Monitoring your solar system can help you become familiar with performance and identify issues early
There are a number of ways you can monitor your solar system performance, including using the data from your electricity meter, the solar system inverter and special solar monitoring devices.
Data from your electricity meter
If you have an interval meter you, it will collect readings of your electricity usage and the surplus solar electricity that is exported to the grid every 30 minutes. If it is remotely read, you may even be able to view the previous day’s data online. Unusual readings may be due to extraordinary behavioral, weather changes or local electricity grid factors.
Data from your solar system inverter
Monitoring your inverter can help you detect any solar performance issues early. Many inverters include an LCD display with data that is locally accessible. Using details of the inverter, you may be able to access an owner’s manual online with instructions and troubleshooting guidelines.
For many inverter brands, you can read the LCD display and Eread today (the total kWh of solar electricity generated today) and Etotal (the total kWh of solar electricity generated since the inverter was commissioned).