What a thermal inspection reveals that a clean can't fix

From the ground, a panel that's dirty and a panel that's failing look the same: lower output, no obvious cause. A clean fixes one of those. A thermal scan tells you which one you've got.

What thermal imaging sees

Every working solar cell runs at a predictable temperature. A cell that's faulty, shaded, or carrying current it shouldn't runs hotter — and a FLIR thermal camera sees that heat long before it shows up as anything you'd notice by eye. We scan every string during a service and check what we find against the output the system should be producing.

The faults a clean won't touch

• Hot spots — localised heating from a damaged or soiled cell, which tends to worsen over time.
• Failed or bypassed cells, where a section of a panel has effectively stopped contributing.
• String faults — a whole run of panels underperforming against expectation.
• Connection issues at junction boxes and connectors, which show up as heat where there shouldn't be any.

Why we scan during a clean

Because access is the expensive part. While we’re already on the roof cleaning the array, a thermal scan adds real diagnostic value for almost no extra time, so you learn whether the system is healthy on the same visit rather than a separate call-out weeks later.

What we do with what we find

We don't do electrical repairs, and we won't pretend otherwise. What we do is document the finding clearly — what it is, where it is, and what it means — so your installer or electrician can act on it without guesswork. "The panels look clean" becomes "the system is performing", on the record.