The Skydio 2 drone is a beautiful piece of machinery, but the hardware is only one part of it. After part one of this blog series where I reviewed Skydio 2’s hardware, I want to dive into the software side. I work with drones on a regular basis, and know that software is just as important - if not more important - than the drone itself. In this post, I’ve compiled my thoughts on Skydio 2’s software strengths and limitations, plus give my final verdict on whether I recommend the drone to everyone.

For years, all solar surveyors worked manually. They’d climb up on roofs, measure steep roof pitches by hand, and provide manual drawings to designers. Around 2016, Empire Solar Group decided to try drones - a novel technology at the time - to improve site survey quality and speed. It worked. The company exploded, growing to over 600 employees by 2021, in part due to the efficiency and cool-factor of their national solar drone program.

Tim Jackson, Scanifly's VP of Customer Success, spends all day explaining drone hardware and software to solar contractors. For the past two weeks he has tested the Skydio 2 drone. Here is Part 1 of his review.

Josh Meade saw Freedom Solar grow from a startup to a multi-state enterprise. He’s been in solar energy long enough to know the “old” way of climbing on roofs and translating hand-drawn sketches into official solar plans. Now, Freedom Solar has fully embraced drone technology. As Lead Designer, he loves how it helps Site Assessors stay safe and how drones make his job easier and more accurate in the design and planning process.

From our conversations with customers and homeowners alike, Scanifly is seeing several trends fueling the continued growth of residential and commercial solar installations. This includes people spending more time at home, consumers looking to reduce costs and increased options for financing and incentives.

From our conversations with customers and homeowners alike, Scanifly is seeing several trends fueling the continued growth of residential and commercial solar installations. This includes people spending more time at home, consumers looking to reduce costs and increased options for financing and incentives.