefore, nserc is not required to obtain ul listings to install and test its equipment, which delivers power directly to the lab’s grid. “it is very difficult to test new technology on the outside, ” lofaro explains, “because utilities don’t want to risk disrupting service in their utility. here, it is very easy because we can install it and run tests without all of that red tape. ”
nserc’s sky imagers take still images every 15 seconds. “by looking at the movement of the clouds and correlating that with power from the array, we are able to do some algorithm development to actually predict how much power you might get out at any particular time based on the weather forecast. the forecasting is important for the utilities, particularly when they are in the energy markets and they are trying to estimate how much power they might be able to deliver at certain times. ”
most large solar arrays use a single centralized inverter to control all of the panels, with a maximum power point tracking algorithm to constantly adjust the voltage and current coming out of the panels in order to maximize their power output. one research feature of nserc’s array is that it uses modular inverters instead, each controlling a 67kw block of the array and each with its own mppt algorithm built into it, allowing it to control different blocks independently, which helps optimize power. “you can do research looking at different algorithms and how they compare with each other, which one gets you the most power, ” says lofaro .
bnl’s john heiser collects the solar resource data, air temperature, panel temperature, and some ground and humidity data in the solar farm. he also works with a forecasting group that’s developing models to forecast how clouds will affect the solar farm using sky imagers to look at the cloud movement .
“they use algorithms that pixelate the clouds, ” he explains. “then, by looking at progressive sets of pictures, they can tell which way and how fast the clouds are moving and when those clouds should impact the solar farm. they are looking to do this forecast for a 3 - to 15 - minute window. ”
the quantity and resolution of remote sensing imagery is rising sharply, due to the increased resolution of commercial satellite imagery allowed by the u. s. government and the launch of dozens of low - earth orbit micro satellites. the likely explosion in the number of uavs will add enormously to this trend .
meanwhile, increased concern with climate change and rapidly dropping production costs for pv panels will continue to boost demand for solar power. these developments make solar energy an emerging market for surveyors, providers of satellite and aerial imagery, and other geospatial professionals .
matteo luccio has had a life - long passion for navigation, closely related to his passion for sailing. he has been writing professionally about geospatial technologies for almost 20 years and is president of pale blue dot, llc, based in portland, oregon .
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the company is developing a bitcoin wallet, a sophisticated piece of hardware the size of a credit card that allows users to send and receive digital currency .
we' re all really excited and honored to have steve join our team ,
said melanie shapiro, cryptolabs' founder and ceo .
he brings the wisdom and talent that will help us bring our product to market and begin iterating for future versions of our technology .
one of the things i learned going through that startup process was that people make the difference ,
schultz said .
having met melanie and her team, they are really strong people. and i love the aspect of being in a startup .
it' s not intuitive. people aren' t used to looking directly down on flat objects ,
schultz said .
since i didn' t have training in that field, i didn' t have any blinders on. i could just solve problems without any pre - existing constraints .
schultz pioneered the use of oblique photography, taking aerial images at a 40 - degree angle. the result is a rich database of images that appear three dimensional, making it possible to take very accurate measurements of size and position. and when people look at the images, they recognize what they' re looking at .
that effort to blaze new trails is exactly what cryptolabs is doing, using a combination of hardware and software to change the way that people make bitcoin transactions .
bitcoin is a digital currency, similar to dollars or euros except that they aren' t actually printed. they only exist in digital form. what makes the concept intriguing is that bitcoin is a decentralized currency. no single institution controls the bitcoin network, so users are not at the mercy of a large bank or even a country that might be destabilized .
cryptolab' s device, which will be sold under the name
case ,
provides users with three keys. one is the device itself and the second is the user' s fingerprint, which is read through a built - in biometric scanner. the third key is stored on a server .
if the server gets hacked, the attacker only has access to one key. if a user loses the device, whoever finds it will only have one key. unlike a credit card, physical possession of the object isn' t enough to authorize a transaction .
case offers a balance between security and ease - of - use, something that could encourage more consumers and businesses to use bitcoins to conduct financial transactions .
but schultz is quick to point out that the success of cryptolabs is not dependent on broad adoption of bitcoin. their core technology is the multiple key authentication method, and it could be used for a variety of security applications .
it could be used to provide secure access to your stock portfolio, for example, or any transaction where identity certification is important .
bitcoin is just product number one ,
said schultz .
i' m excited to see all of the places where we can take the technology .
shapiro has an impressive track record of success with high tech startups. she co - founded digsby, a social networking / instant messaging client that started as a class project at rit. she and co - founder steve shapiro, whom she later married, built a user base of more than three million customers before selling the company in 2011 .
shapiro launched cryptolabs in april 2014 and it quickly drew significant attention in the technology press. she says they plan to start shipping case during the second quarter of this year .
both schultz and shapiro are rit graduates. shapiro received a bachelor of fine arts degree from rit in 2007 and an mba in marketing in 2008. schultz graduated with a bachelor' s degree in computer science in 1989, and he also serves on the school' s board of trustees.
pictometry international is an aerial measurement company based in henrietta , new york that develops software that uses three-dimensional aerial photographs to view high-resolution images of buildings in their entirety . pictometry international 's technology was developed at the rochester institute of technology and shows structures at an oblique angle or at a 45-degree angle , from all sides providing perspective and overhead shot images that are accurate to 1/100th of an inch . the company has 80 cessnas that provide high-resolution aerial photography in counties that include 95 percent of the u.s. population . the company was ranked fifth on the rochester top 100 companies list in 2011 . pictometry international along with blom asa and fugro earthdata , inc. accounted for approximately a quarter of the global aerial imaging market revenue in 2013 . in 2013 , pictometry international merged with eagleview technologies , an aerial roof and wall measurement company making eagleview technology corp the parent company . 
pictometry international is an aerial measurement company based in henrietta, new york that develops software that uses three-dimensional aerial photographs to view high-resolution images of buildings in their entirety. pictometry international's technology was developed at the rochester institute of technology and shows structures at an oblique angle or at a 45-degree angle, from all sides providing perspective and overhead shot images that are accurate to 1/100th of an inch. the company has 80 cessnas that provide high-resolution aerial photography in counties that include 95 percent of the u.s. population. the company was ranked fifth on the rochester top 100 companies list in 2011. pictometry international along with blom asa and fugro earthdata, inc. accounted for approximately a quarter of the global aerial imaging market revenue in 2013. in 2013, pictometry international merged with eagleview technologies, an aerial roof and wall measurement company making eagleview technology corp the parent company.
pictometry international is an aerial measurement company based in henrietta, new york that develops software that uses three-dimensional aerial photographs to view high-resolution images of buildings in their entirety. pictometry international's technology was developed at the rochester institute of technology and shows structures at an oblique angle or at a 45-degree angle, from all sides providing perspective and overhead shot images that are accurate to 1/100th of an inch. the company has 80 cessnas that provide high-resolution aerial photography in counties that include 95 percent of the u.s. population. the company was ranked fifth on the rochester top 100 companies list in 2011. pictometry international along with blom asa and fugro earthdata, inc. accounted for approximately a quarter of the global aerial imaging market revenue in 2013. in 2013, pictometry international merged with eagleview technologies, an aerial roof and wall measurement company making eagleview technology corp the parent company.