What a solar thermal inspection costs
Thermal inspection quotes are usually priced per megawatt of installed capacity — but what sits behind that number varies enormously between providers. Here is how the pricing works, what moves it, and how to get a fixed figure for your site in under a minute on the cost estimator.
What drives the price per MW
A full-service inspection bundles two very different jobs: the flight — mobilising a crew and drone to your site — and the analysis — turning thousands of thermal frames into a fault report. Flight cost is dominated by logistics: distance to site, crew day rates, weather stand-downs and access requirements. Analysis cost is dominated by how it's done — manual frame-by-frame review scales with site size and labour, while automated analysis doesn't. That split is why bundled quotes range so widely, and why unbundling them usually saves money: many asset owners already have a drone operator (or an in-house pilot) and only need the analysis.
Other factors that move industry quotes: minimum charges (small sites pay a floor price regardless of size, because mobilisation and reporting have fixed costs), report depth (module-level findings with locations cost more than a site-level summary when produced manually), and turnaround time.
How our pricing works
ThermalVariations is analysis-only — you fly (or your operator does), we grade every frame. That removes the logistics variables entirely, so the price is a single flat rate: AUD $140 per megawatt of inspected capacity, with an AUD $250 minimum per inspection. A 20% deposit starts the job; the balance is due on report delivery. Sites above 1,500 MW get a custom quote.
| Site size | Capacity | Analysis cost (AUD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 panels × 500 W | 0.5 MW | $250(minimum applies) |
| 10,000 panels × 500 W | 5 MW | $700 |
| 100,000 panels × 500 W | 50 MW | $7,000 |
Figures generated by the same pricing engine that powers the estimator. Analysis cost only — your flight costs depend on your operator.
Estimate yours in four steps
- 01Count your panels — from the datasheet, single-line diagram or asset register.
- 02Note the nameplate wattage per panel (commonly 400–600 W); panels × wattage is your capacity in MW.
- 03Enter both numbers in the estimator for an instant fixed quote.
- 04Read the quote: $140/MW, $250 minimum, 20% deposit up front and the balance on delivery.
Not sure what the report finds for the money? Browse the anomaly library — every fault class the analysis grades, with the recommended action for each — or see how findings are classified under IEC TS 62446-3.
Get your fixed quote now
Flat-rate analysis: you fly the site, we grade every thermal frame and deliver a severity-ranked report. Estimate the cost for your site size in seconds — no account, no sales call.