A method and apparatus are provided for detecting defects in a solar panel array 20, using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 10 comprising a pyranometer 12, a GPS receiver 13, a thermographic camera 14, a visual imaging camera 15 and a data logger 16. The drone is directed by mapping the location of the panels 22 of the solar array, and then using the map data to generate a waypoint flight path 24 for the UAV. Once the data is transmitted to the UAV, it flies the waypoint route recording using the sensing equipment 12, 13, 14, 15, and then the data is processed to detect defective panels, which are identified by temperature gradient, with cross-referenced solar irradiance data, thermographic and visual imagery and a GPS location. The visual camera may be optionally mounted on a second UAV
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