It’s not unusual for people to have a solar system installed, but find the output isn’t putting quite the dent in their bills that they’d hoped. Other times, they purchase a home with a pre-existing solar system that doesn’t quite live up to the hype. If that’s you, it can be disappointing to find out your investment hasn’t paid off. The good news, though, is that often it’s an issue that can be fixed.
We’ve made a list of the most common issues that may be impacting your solar production, many of which can be addressed fairly easily, leaving you with a system that does the job you paid for.
9 Ways to Improve Solar Production
1. Check how often the system has been cleaned.
If your system is looking a bit dirty, or often gets covered with a lot of leaves, ash, dust, bird droppings, or other debris, regular cleaning is a must. It won’t just have a small impact, either; a good clean on a dirty system can increase your production by as much as 25%
While you can clean your panels yourself, you should never climb onto your roof. A trained professional can clean your system, while also checking that there is no damage or wear and tear on the system, and going through a complete safety checklist.
2. Check if parts need replacing.
Especially on older systems, certain parts need replacing to ensure peak performance. It’s important not to touch any electrical parts of your system, but you can visually check for anything that looks suspicious. You can also check the inverter screen for any red lights or error messages. If your inverter is fan-cooled, and the fan is faulty, this will also decrease production in hot weather.
3. Check if there’s any shading on the panels.
A small amount of shade on even one cell can lead to a reduction in that panel’s power by a third at least, which is replicated by all of the other panels in that string, or electrical group. Make sure there’s no shade over your panels throughout the day from growing trees or new constructions.
Shading can change throughout the year, too, so make sure your panels are shade-free throughout all four seasons.
4. Check if there is solar monitoring installed.
Although it won’t necessarily fix any underlying issues, solar monitoring can make identifying problems a much more rapid process. With real-time monitoring, you can see when your system isn’t producing as much as it should, or if it’s experiencing intermittent issues. We recommend Solar Analytics which can be retrofitted to older systems and provides real-time updates, as well as calculations to help you estimate your next power bill.
There are a lot of existing inverters on homes which include wifi monitoring capability, but it is not being utilised properly (or it may not be set up). If you bought a home with an existing system you may also own a dodgy monitoring system, so it’s important to do your solar due diligence if you purchase a home with pre-existing solar.
5. The efficiency of the system.
There are thousands of brands of solar, and they vary widely in price and quality. We recommend looking at independent third-party reviews of the brands installed to see how they rate, and the efficiency they offer, both after purchase and over their lifetime.
With quite a few dodgy solar installers around, it’s not uncommon for people to pay top prices for low-end products. It is also very common to pay low dollars for a budget system which won’t last long. Some of these can return very low efficiency and energy production, making them more expensive in the long run when they need to be fixed or replaced.
6. The quality of the installation.
Although the quality of the system is a major component, the installation itself can also impact how well the system works. Shoddy workmanship can include not correctly wiring the system, installing in shade, not properly sealing parts that may be exposed to water, or installing an inverter in direct sunlight
In some cases, we’ve been contacted by people who had a shoddy install from a third party, and the system either never worked, or was never even turned on.
7. Your usage has increased above your system size.
When your solar installer designed your system, they would have looked at your power bills, your current usage, or in new properties, the industry-standard usage of the appliances you’re expecting to use. Your installer would have designed your system to cover this usage. If you’ve since added a new air conditioner, a dryer, or started working from home, your usage has probably increased.
8. You’re using a lot of power at night.
As solar only works during the day, the best time to use your high-usage electrical appliances is during the day; that way you’re not buying expensive electricity from the power company. You can do this through self-consumption and load shifting, using timers, and heating or cooling your home before sunset.
While Feed In Tariffs (FITs) were once an attractive part of installing solar, they’re much lower these days. The primary goal of today’s solar installations is to produce enough electricity to cover your needs and avoid costly power bills.
7. Check the system’s output is being correctly valued by your electricity retailer.
Sometimes, your solar output may not be correctly measured, meaning you’re being charged for electricity you didn’t actually use (or even for electricity you produced yourself). This is very rare and would be identified by an experienced CEC Accredited Installer who is on site to check your system.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, the good news is that most of these issues can be identified by an experienced solar electrician. If you have any questions about your system, or need it checked and cleaned, Proven Energy’s Electricians, who are also CEC Qualified Installers, can help you troubleshoot.