ADPRO® Solar Parks Perimeter Protection

THE CHALLENGE

The client is one of the UK’s leading providers of solar power, operating solar parks at 40 sites across the country. Combined,the power generated is equivalent to the output of a nuclear power station. Due to their vast scale, remote location and highvalue technology, solar parks are especially vulnerable to theft; each site utilises assets worth around £6 million, with acombined value across all sites of £2 billion. Effective security is of critical importance.

The challenge was to provide remote, centrally monitored 24/7 surveillance coverage across all sites, thereby eliminating theneed for manned guarding and minimising overheads. There were also environmental issues to consider: to satisfy planningrestrictions, the client was required to return livestock to the sites once they were operational. It was therefore vital that thesystem provided effective surveillance, while also ensuring that grazing livestock would not trigger false alarms.

Harsh weather conditions presented an additional challenge – installation took place during the wettest winter in 50 years,making sites diffi cult to access.

THE SOLUTION

To arrive at the best solution, installers ISD-Tech conducted side-by-side trials using three comparable products over afortnight period. Due to the issue of grazing animals activating the detectors, trials were carried out using hired livestock.

After carefully evaluating all three products, the decision was taken to install the ADPRO® Perimeter, Multi-site and EnterpriseSecurity Solution by Honeywell/ADPRO®.

The system delivers reliable remote monitoring, enabling security threats to be detected and assessed fast and efficiently. When an intruder is detected, the ADPRO® FastTrace 2E Remotely Managed Multiservice Gateway (RMG) transmitshighquality images to a remote monitoring centre or mobile handset, so that operators are able see exactly what ishappening and take appropriate action.

FastTrace 2E is used in conjunction with ADPRO® IntrusionTrace, a primary detection system used for operational alerts and event based recording in sterile zones – i.e. monitored zones between two security fences.

The ADPRO® solution was of marginally higher cost to install than competitor systems. However, the ongoing cost ofownership is dramatically lower, because it operates via a 3G connection, which demands less bandwidth and compression.Importantly, ADPRO® IntrusionTrace has been awarded Primary Detection System Classifi cation from the UK Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB).

It is also officially approved as a primary detection system for operational use in sterile environments by the Imagery Libraryfor Intelligent Detection Systems (i-LIDS), the UK government’s benchmark for video analytics (VA) systems.

THE OUTCOME

The ADPRO® system paid for itself within the first 12 months of deployment. All sites are now remotely monitored from acentral location, eliminating the need for manned guarding and massively reducing security costs. Since installation wascompleted, there have been attempted break-ins at several sites, each of which was detected and prevented by Honeywell/ADPRO® technology.

The system also enables detection areas to be adjusted remotely without a need to visit the site, which significantly reducesthe incidence of false alarms while saving on unnecessary call-out costs. This was a key factor for the client in selecting ADPRO®.

Vitally, ADPRO® IntrusionTrace now enables the client to differentiate between a grazing animal and an actual intruder orthief, and livestock have now been reintroduced to the sites, just eight months after the full installation was completed.

The ADPRO® solution has also been signed off by the client’s insurers, resulting in reduced premiums.

ABOUT THE INSTALLER

ISD-Tech specialises in the design, installation and maintenance of multi-disciplinedsecurity solutions, with a combined industry experience in excess of 100 years.

ISD-Tech has delivered security solutions at 60-plus sites deploying Honeywell/ADPRO® technology. Together the two companies have built a strong and stable partnership.