Homeowners tend to switch to solar energy because they want a cheaper, more environmentally friendly energy source that requires minimal maintenance. Although solar panels don’t need much upkeep, there are several benefits to monitoring your solar system’s overall energy production, which we will focus on in this article.
What is Solar Monitoring?
Solar monitoring enables you to track and analyze the performance of your solar system. Typically, solar monitoring technologies incorporate components throughout your system to ensure maximum productivity, ranging from sensors on the panels themselves to inverter units to cloud-based platforms.
Solar monitoring on the customer-facing end is done through a designated app on your smartphone. The technological components found in the inverter serve as a middleman between your solar panels and your mobile device. They react to the solar panel performance themselves, collect data, and send it to your app, allowing you to always keep a close eye on your solar system.
Why Monitor Your Solar System?
1. You Can Maximize Your Solar System’s Energy Output
If you monitor your solar system, you can access real-time data regarding energy patterns and can guarantee that your system is operating at its fullest potential. Having these analytics also allows you to align your high-energy home activities with peak solar production times, which further reduces your reliance on the electric grid.
For example, solar production typically peaks at midday. Knowing that, it might be smart to carve out time for high-energy undertakings, such as running your laundry machine or your dishwasher, during that time. That way, you can maximize the use of your solar energy and simultaneously lower the cost of your electric bill.
2. You Can Detect Problems Early
A significant, random drop in your system’s energy efficiency or power production would be unusual in the ebbs and flows of solar energy; it would likely be indicative of a larger issue with your solar panel system instead. Solar monitoring systems utilize sensors with algorithms to detect irregularities, enabling you to identify a major malfunction like this fairly quickly and enter troubleshooting mode to resolve it as soon as possible.
Common problems associated with lower solar production that you can recognize before they escalate include overgrown trees, shading issues, dirt accumulation, and hardware issues. Some lesser common production-related issues can include low output, voltage fluctuation, and overheating.
3. You Can Boost Your Return On Investment (ROI) And Save More Money
Monitoring for efficiency and avoiding issues early allows you to consistently achieve productive energy output from your system, which means that your solar will compensate for your high bills sooner rather than later. Essentially, the more optimal your system is, the better your ROI will be, and the quicker you will break even and earn full payback on your solar investment.
Additionally, some solar monitoring systems can provide you with financial metrics, keeping you updated on your savings progress solar system-wise.
4. You Can Extend The Lifespan Of Your Solar System
Some of those potential issues that can occur in your solar system, such as dirt buildup or minor weather-related wear and tear, can degrade your panels over time and shorten their lifespan. The early identification of these issues, as a result of solar monitoring, can reduce the risk of physical damage to your panels and ensure that they remain in good health for many years to come.
5. You Can Collect Data And Spot Trends
Solar monitoring systems can provide you with detailed performance reports that cover data spanning over days, months, or years. These data points can help you identify trends in your solar system’s activity, understand how it operates under varying weather conditions, and potentially even determine the optimal time for maintenance-related operations.
6. You Can Keep A Close Eye Right From Your Mobile Device
The smartphone apps associated with solar monitoring ensure that you can stay up to date with your solar system’s production easier and quicker than ever, as all it takes to view your system’s details is just a few taps of a button.
Additionally, these apps often provide notifications if there are sudden anomalies within your solar system.
7. You Can Quantify Your Environmental Impact
Some of these solar monitoring apps can also calculate your carbon offset and greenhouse gas reductions, which is convenient for you if you are someone who likes to keep track of your sustainability goals.
8. Keep Your Utility Company Honest
When you monitor your solar system, you can also cross-check reports from your monitoring app with information from your utility bill. By doing this, you can compare data regarding your solar production and verify that you are getting charged the appropriate amount by your utility company.
9. It’s Fun!
Having something in the palm of your hand that you can occasionally check just to entertain you, even if there’s nothing wrong, is always fun and keeps you busy. It also makes you inherently more aware of the choices you are making in life energy-wise.
Go Solar With Monitoring Included
Clearly, the benefits of monitoring your solar production speak for themselves. We recommend monitoring your solar system at least once a week to identify any discrepancies.
If you purchase a solar panel system from Solaris Renewables, you will be equipped with your solar system’s designated monitoring app at no additional charge upon installation, as it’s included in the system price. Visit our website and get a quote today if you’re interested in purchasing any of these high-end monitoring products for your home.