Thermal building inspections can:

• Visualize energy loss
• Detect missing or defective insulation
• Find moisture
• Detect wet roof insulation

Thermal imaging is not only used for leakage detection, it can also be used to determine if a valve is open or not. Thermal imaging is also used to verify storage tank levels. Typical pipe work faults include:

• Insulation breakdown
• Pipe blockage
• Diagnose heat exchangers
• Leakage detection of pipes and valves

Mechanical systems will heat up due to misalignment and/or friction. As components become worn dissipated heat will increase rapidly before failure. Thermal data is used to detect the following mechanical faults:

• Lubrication issues
• Misalignments
• Overheated motors
• Suspect rollers
• Hot bearings

Thermal imaging can be used to inspect installed photovoltaic systems for any anomalities at cell or module level. These problems can cause the solar panel not to be as effective as designed or fail completely. Critical components of a wind turbine can be monitored using a thermal imager. It can be used to spot signs of wear on:

• Bearings
• Shafts
• Gears
• Brakes

When an electrical current passes through a resistive component, it generates heat. When the resistance increases the heat will increase as well. If these temperature rises are left unattended it can cause the component to fail resulting in unplanned outages or injury to personnel. This makes thermography ideal to detect:

• Loose connections
• Corroded connections.
• Defective components
• Incorrectly secured connection
• Insulator defects
• Phase imbalances