Glass Aids Solar Field Technicians With Installs

Solar energy is nothing new and we all know that this kind of technology is evolving fast and is slowly replacing the traditional ways of obtaining electric energy. However, one of the biggest challenge solar energy providers have to deal with daily is improving the ETA for an installation and the approval workflow.

As soon as Glass was available through the Explorer program, someone found it a use in this area as well. The director of information and technology department of the company Sullivan Solar Power, Michael Chagala stated in a recent interview that they have seen in Glass a new way to improve their daily workflow, technician safety, receiving information and creating training materials. Sullivan Solar Power is a solar project design company, with a 120 employees that have already installed more than 18 million watts systems in both commercial spaces, municipal areas and even in residential projects. Now, thanks to Google Glass, they are discovering new ways of completing their work and since the device is in its early age we’re sure that things will only get better.

Chagala also stated in the interview that even though they couldn’t get Glass via the Explorer program because they couldn’t find a way inside the invitation based system, they eventually bought one from eBay and using the programming kit from Android Studio, they began brainstorming ways in which Glass could redesign their daily work. Soon enough, his team began experimenting with some applications and one year from then, they are ready to tell the world about it.

In the beginning, no one had any experience in the mobile software development field, but using some off their previous software development experience, a new workflow was created and their first app was ready even before they got their hands on the eBay Glass. After a few months, they were already making tests and implementing some of the changes. Their first application is going to be in tests during 2014 and apparently it’s going to hold all the knowledge of the company’s employees.

Chagala also gave an example of a situation in which a technician has to solve a problem on the field. So, after analyzing the problem the technician could be assisted (if the case) by some other technicians back at the headquartes via a Glass videoconference. Thus, the situation could be solved a lot faster, using less resources and the recorded video could be further used as a training instrument. So, this is a win-win situation for everyone.

When asked about the dangers his employees might face when using Glass on high top roofs or other dangerous locations, Chagala replied that they are developing security procedures so that the activities could be performed in maximum safety and that there won’t be any broken privacy policies.

The one thing they have achieved so far is that they have attracted Google’s attention, who is willing to provide them with more Glass devices in order to develop more systems for their teams, when they’ll need to.

At this point it is still uncertain whether Glass is or not a go to plan for small companies, however it is definitely a good idea for those larger companies that have more interest in ensuring a procedure workflow that can be easily monitored.