Solutions
Solar farm perimeter security
Large-scale solar installations face a unique security challenge: massive perimeters, remote locations, and high-value equipment spread across hundreds of hectares. Traditional security approaches — guard patrols and camera-only systems — cannot cost-effectively cover perimeters that stretch 10, 20, or even 40+ kilometers.
The Challenge
Solar farms are high-value targets for copper theft, panel theft, and vandalism. A single photovoltaic module may be worth relatively little, but organized theft of inverters, cabling, and transformer copper can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and weeks of lost generation revenue. The sites are typically in rural or semi-arid areas with limited lighting, no nearby population, and perimeters that run for kilometers along fencing that was designed for boundary marking rather than security.
Fiber Optic PIDS for Solar
Fiber optic perimeter intrusion detection systems (PIDS) are purpose-built for this challenge. A single fiber optic controller monitors up to 4 km of perimeter with zone-based detection — identifying the exact section where climbing, cutting, or lifting is occurring. For a 22 km perimeter, six controllers provide continuous, gap-free coverage of the entire fence line.
Key advantages for solar installations
- No power at the fence: The fiber cable on the perimeter is completely passive — no electronics, no power supply, no lightning vulnerability. In remote solar sites where running power to the perimeter is expensive or impractical, this is decisive.
- EMI immunity: Solar farms generate significant electromagnetic interference from inverters and high-voltage DC cabling. Fiber optic sensors are 100% immune to EMI — unlike microphonic cables or active electronic sensors that suffer false alarms near electrical equipment.
- All-weather operation: Desert heat, tropical rain, coastal salt air — fiber optic detection works in all conditions. No cameras to fog up, no infrared beams to be blocked by rain.
- Scalable coverage: Add controllers as the solar farm expands. Each controller is independent, so phased construction doesn't require redesigning the security system.
- Low maintenance: No field electronics means nothing to maintain at the perimeter. The fiber itself has a 25+ year lifespan. Controller maintenance is centralized in the operations building.
Integrated Security Architecture
Fiber optic PIDS serves as the primary detection layer, triggering video verification and response. When the fiber detects an intrusion attempt at a specific zone, the system automatically:
- Slews the nearest PTZ camera to the detection zone
- Activates deterrent lighting along the affected fence section
- Triggers audio warnings via horn speakers at the intrusion point
- Sends real-time alerts to the security operations center with zone location and event classification
This layered approach — detect with fiber, verify with camera, deter with audio/light, respond with operators — reduces false alarms while ensuring every genuine intrusion attempt is addressed within seconds.
Deployment Reference
Our systems protect solar installations for major renewable energy operators including Brookfield, ENGIE, Voltalia, Atlas Renewable, and Alupar. Deployments range from 2 km suburban installations to 22+ km utility-scale complexes in remote locations.