Aerial Infrared Thermography of a CdTe Utility-Scale PV Power Plant

Aerial Infrared Thermography (aIRT) is a fast and flexible inspection method to monitor and assess utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants. The literature is abundant on aIRT for crystalline silicon (c-Si) modules, but very little investigation has been carried out and reported thin-film PV. As Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) is currently the leading thin-film technology, and a good performer in warm and sunny climates, this paper aims to investigate the application of aIRT on CdTe PV plants in Brazil. Results demonstrate that aIRT is a reliable, cost-effective and fast method to detect faults on CdTe modules in large-scale PV plants.