34 rooftop solar plants thermally surveyed in two weeks in Martinique and French Guiana
A photovoltaic module that runs abnormally hot often points to a defect: a cracked cell, a failed diode, an overheating junction box, soiling. From the air, a thermal camera picks out these hot spots across an entire roof. In June 2026 Systeko, which installs and maintains rooftop plants in the French Caribbean and French Guiana, asked us to carry out thermal surveys on 33 of its plants, 31 in Martinique and 2 in French Guiana, as part of their annual preventive maintenance; a 34th was added during the mission.
Two deliverables for every flight
Each plant produces two deliveries. The first follows the installer’s specification: overview photos taken from 10 to 40 m up, to check for sources of shading, soiling, broken modules, safety equipment and the condition of the roofing, and thermal overview images in which hot spots stand out clearly. No analysis is asked of the pilot. The second feeds Sitemark, the thermal analysis platform used by the installer, which sets its own ground resolution requirements; the plants had been created on it beforehand, and their panel layout drawings had been sent to us.
Rounds of four sites, from north to south
In the office, the 31 plants in Martinique were grouped into batches of no more than four neighbouring sites, ordered from north to south, so that each day linked roofs close to one another. The flight plans, prepared in advance, were adjusted on site: target area, terrain following where needed. Acquisition began on 10 June in Basse-Pointe, Ajoupa-Bouillon, Le Lorrain and Ducos, and ended on 23 June. The two plants in French Guiana, in Cayenne and Matoury, were surveyed on 15 June. In all: eight acquisition days, up to six plants a day, in 17 municipalities.
A high-voltage line in Ducos
In Ducos, the installer added a 3D model of a warehouse already on the list during the mission, then a flight over a neighbouring plant. Both roofs run alongside a high-voltage line: on 16 June the drone had to fly higher than planned, and the ground resolution required by the analysis platform was not reached. The 3D model was delivered the same day; for the thermal images we went back on 23 June to repeat the acquisition under the required conditions.
Roofs we already knew
Sixteen of the 34 plants had been surveyed by us before installation, between January 2020 and October 2023, to prepare their panel layout: a house in Le Lorrain in October 2023, the evangelical church in Ajoupa-Bouillon in 2022, a warehouse in Basse-Pointe in January 2021. In Sainte-Marie, we had already surveyed a warehouse on the same site as two of the plants, in September 2023. For these roofs the installer now has two records: before installation, and in operation.
Delivery
The mission closed on 24 June, within the week targeted at the outset. The photos and thermal images for the installer are filed by site and by date; the tracking sheet shows, for each plant, the day of the drone flight and the status of both deliveries. One plant whose position was wrong in the installer’s database was flagged and corrected before going online.
