According to one aspect, embodiments of the invention provide a method for providing power to a distributed sensor system, the method comprising providing power from at least one port of an interface unit to a first port of a first sensor unit of at least one of a plurality of sensor strings, powering up the first sensor unit, forwarding power from a second port of the first sensor unit to a first port of a second sensor unit of the at least one of the plurality of sensor strings, powering up the second sensor unit, monitoring the plurality of sensor strings for a fault condition, and in response to detecting a fault condition in a first sensor string of the plurality of sensor strings, providing power from a second one of the plurality of sensor strings to the first sensor string.