Steps to take before a Thermographic Inspection

Steps to take before a Thermographic Inspection


It is very important to us that we understand your needs and provide you with the most insightful data about your assets. We carry out inspections on thousands of solar plants a year, and our clients have a range of reasons for using our thermography service, including: 
  1. Preventative Maintenance Inspection by O&M to monitor module condition trends
  2. Commissioning Inspection  
  3. Warranty/Insurances claims 
  4. Disaster Damage Assessment (e.g. storm/hail damage, suspected lightning strikes) 
It is therefore important that we know if there are any particular issues you would like us to investigate, and also if there are any deadlines you need us to meet (particularly for warranty claims and commissioning). 

Maintenance before the inspection

We require grass-cutting and panel cleaning to take place before a thermographic inspection. We will request details of your maintenance schedule shortly after the order is confirmed, and this information will be used to best plan the inspection. 

On sites where there is heavy soiling or arboreal shading, we will group anomalies to be able to deliver the report in the timeliest possible manner. Further to this, you are welcome to request we ignore any anomalies caused by soiling or arboreal shading. 

Access to site

The pilot will need to access the plant compound. This is so that they can meet their requirement to maintain Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) on the drone.

Please provide us with all the necessary information so that the pilot can access the plant e.g.
  1. On-site contact
  2. Key site information
  3. Access codes
  4. Safety instructions
We don’t require a representative from your company to be present during the inspection. However, if it is a requirement for your access process or simply out of interest, please let us know.

Scheduling inspections

At Above, we have a professional team of PV experts, thermographers, meteorologists and experienced pilots. Prior to the planned inspection, we will monitor the weather closely and contact you when a pilot is planning to attend site. We will also ensure any relevant aviation permits or airspace clearances are obtained prior to site attendance. Should the forecasted weather change, resulting in site attendance being postponed, we will rearrange the inspection for the next available opportunity. 

Where possible, please inform neighbours and other users of the plant about the inspection in advance. Based on our experience grazing animals are not disturbed by the drone, however, it is up to you to decide whether the inspection should be conducted with animals on the premises. 

Technical information can also be relevant for the drone, such as the presence of strong magnetic fields or radio networks (e.g., alarm systems). 

Please inform us if: 
  1. The site is either partially or completely offline 
  2. There are works taking place on-site 
  3. There is curtailment of power production 
Please communicate with network operators and partners in advance to ensure that the plant is in normal operation at the planned inspection time. The solar plant must be online and on-load when the thermographic inspection takes place. If the site is not online, it may delay your report's publication and result in additional charges for redeployment. 

If the plant has been offline before the inspection, it must have been back in normal operation for at least one hour before we can conduct the inspection. 


If this document raises any questions for you, please reach out to your usual contact at Above or our HelpDesk team at helpdesk@abovesurveying.com 


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