A Safer Way to Troubleshoot Solar, Wind, and Grid Infrastructure
As Australia’s energy sector continues to expand across solar, wind, and grid-connected infrastructure, the reliability of power electronics has become critical. Inverters, converters, and control boards are key parts of modern generation assets. When they fail, it costs a lot. Repairs can be complicated, and safety risks go up.
Traditional diagnostic approaches often rely on powered testing. However, in high-energy systems, powering a faulty board can cause more damage. It can destroy weak components or create safety risks for technicians.
This is where Power Electronics Diagnostic & Repair Systems play a vital role.
What Are Power Electronics Diagnostic & Repair Systems?
Power Electronics Diagnostic & Repair Systems are specialised tools used to identify component-level faults on electronic assemblies without applying power to the board.
Instead of energising a circuit and hoping it behaves, these systems allow technicians to:
- Safely test inverter, converter, and control boards
- Isolate faults down to individual components
- Diagnose problems on undocumented or legacy PCBs
- Reduce unnecessary board replacement
- Shorten repair cycles and planned outages
For energy operators focused on asset longevity and risk reduction, this approach offers a safer and more controlled path to maintenance.
Why Traditional Powered Testing Falls Short
Powered diagnostics using oscilloscopes, DMMs, or functional test rigs are valuable tools—but they have limitations in power generation environments.
Common challenges include:
- Risk of catastrophic failure when powering stressed MOSFETs or gate drivers
- Inability to detect marginal or intermittent faults until full failure occurs
- Limited effectiveness on undocumented or obsolete boards
- Safety concerns when testing high-energy systems
In many cases, technicians are forced into a replace-rather-than-repair decision simply because safe diagnostics are not available.
Common Power Electronics Failures in the Energy Sector
Across solar, wind, and grid infrastructure, recurring failure modes include:
- Degraded or partially shorted MOSFETs and IGBTs
- Gate driver damage
- Component drift caused by thermal cycling
- Connector and port failures
- Mixed-signal faults that evade functional testing
These faults often do not present as a clean “dead board” and may only appear intermittently—making them difficult to diagnose with powered methods.
Power-Off Diagnostics: A Safer Alternative
Power-off diagnostic techniques allow technicians to analyse a circuit’s electrical behaviour without energising it. By comparing responses against a known-good reference, faults can be isolated even when schematics are unavailable.
This approach is particularly valuable for:
- Solar inverter PCBs
- Wind turbine pitch and converter control boards
- Grid and substation electronics
- Legacy systems with long service lives
- Refurbishment and repair verification
The result is faster fault isolation, reduced risk, and greater confidence in returning equipment to service.
Where Huntron Fits
Huntron systems are widely used worldwide for power-off, component-level diagnostics of complex printed circuit assemblies.
In the power generation context, Huntron tools enable:
- Safe, non-powered fault isolation on power electronics
- Diagnosis of mixed-signal and high-density PCBs
- Comparison of suspect boards to known-good references
- Automated testing for repeatability and reduced human error
- Digital documentation to support maintenance records and compliance
This approach supports repair rather than replacement, helping operators extend asset life and reduce long-term costs.
Huntron diagnostic systems are used globally in safety-critical energy and infrastructure environments. Especially, where powered testing is not acceptable and reliability is non-negotiable.
Supporting Australia’s Energy Transition
As Australia continues to invest in renewable generation and grid resilience, maintaining complex power electronics will only become more important. Power Electronics Diagnostic & Repair Systems provide maintenance teams with a practical, proven way to improve safety, accuracy, and efficiency—without increasing risk.
Talk to Us
If you’re responsible for maintaining or repairing power electronics in solar, wind, or grid-connected systems. Talk to our engineers about diagnosing faults without powering the board. Contact us now.
We can help you determine whether power-off diagnostics are the right fit for your maintenance and repair strategy.