We carry out dozens of Solar field inspections every summer for clients ranging from EDF to BSR to Grupotec. And more often than not they are situated on low-grade agricultural land. So it’s not unusual for us to see barns and outbuildings with rooftop solar panels as well.
In this case we were scanning a 5MW site and upon returning to base, we took a peek at the farmer’s rooftop PV as a courtesy.
Often the PV on outbuildings is a mix of panels old and new, added on over the years. So we weren’t surprised when some of the neglected ground-based PV panels were overgrown — in addition to over half of the panels appearing to be offline.
But the PV array on the barn looked like a more recent, quality installation. That is until our Thermal Camera got a look at it, revealing an entire string with reversed polarity.
The 20 suspected panels are not only losing over £1000 a year in revenue but are also classified as a SEVERE / MAJOR defect requiring urgent further investigation and remediation.
lf you are the owner or operator of ground-based or rooftop Solar PV and would like to get a full thermal scan and in-depth health report, get in touch today!