Solar Monitoring
Software and hardware that tracks your solar system's real-time and historical production — essential for detecting underperformance, inverter faults, and verifying estimated output.
Solar monitoring systems continuously measure panel and inverter output and display data through manufacturer apps or web portals. System-level monitoring (available with most string inverters) shows total production but cannot identify which individual component is underperforming. Panel-level monitoring (available with microinverters and power optimizer systems) shows each panel's output in real time.
Monitoring serves several functions: verifying that actual production matches the installer's estimate, identifying shading issues that weren't apparent during design, detecting inverter faults or failing panels before they cause significant production loss, and providing data for utility billing disputes.
Most manufacturers offer proprietary apps (Enphase Enlighten, SolarEdge Monitoring, Tesla app for Powerwall systems). Third-party monitoring platforms like PVOutput allow comparison with other systems and historical irradiance data. NREL's PVWatts provides expected monthly production benchmarks — compare your actual monitoring data against PVWatts predictions to identify significant deviations worthy of installer investigation.
Real-World Example
The monitoring app showed the system underperforming by 14% for three consecutive weeks in July; the installer's remote diagnostic identified a failing microinverter on panel 11 that was replaced under warranty — without monitoring, the loss would have continued undetected for months.