Solar PV Industry Inspection Methods Comparison: Aerial Thermography vs. I-V Curve Tracing

Raptor Maps studies the performance and risk profiles of solar assets around the world in order to distill industry trends and to highlight opportunities for the rapidly growing solar industry. This report is a summary of Raptor Maps’ research. The 2026 Global Solar Report draws upon 373 GWdc of utility-scale and commercial and industrial (C&I) solar PV analysis, including more than 75GW of non-DC health inspections. This report includes new analysis on the impact of robotic automation on solar performance, risk factors such as high voltage equipment, and a guest article from kWh Analytics on insurance costs.

This inaugural report looks at how solar developers, builders, owners, and operators use and perceive technology & robotics on solar farms. It answers the questions: What technology & robotics are people using? What value are they getting? Does this value differ if you're an owner or an operator? As well as how the solar industry is projected to respond to several macroeconomic factors reshaping the industry today.

Drawing from learnings and data from over 3GW of installed autonomous docked drone capacity, this eBook provides a comprehensive summary of top use cases of autonomous drones, case studies with ROI, and the checklist for successful integration and operationalization.