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Current methods of fault and anomaly detection in solar arrays are time consuming and resource intensive. ASSIST Aviation Solutions recently introduced an innovative new survey technique on the east coast of the U.S. It combines overflights, fault and anomaly detection and analysis to support solar farm O&M providers.

Through ASSIST's comprehensive use of airborne IR sensors, high definition color imagery and metadata (including GPS locations), solar O&M providers can now diagnose and dispatch maintenance crews to the exact problem location with nearly complete knowledge of what to expect.

This new service detects observable thermal anomalies and identifies failures at the cell, module, string or row levels within an array. In addition to component failures, this technique also reveals shading, foliage encroachment, debris and physical damage to an array.

Expert analysis extrapolates causes, allowing operators to respond appropriately to address problems.

Although these surveys will not fully replace current fault and anomaly detection practices, aerial IR surveys pinpoint the problem to the lowest failed unit in the shortest possible time, enabling immediate maintenance crew dispatch. Solar farm operators will spend more time fixing than searching for problems to realize savings in time, money and resources.

"Using aerial infrared technology and high definition aerial photography, ASSIST Aviation Solutions, LLC, provided us with a comprehensive survey of nine of our utility-scale solar arrays across North Carolina, covering more than 350 acres. The survey and resulting analysis allowed us to pinpoint anomalies in our infrastructure to the lowest possible components and to dispatch maintenance crews to those precise locations with the proper tools.

What ASSIST completed in just a few days would have taken a ground crew weeks to complete. The survey has enabled us to keep our infrastructure at peak efficiency and has provided significant savings in time and maintenance costs." - Eric C. Nessl, Director of Operation and Maintenance, Strata Solar, LLC.