All about Monitoring

 Solar energy systems are low-maintenance, reliable energy sources. But just like anything, components of a solar system can occasionally malfunction. Solar monitoring helps us find and fix potential malfunctions before they have a big impact on your solar production and electric bill.

Solar monitoring software will give you access to real-time production information and also show you historical system data. Historical data allows you to track performance over time to ensure your financial ROI is on track.

Production data can be viewed by day, week, month, or year. 

The most important benefit of solar system monitoring is the peace of mind it will give you. Your system can be checked on at any time. You don’t need to worry about issues going unnoticed or receiving a higher-than-expected electric bill. This software allows for panel-level or inverter-level monitoring so the installer can quickly diagnose and resolve any issues. 

Check out this video to see how solar system monitoring works. In this video, we use the Enlighten software from Enphase, but other software options will look and function similarly to this.

 Having a reliable internet source for your solar system is a must if you want monitoring capabilities. An unreliable internet connection will limit the data you’re able to capture. There is no way to monitor your system remotely if the system is not connected to the internet.  

We suggest using a cable, DSL, or fixed wireless internet connection with adequate bandwidth support. Jet packs and Mifi are not acceptable sources of internet for solar monitoring. 

If you’re searching for the best solar monitoring software, the “best” platform is usually the one that matches your inverter equipment and gives you the data and alerts you’ll actually use. Use this checklist when comparing options:

• Visibility: panel/module-level vs.      inverter/string-level data
• Alerts: app/email/SMS notifications      for faults and communication dropouts
• Refresh rate: how quickly the dashboard      updates (especially important for troubleshooting)
• Reporting: monthly/annual performance      reports and easy exports
• Consumption tracking: whether it supports usage and production, and what extra      hardware is required
• Commercial needs: multi-site      views, utility demand insights, and custom reporting

We believe that everyone should have access to clean, renewable energy. That's why we offer competitive pricing and financing options to make solar energy affordable for all.