8 Reasons You Need Solar Monitoring
You know how much money is in your bank account, but do you know how many solar savings are in your pocket? Solar smart monitoring allows you to see how well your system produces in real time, as well as the amount of energy you’re consuming. Monitoring options such as Solar Analytics allow you to monitor your solar in real time, and can be attached to nearly every brand of solar system.
Here are some great reasons you should purchase smart monitoring with your solar system, or retrofit it to your existing system.
1. You’ll know if your system stops working
A surprising number of people don’t realise their system is experiencing decreased production or stopped working altogether, for months or years after it fails. With solar monitoring, you’ll often be able to see within minutes if there’s an issue with your system, and act accordingly.
2. You can identify issues quicker
Checking your inverter every day, or waiting on a power bill, isn’t the most effective way to check that your solar is working correctly. Solar monitoring not only allows you to check your production with an app, but also emails you directly if there’s an unexpected change in your system.
3. Save on your power bill
By the time your power bill arrives, any issues could have seen you losing money for weeks or months. Solar production varies throughout the year, so it’s difficult to pinpoint changes in your electricity usage without a clear overview of your average production and usage. Solar monitoring allows you to pinpoint problems early, before they cost you too much money.
4. See what appliances use the most electricity
Knowing what appliances use the most energy lets you make more informed choices about your power usage. This information can help you schedule your usage during off peak times, or at the sunniest times of day. Talk to your electrician about setting up individual monitors for each of your major appliances, including your washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher.
5. Monitor the times of day you use the most electricity
Do you use the most energy first thing in the morning, or at lunchtime? If all your appliances are on at the same time, you may be using more than your solar system produces, and costing you money. Monitoring will help you track this, and stagger your energy usage throughout the day, which is known as loadshifting.
6. Keep your home safe
Although tracking production can save you money, tracking your system could save your life. Monitoring systems with smart algorithms can identify issues in the way your system works, which can lead to identifying maintenance issues which may cause system damage or even lead to a fire.
7. Find a better retailer
Depending on your location, you may have the option to choose between dozens of different energy retailers. They can vary in what they offer, or have deals and contracts which may look great at face value, but not pay off in the long run. Solar monitoring will allow you to track your usage, your production, your peak times and tariffs, so you’re able to identify which offerings are best aligned with your needs and will be the most affordable. Some solar monitoring systems, such as Solar Analytics, include suggestions for retailers based on your usage.
8. Compete with your friends over production levels
If you’re the competitive type, you may just enjoy comparing your production levels with the other neighbours on your street who have solar. With live updates, you can see how each system compares. Just because you have the same size system, doesn’t always guarantee the same size production, as production can vary by brand, orientation, location, and system age.
Ensuring you’ve installed solar monitoring with your system will save you money over the life of your system, and make sure you’re not in for any nasty surprises. While installing monitoring with your new system is the most cost effective option, monitoring can also be retrofitted to an existing system. If you’d like further information about how monitoring can work with your system, you can contact us here.