Solar PV Inspection

What is a Solar PV Inspection?

A solar PV inspection is a process that leverages several possible techniques to evaluate the current state of every solar photovoltaic (PV) panel. Other types of inspections have a different scope and may focus on inverters or batteries, but a solar PV inspection is specifically concerned with the state of the panels.

Typically, drones or on-the-ground technicians use infrared and daylight cameras to evaluate the panel’s condition. Combined, these cameras can evaluate the functionality of individual cells within the panel and assess their physical condition.

The inspection will produce a solar PV inspection report, informing preventive or predictive maintenance scheduling to address any identified issues. From there, any identified issues can be corrected to keep the farm operating at its best.

The Importance of Solar Panel Inspections

Why is inspecting PV panels worth the time and effort? There are a wide range of reasons that make this an important process, including:

• Maintain ideal power generation: A solar panel that is not functioning optimally reduces revenue, and at scale, having several suboptimal solar panels creates a significant issue. Identifying any possible causes of degraded power generation helps keep the business profitable.
• Correct issues before they escalate: Some faults may worsen over time, making early detection crucial. Extreme temperatures, weather conditions such as hail, and plant life can each create issues that have a greater impact on the solar panel as they remain unidentified.
• Fully utilize warranties with minimal pushback: Inspections may find issues covered under warranty, allowing you to avoid paying for costly repairs. Additionally, inspection data help support your claim, especially thermographic imaging, increasing approval odds.

While your results will vary based on the specific inspection method, the following types of faults can be detected during a solar PV inspection:

• Hotspots
• Soiling and glass breakage
• Mismatch losses
• Potential Induced Degradation (PID)
• Bypass diode defect
• Cell crack
• Delamination and discoloration

Regularly conducting inspections helps the solar plant operate at its best and protects your assets. Overlooking solar PV inspections might have a significant impact on your ability to operate.

What is an Ideal Inspection Frequency?

The entire solar plant should be inspected at least every 12 months. You can also supplement these inspections with drone solar PV  inspection, focussing on the panels themselves. Carrying out a solar PV annual inspection should be the minimum, and with leaner processes enabled by leading-edge technology, you can increase inspection frequency.

Common Methods for Solar PV Inspections

Solar panels can be inspected in several ways, each with its pros and cons. Let’s review some of the most common methods solar plants use to keep their solar plants operating at their best.

Drone Inspections

Manually piloted and autonomous drones equipped with thermal and daylight cameras can conduct fast, accurate inspections. Autonomous drones can improve on these benefits with efficient, consistent, and reliable inspections.

Solutions like vHive can leverage drone inspection data with solar PV inspection software for analysis, report generation, and predictive maintenance scheduling.

Visual Inspections

A visual inspection may not have thermography, but it can still be valuable to identify physical damage, plant coverage, or simply dirty panels. However, inspection reports will still need to be generated, making them possibly time-intensive if relying on technicians with clipboards.

Drones equipped with cameras can also conduct visual inspections and generate reports without requiring technicians on the ground. Regardless of the method, visual inspections should be part of solar PV inspections.

Handheld Thermal

Thermal imaging inspections via handheld sensors have been a long-time standard for solar panel inspections. However, it’s still a manual, human-powered process that can be inaccurate and requires specialized training.

Similar to on-the-ground visual inspections, technicians must visit each panel individually, interpret thermal results, and suggest corrective actions. These manual processes are error-prone and time-intensive and aren’t the best option, with modern technology enabling new options.

Your chosen method will directly affect results. Having the right equipment and trained personnel available enables more frequent and ad hoc inspections to address unexpected downtime. Since drones powered by autonomous software are readily available, weighing all the options when updating inspection processes is worth it.