Frequently asked questions

01. What is SolarDetech?

The SolarDetech platform is a panel-level digital twin and asset management platform for solar plants. Its thermal inspection is fully autonomous.

The platform's modules all work on the same record: portfolio management, a panel-level digital twin, autonomous thermal inspection, work and maintenance management, serial number records, inventory management, warranty claims, production loss and efficiency, fire risk, history and comparison, measurement conditions, teams and roles, integration. In the thermal inspection, the orthomosaic, the panel segmentation and the anomaly detection are produced from thermal and RGB drone data without human intervention. The model assigns each anomaly one of 17 classes. An expert confirms the class of every anomaly in the report. Findings are shown on the map, ordered by priority and converted into work orders. The platform is free. The inspection is priced by quote for your site. The flight is carried out by our professional field team or by your own team with a drone that has RTK and a radiometric thermal camera. Measurement and classification are carried out in line with the IEC TS 62446-3 methodology.

02. What is a digital twin, and what does it cover on the SolarDetech platform?

On the SolarDetech platform the digital twin is panel-level. Every panel in your plant keeps its persistent identity, its position and its measurement history in one record.

Each panel is assigned a persistent identity that does not change from flight to flight. Its geographic position is recorded as block, row and table, and its electrical position as transformer, inverter, combiner and string. The measurement of every flight is added to the same panel identity, which builds the panel's measurement history. The digital twin is this record, updated with every flight. Findings, work orders and close-outs are linked to it. When a finding is opened, the panel's location on the map and the inverter and string it is connected to are shown on the same screen. Whether an anomaly has grown, and whether it has closed after repair, is also tracked on this record.

03. What is solar thermal inspection and how is it done?

Every panel in your plant is measured with a thermal camera, and every anomaly detected is listed with its type and location.

A drone with thermal and RGB cameras images the whole site from an altitude of 30 m in a single flight. The frames are stitched into a single map, and AI detects the panels one by one. Each panel's temperature difference is normalised to irradiance and compared with the neighbouring panels, and panels that show a clear deviation are flagged. The anomaly type of each flagged panel is determined by a classification model, and every finding is verified across several images. At the end of the inspection a report is delivered and the findings are added to your panel record on the platform. For every anomaly the report gives the row, table and panel, its type, its priority and its estimated annual loss. Flight, measurement, classification and reporting are carried out in line with the IEC TS 62446-3 methodology.

ROWS · DETECTION

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ROWS · DETECTION

04. What is the difference between SolarDetech and other solar inspection platforms?

Five verifiable features set the SolarDetech platform apart: a persistent panel identity with its electrical position, panel history from flight to flight, findings verified across many frames and traceable to the raw frame, 100% panel coverage and a free platform.

05. Is the platform free?

Yes, the platform is free. Only the inspection is charged.

There is no charge for platform access, and only the inspection is charged. The inspection is priced by quote for your site. The quote arrives within 24 hours at most. The report and the platform record are included in the inspection. If you have a drone with RTK and a thermal camera, your own team can carry out the flight. Your panel record, your map and your earlier inspections are kept on the platform.

06. How is the price calculated?

Every plant gets its own quote. The quote arrives within 24 hours at most.

The platform is free. The inspection is priced by quote for your site. The quote is prepared from the plant's panel count and location. Classified and prioritised findings, the inspection report and the platform record are included in the inspection. If our field team carries out the flight, the number of flight days is also stated in the quote. If you have a drone with RTK and a thermal camera, your own team can carry out the flight. To receive a quote, you only need to provide the panel count and the plant's province. The quote arrives within 24 hours at most. By the industry average, a plant loses 5.77% of its production a year, and most of this loss is concentrated in a small number of high-priority findings. This is why a prioritised report matters.

07. Can I use it with my own drone?

Yes, the platform is hardware-agnostic. If you have an RTK drone with a radiometric thermal camera, your own team can carry out the flight.

You can submit your request through the contact form. Every inspection is subject to SolarDetech's approval, which covers data acceptance and the upload link. Processing after approval is fully autonomous. You upload your data through the link we send you, and orthomosaic, segmentation and anomaly detection run without human intervention. An expert confirms the class of every anomaly in the report. There are three hardware requirements. The first is RTK positioning, and the route is not started without a FIXED solution. The second is a radiometric thermal camera and an RGB camera. The third is a resolution of at least 5×5 pixels per cell at 30 m. Any drone that meets these requirements can be used. Capture follows the flight conditions we set to IEC TS 62446-3, from 30 m with lines crossing the rows. Terrain follow is used on sloped sites. Before processing, the data passes an acceptance check covering coverage, row continuity, brightness uniformity and edge crispness. Data that does not meet the flight standard is not processed. The reliability of the result therefore depends on compliance with the flight standard, regardless of which team carried out the flight.

THERMAL FRAME · PIXEL SCALE24 × 24 px

Flight altitude

30 metres

Cameras

RGB and radiometric thermal

Route

Lines crossing the panel rows, the whole site in one flight

Positioning

The flight does not start before RTK is fixed

Conditions

A clear day, at least 600 W/m² irradiance

Resolution

At least 5×5 pixels per cell

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THERMAL FRAME · PIXEL SCALE24 × 24 px

Flight altitude

30 metres

Cameras

RGB and radiometric thermal

Route

Lines crossing the panel rows, the whole site in one flight

Positioning

The flight does not start before RTK is fixed

Conditions

A clear day, at least 600 W/m² irradiance

Resolution

At least 5×5 pixels per cell

08. How soon do I get the report?

The report is delivered within 5 business days of the data entering the system. Data that does not meet the flight standard is not processed.

Once the flight is completed or your data is uploaded, the orthomosaic passes a four-point acceptance check and processing starts. Orthomosaic, segmentation and anomaly detection run without human intervention. An expert confirms the class of every anomaly in the report. Automatic processing takes about 12 hours for a 10 MW plant. The report and the platform record are delivered within at most 5 business days of the data entering the system. The delivery includes orthomosaic mapping, a panel-level record, a finding list with types and priorities, a production loss analysis, an inspection report prepared in line with the IEC TS 62446-3 methodology, and platform access. A 50-page extract of a delivered 315-page report, including finding cards, can be downloaded from our website.

INSPECTION REPORT

Acceptance check

• Coverage
• row continuity
• brightness uniformity
• edge crispness

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INSPECTION REPORT

Acceptance check

• Coverage
• row continuity
• brightness uniformity
• edge crispness

09. Does it scale to large plants?

Yes, a 50 MW plant is processed in about 2 days. There is no defined upper limit on site size. Because processing is automatic, only the number of flight days increases with site size.

Because orthomosaic, segmentation and anomaly detection run without human intervention, the same processing pipeline is used on large sites. An expert confirms the class of every anomaly in the report. On large sites the flight is split over several days, and if our field team carries out the flight, the number of flight days is stated in the quote. The plants in a portfolio are monitored on a single screen on the platform, which shows the date of the last flight, the number of open findings, the priority distribution and a comparison across sites. Because every flight is recorded against the same panel identities, new, growing and resolved anomalies are assessed against the same threshold across all sites.

THERMAL ORTHOMOSAIC

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THERMAL ORTHOMOSAIC

10. How often should a solar plant have a thermal inspection?

One flight a year is recommended. Inspection frequency can be increased depending on the age and conditions of the site.

One flight a year allows anomalies that appear during the year to be detected at an early stage. In addition, an extra flight is needed before the warranty expires, after hail or a storm, and after major maintenance or panel replacement. Because every panel is recorded under a permanent identity, two inspections can be compared against the same threshold and the growth of an anomaly can be tracked from inspection to inspection.

Panel record on the platform

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Panel record on the platform

11. Which provinces do you cover?

Our field team carries out flights across Türkiye on ground-mounted and rooftop plants. For plants abroad, the platform can be used by uploading the data.

We work at sites in all provinces, particularly Konya, Karaman, Şanlıurfa, Ankara, Kayseri and Niğde, where installed capacity is concentrated. The number of flight days depends on the size of the site and is stated in the quote. If you have an RTK-equipped drone with a thermal camera, your own team can also carry out the flight. Data from plants abroad is processed as well. In that case the flight is carried out by your own team, and the data is uploaded through the link we send after approval. In every case the data is collected to the same standard and passes the same acceptance check.

12. I already see my SCADA data. Why would I need this?

You are right on this point. Monitoring inverter faults and grid outages is the role of SCADA, and according to industry data the inverter is also the largest single loss item. Our reports likewise leave inverter shutdowns to SCADA data.

In most cases SCADA does not show panel-level loss, and when it does, it does not identify its location. On sites with a DC/AC ratio above 1, the inverter clips at its AC limit in the summer months, and during those hours DC-side panel or string losses are not reflected in the output. Outside clipping hours and in winter, the loss of a single string cannot be distinguished from the variability of weather, temperature and irradiance. Days on which cool panels produce above expectation make the loss even harder to see. Even with string monitoring, it is not possible to determine which module, which diode and which cause are responsible. A SolarDetech inspection shows which row, which table and which module the loss is in.

STRING FAULT

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STRING FAULT

13. Our O&M team already flies a drone.

Using a drone is the right choice. The SolarDetech platform handles the stages after the flight: measurement, verification, the panel record and the work order.

On the SolarDetech platform the flight is only the first step of the process. The frames are stitched into a single orthomosaic and AI detects the modules one by one. The temperature difference is measured and normalised to irradiance in line with the IEC TS 62446-3 methodology. Every finding is verified across several raw radiometric frames and is traceable back to the raw frame. Each panel is then recorded on the platform under a permanent identity. You can open your plant on the map, view the thermal and RGB layers together and access the measured temperature difference, class and history of any panel. Findings are listed by priority. Each finding is converted into a work order, assigned to the field team and tracked, and its close-out is recorded on the same panel record. Because the same panel is compared under the same identity at the next inspection, the growth of an anomaly can be tracked. SolarDetech can also work as a module-level addition to your O&M provider's own report.

SOURCE FRAME

PANEL RECORD

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SOURCE FRAME

PANEL RECORD

14. Our problem is soiling, not anomalies. We handle it with cleaning.

Soiling is a significant loss item and is removed by cleaning. You may be partly right about this, but only measurement can show to what extent.

A site has two separate types of loss: losses that cleaning removes and permanent anomalies that cleaning cannot resolve. Measurement is the only way to distinguish between them. The effect of opaque dirt such as bird droppings is not limited to the surface it covers, because it activates the bypass diode, and the resulting hot spot can turn into permanent damage over time. Our report totals the loss under these two headings separately. Soiling classes are identified from the RGB image and electrical anomalies from the thermal image, and each is located on the map. The cleaning budget can then be planned by the map, permanent anomalies converted into work orders, and cleaning decisions based on measurement.

SOILINGTHERMALRGB

BIRD DROPPINGSTHERMALRGB

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SOILINGTHERMALRGB

BIRD DROPPINGSTHERMALRGB

15. We had a drone inspection done before. It was no use.

The value of an inspection depends on whether its findings can be verified and converted into maintenance work. At SolarDetech every finding is verified across several raw frames and converted into a work order.

Every module is assessed from images taken from dozens of angles. A finding is included in the report only when it is measured consistently in more than one raw radiometric frame, and every line of the report is traceable back to the raw radiometric frame. Because every panel has a persistent identity, the same panel can be compared from flight to flight. The deliverable is a prioritised work list. Each line is converted into a work order on the platform, and its close-out is tracked on the same panel record.

FINDING PAGE

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FINDING PAGE

16. When can the flight happen, and what does the weather change?

Thermal measurement depends on weather conditions, and the required conditions are defined in the specification.

IEC TS 62446-3 requires thermal measurement on a clear day at an irradiance of at least 600 W/m². This condition is met around midday on clear days for most of the year, so there is no need to wait for a particular season. Cloud, wind and humidity may cause the flight day to change. Conditions on the flight day are measured and recorded in the inspection conditions section of the report. We recommend one flight a year. An additional flight is needed at commissioning, at the end of a warranty and when a drop in production is suspected.

17. What do I keep besides the report?

Your plant's panel-level digital twin remains on the platform and is updated with every inspection.

Every panel is recorded on the platform with its identity and position, and findings are shown on the map. Work orders opened from findings are linked to the relevant panel. Assignment, status and close-out are tracked on this record. Every inspection is added to the same record, and a resolved anomaly is closed on the same panel record at the next flight. Access is account- and role-based, with separate roles defined for the field team, the operator and the investor.

Panel record on the platform

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Panel record on the platform

18. Which anomaly types do you detect?

Classification uses SolarDetech's 17 anomaly classes. Measurement and classification are carried out in line with the IEC TS 62446-3 methodology. The classes are detected from different image channels.

From the thermal image we detect single and multiple hot cells, hot spots, single and multiple diode anomalies, offline modules, string faults, warm junction boxes and reversed polarity. From the RGB image we read glass breakage, missing or detached modules, soiling, bird droppings and biological growth. Vegetation and structural shading are assessed from both channels together. Priority is set on the basis of safety risk as well as production loss. A burnt junction box and reversed polarity are rated very high even where the loss is small. In the report and on the platform every anomaly is given with its probable root cause. The full list of classes, with real cuts from delivered inspections, is on the Scope and report page.