Inspections may be carried out at almost any stage in a project lifecycle. At a vendor’s premises equipment can be inspected during or after fabrication, as it leaves the premises or on delivery to a site. A number of inspections are commonly performed during the operation of a site. Here, the main focus is on safety and structural integrity.
Periodic monitoring of solar plants is recommended on an annual basis. This provides a client with a thorough review of the system's technical condition – information that can be useful in improving performance or obtaining an independent opinion of the system's condition prior to a key commercial milestone (e.g. end of warranty of period), or may be necessary to fulfil regulatory or insurance requirements.
If something goes wrong, a damage investigation can be most helpful in identifying the extent and type of the damage incurred and, crucially, in determining the root cause of the problem. An independent damage investigation report is important in finding a technical remedy to the problem, establishing responsibility for funding any repair work and putting in an insurance claim.
