Drones are not just for real estate photography, but a myriad of other industrial uses too. Let's take a look at a case study / practical example.
An apartment complex with 16 buildings, all of them are 2 or 3 stories tall, with no internal access areas to the roof (stairs or built in shaft), due to the residential tenants, and liability reasons. A storm comes through with VERY high winds and/or hail. This is extremely common in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas during the spring and summer months.
The property management doesn't immediately notice any power issues, but would like to check everything out and get ahead of any problems before it cause an interruption in resident electricity service. A normal inspection would require a 2 man crew, climbing 30+ feet of portable ladders, and repeating that process for all 16 buildings. This could take 2 days, and will certainly present a safety risk to any maintenance staff or contractors with the repetitive ladder climbing. Not to mention the labor cost for 2 contractors, or just the time spent away from other maintenance duties if utilizing property staff. For a simple inspection, this already is starting to sound like a daunting, expensive task, especially just to confirm everything is ok.
Bring in a drone. In just a few minutes, the UAV can be airborne from a ground station, and fly each building without ladders, climbing or other unnecessary risk to employee/contractor safety. A previously full 1-2 day inspection job, can be completed in a few hours with an unmanned aerial drone, at a significant cost savings.
High resolution photographs of each array, single panels and even overviews of the entire complex are easily and quickly obtained. These can also be used when applying for "green" tax and utility credits, to prove technology usage. Inspections can also be utilized for insurance adjusters who are overwhelmed with claims immediately after a storm hits an area, and may take months to get out to each site personally. High resolution aerial photographs of roofing shingles, solar panels, Air Conditioning units, and other building and property damage can expedite claims processing, or be used to justify emergency repairs necessary before an adjuster can even review anything.
Have a licensed, qualified UAV pilot perform an inspection immediately, the next time there is a "surprise" from mother nature!
