SunPower Corp has announced that it is the first company to receive approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for automatic access to operate a drone in regulated airspace over controlled airports.
The new Low Altitude Authorization Capability (LAANC) access category was released this month in a beta test at four airports including San Jose (SJC), Cincinnati International Airport (CVG), Reno (RNO), and Lincoln (LNK).
SunPower received LAANC authorization through Skyward, an FAA-approved vendor.
Said SunPower CEO and President Tom Werner. “As part of the SunPower Oasis Power Plant platform, drone flights enable us to efficiently generate solar power plant system layouts to optimize site use and reduce project cost.”
SunPower uses drones as part of the SunPower® Oasis® Power Plant platform to survey potential solar power plant sites for customers. Information and images gathered by the drones is used to quickly develop solar plant layouts to optimize site use and achieve customers’ project goals.
