Solar farm thermal inspection in Malaysia
Aerial infrared inspection for large-scale solar farms, from a few megawatts to several hundred. Find the strings, modules and connections dragging down your performance ratio, and fix them in priority order.
When a solar farm needs one
Most Malaysian LSS plants are monitored at inverter or string level. That is enough to know production is below the model, but a 50 MW plant has well over a hundred thousand modules and the monitoring cannot say which of them are the problem. Owners typically commission an aerial thermal inspection when:
- Performance ratio has drifted below the PPA assumption or the lender's base case
- An annual or bi-annual O&M health check is due under the operations contract
- The defects liability period or the module product warranty is about to expire
- The plant has been through a lightning storm, flood or extended grid outage
- A new O&M contractor is taking over and both sides want a baseline
What we look for
Under operating load, faulty components run hotter or colder than their neighbours. Across a whole plant, those temperature patterns map to specific fault types. Typical findings in Malaysian tropical conditions include:
| Finding | What it usually means for the owner |
|---|---|
| Hotspot cells and sub-strings | Cracked cells, soiling, bird droppings or shading. Small individual losses, but common and they accelerate degradation. |
| Bypass diode failures | One third or more of a module's output lost permanently. Often a warranty item if caught in time. |
| Whole modules or strings offline | Blown fuses, tripped strings, failed connectors. Frequently the largest single source of recoverable yield. |
| Junction box and connector heating | A safety and fire risk as well as a loss. Prioritised regardless of yield impact. |
| Potential-induced degradation (PID) patterns | Modules near the negative end of strings degrading together. A system-level issue with a system-level fix. |
| Vegetation and soiling patterns | Where cleaning and grass-cutting schedules are not keeping up. |
What is included
- Thermal survey of the full plant or an agreed section, under operating load
- Every inspected module identified on your plant layout
- Anomaly classification in line with IEC TS 62446-3 practice, with severity rating
- Estimated yield loss per anomaly and per plant, to rank repairs
- Repair list and site map for your O&M team
- Results in the PVSCAN client portal plus a written report
- Findings walkthrough with your engineers, and optional re-inspection after repairs
Fixed-tilt and tracker plants
We inspect both fixed-tilt and single-axis tracker arrays. For trackers we coordinate with your SCADA team so modules are surveyed at a consistent angle and tracker faults, such as rows stuck out of position, are captured alongside module faults.
Frequency
Most owners settle on one full inspection per year, timed before the annual performance review, with a targeted re-inspection after major repair campaigns. Plants with known PID, high soiling or a history of connector issues often move to twice a year. See how often a solar farm should be inspected.
Get a scope for your solar farm
Send the plant name or location, capacity and whether it is fixed-tilt or tracker. We will reply with a proposed scope and quotation.