Background
The management at the solar panel farm needed an effective form of perimeter security for the 500-acre site, which is situated in a rural location in County Meath, northwest of Dublin. The site operates automatically and usually without human intervention, and is monitored remotely, with one or two maintenance visits a month.
Solution
The customer wanted a reliable detection and alarm system in which cameras can be configured to trigger alarms and alerts when they detect a breach of the site’s perimeter. The system also needed to be sensitive to actual incidents of intrusion but resistant to false alarms, and capable of long-distance detection and monitoring.
Camera features include: heat detection and temperature measurement; intelligent video analytics such as tripwire, human/vehicle classification, and smoking detection; and third party integration options. By focusing on heat signatures, the thermal sensor reduces false alarms from animals and objects such as leaves or moving branches.
A 128-channel Ultra series NVR with eight hard disk drives was also installed to store and manage the recorded video footage. Features include: remote access; handling of camera AI functions such as perimeter protection, face recognition and ANPR; SMD Plus; video playback; 3D behavior analysis; and integration with other security systems.
Result
The installation was completed with Dahua’s high performance DSS security management system. The system is designed for large-scale applications, enhancing hardware performance and providing centralized video monitoring, access control and other security functions.
A spokesperson said: “As the solar farm is usually unstaffed and is monitored remotely, the ability of the system to automatically detect intruders and send alerts to the control room and key personnel works well with our way of operating. We have found the system performs to a high standard and it is intuitive to use.”
Installation company CU Group installed 54 thermal network mini hybrid bullet cameras around the perimeter of the site. The hybrid camera combines thermal imaging technology and a 4MP progressive scan CMOS, to provide the best solution for night and day surveillance. Users can switch between visible light images and thermal images, and there is the option of switching to fusion images, which combine visible light with thermal.
