Maintenance + Monitoring is the secret to solar success, but this isn’t part of the typical conversation surrounding solar functions and benefits. A lot of time is spent on the front end of solar, which makes sense because that’s typically where we’re meeting people who have come to learn about solar. It makes sense that the conversation would start with the financial and environmental benefits of a solar installation, but today we want to have the next part of the conversation, for those who have made the switch to solar and are now enjoying the benefits and incentives we so often discuss.

For those who have made the switch, maintenance + monitoring is something you need to keep in mind if you want to enjoy the prosperous potential of your system throughout the years. You need to consider how to ensure that the value of your investment is protected and enhanced, and preferably you’ll be able to achieve this with little to no additional effort on your part. You already made the smart choice to get into solar ahead of the curve; maintenance + monitoring is how you maintain your edge.

What is Maintenance + Monitoring

Maintenance + Monitoring refers to the two branches of solar system support that can benefit your installation after the project is complete. While your solar provider will always be there to assist you with issues that arise and are covered by workmanship warranties and the like, there is a wide band between a system being offline and a system operating at peak efficiency, and maintenance + monitoring helps you to stay on the peak efficiency side of the band. We’ll dig into what each part of this equation means for you and your system, but here at the top let’s just say that with both maintenance and monitoring maintained on your system, your investment in solar will provide you with far more value than if you simply purchased the system and then never touched it again.

Monitor Your Goals

Let’s begin exploring Maintenance + Monitoring from the monitoring side of things, because typically the support provided to you will come from there first. When we say system monitoring, we’re not talking about the base diagnostic tools that your solar provider will have for your system. If an issue is discovered in your system, your provider can use these tools to see what the problem is, but crucially, those tools are not catching the problem - just understanding it. When it comes to issues with your solar system, early detection is key.

From our research, we’ve been able to determine the cost of a wide array of solar system issues, starting with immediate detection and stretching out all the way to the impact of a month-long persistent issue. Why use a month as the litmus test? Well, given that energy bills are monthly, most people tend to notice an issue with their system when their monthly energy bill comes, so that means if you had a problem with your system on the first of the month, you might not discover it until the end of that pay period. Now, this assumes that you are taking the time to diligently review your energy bill every month, which many people simply are not doing. So, we consider the time range of a day to a month, but problems could reasonably go undetected for much longer than a month, which naturally will create an even greater cost!

All this is to say that early detection through monitoring is a key player in maintaining the value of your solar investment, and with monitoring tools at your disposal, you can get real time alerts from a proprietary monitoring system which is designed to detect slight fluctuations in production value, and report them to you. These insights can help you catch issues early, and save yourself hundreds on lost production due to a myriad of causes: from component failure to dirty panels and much more, monitoring can help you cut these emergent problems off at the pass, enabling you to get maintenance underway immediately.

Maintenance Matters

The second part of Maintenance + Monitoring is indeed Maintenance, and this one two problem solving duo is key to keeping your system in tip top shape. Once the monitoring arm of your system security strategy is engaged, you can have a service technician on route to your house asap, ensuring that a knowledgeable provider will be there to inspect your system, identify the root causes of lost production, and rapidly remedy the situation.

Sometimes the fix is as simple as a panel cleaning, which might not sound like much but represents an average impact of 30% of your system production. An evaluation of your energy bill may not reveal such a dip, but monitoring certainly will catch it - and our maintenance technicians will be able to get your panels back to that factory shine so they can get back to working for you. Other times you may have something more serious at play, like damaged or faulty panels and components. These repairs can be more involved up front, but they also tend to have a much more dramatic impact on your production, so it’s good to address them as soon as you can.

A Trusted Maintenance + Monitoring Partner

When it comes to maintenance + monitoring, you need a trusted partner to watch over your system and ensure it’s working properly for you. After all, you went through all the trouble of investing in the system, you shouldn’t also have to worry about it week to week! Putting that in the hands of a trusted partner means you can focus on what matters most, and let them handle the system monitoring and maintenance efforts.

Quality providers may also have opportunities for you to access service discounts, either through inspection credits or service memberships. Such programs can help you mitigate the cost of maintenance + monitoring, and enable you to achieve the maximum value of your solar installation with little upkeep cost. Given the impact cost of system issues, an annual inspection usually pays for itself in avoided production drops! If you’re interested in bringing in a trusted partner for your maintenance + monitoring needs, our consultants can walk you through some opportunities to protect your investment and get the most out of your system.