Qualitative Multimodal Diagnostic Assessment of PV Installations: Field Results from the PROMISE Second Advanced School in Malta

This paper presents the technical outcomes of a multimodal diagnostic assessment conducted during the PROMISE Advanced School in Malta. Attendees of the school utilized a suite of complementary measurement techniques, ranging from electrical characterization to advanced imaging techniques such as drone infrared (IR), magnetic field imaging (MFI) and electroluminescence (EL). These were applied to four residential photovoltaic (PV) installations. By leveraging the strengths of each method, the study demonstrates how multimodal assessments enable a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of module degradation, electrical anomalies and electrical failures. Faults such as microcracks, inactive cell areas, broken interconnects and semiconductor failures were identified and cross-validated across techniques. For instance, MFI confirmed current path disruptions identified using current-voltage (I-V) tracing, and EL-detected semiconductor breakdowns were linked to IR hotspots. This approach improves ambiguity in fault attribution. The findings of this study applied to residential PV installations provide actionable insights for reliability analysis, predictive maintenance, decommissioning and quality assurance of PVs.