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Aerial Thermal · Province-wide

Solar Farm Inspection by drone.

Hot spots, string failures, bypass-diode faults, and underperforming modules — radiometric drone survey of entire PV arrays without taking the system offline.

MW-scale
Arrays per flight day
Module-level
Fault localisation
0 downtime
System stays producing

Free phone consult · No pressure · Mon–Sat 8am–6pm PT

Why clients choose it

Typical assets

Utility and commercial PV farmsRooftop solar portfoliosCommissioning and warranty baselinesAnnual O&M thermography

How it works

  1. 1

    Irradiance window

    Flights run at high, stable irradiance so electrical faults express thermally at full contrast.

  2. 2

    Grid survey

    Programmed flight lines capture every module at consistent angle and resolution — radiometric thermal plus visual.

  3. 3

    Fault classification

    Anomalies classified by signature: single-cell hot spots, bypass-diode patterns, string outages, soiling, and physical damage.

  4. 4

    Actionable map

    Module-level fault map keyed to the site's layout — O&M crews walk straight to the affected serial numbers.

Frequently asked

What faults does thermal imaging find on solar farms?

Cell-level hot spots, cracked cells, failed bypass diodes (their one-third-module signature is unmistakable), whole-string outages, connector and combiner heating, soiling patterns, and PID-suspect modules. Each has a distinct thermal fingerprint at full sun.

Does the system need to be shut down?

The opposite — it must be producing under strong irradiance for electrical faults to show thermally. Inspection happens at full operation: zero production loss for the survey itself.

How fast can a large array be inspected?

Multi-megawatt sites are covered in a flight day; portfolio rooftops batch efficiently across a week. Compare that with weeks of manual IV-curve tracing — aerial thermography is the triage layer that tells electricians exactly where to take the curve tracer.

Why does a hot module matter beyond lost yield?

Persistent hot spots degrade encapsulant, accelerate failure, and at the extreme end are an ignition risk on rooftops. Annual thermography is both a production audit and a fire-prevention control that insurers increasingly expect.

Related aerial services

← All aerial inspection services·Drone specialist hub

Aerial Solar Farm Inspection across BC

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Scope your thermal survey in one call

Free phone consult — asset, access, airspace, and a firm quote, usually in five minutes.

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