Drones can detect these defects in solar systems

The images above show three typical defects that are recognizable when analyzed with drones.

So-called hotspots (left image) or multi hotspots occur particularly frequently. These are strongly heated partial cells on a solar module. These can be caused by partial shading, soiling or hail damage, for example. No electricity is produced within these hotspots. As electricity from the surrounding and well-functioning sub-cells is conducted through these impaired cells, they heat up considerably. This results in a higher risk of fire and often a loss of power of around 50 %. Panels with hotspots in particular should be monitored and replaced in order to increase the performance of the system and prevent fires.

In case of Diode faults (middle image), a substring of a module is affected. Many solar modules are divided into three so-called substrings (partial strings). If one of these substrings is impaired or performs worse than the rest of the cell, it is automatically bypassed in order to maximize the yield of the remaining substrings. However, bypassing one of three substrings results in 33% of the solar cell not being used. If such errors occur more frequently, even with less solar radiation, it may be advisable to replace these panels.

Particularly serious for your yield are failures of entire strings (right image). You can quickly detect such a fault by a sharp drop in your yield or by checking the data of the individual inverters. In most cases, such failures are due to damage to the inverter or inadequate insulation of the cabling.