Hi there;

A home energy consultant has asked me to shoot some of his clients' solar roof tiles. Each row of tiles is daisy-chained so his low readings are impossible to decipher --  many tiles could be underperforming, one could be dead, etc. 

Are there any conditions under which the surface temperature of a solar roof tile (or a solar panel for that matter) could indicate whether its circuitry was working properly? More than one household is having this problem. The manufacturer is in Europe, the dealer/installer is 200 miles away and it's a YOYO kind of deal (the client is told "You're On Your Own"). This consultant is an old hand at solar but I'm wondering about his ability to think thermally. Or is it me who has the problem?

Thank you!

Lorna

Interesting shot of those panels. Did you set your emissivity using the table in your imager?

Since we see normal hot spots at the junction boxes, perhaps a dead cell's hot spot would look different. If a cell is dead, would the problem always show up at its junction box as a thermal anomaly? 

I look forward to hearing what your installer friends think. Thanks so much for all you do!

Lorna