Once your solar system is installed and activated, monitoring is how you ensure it is working as designed – producing the energy promised and delivering the savings you expected. Modern solar monitoring gives you real-time visibility into every panel’s production, alerts you to any issues, and provides the data to verify your system is performing as projected.
This guide explains how solar monitoring works, what to look for in your production data, and how monitoring protects your investment over the life of your system.
How Does Solar Panel Monitoring Work?
Solar monitoring systems collect production data from your inverter(s) and transmit it to a cloud-based platform that you can access through a smartphone app or web browser. The monitoring system tracks how much electricity each panel (or the entire system) produces in real time, and stores historical data so you can review daily, weekly, monthly, and annual production.
The data flows like this:
- Your panels produce electricity.
- Your inverter(s) measure the output – with microinverters, this happens at the individual panel level.
- A communication gateway (connected to your home WiFi or cellular network) sends data to the monitoring platform.
- You access the data through an app on your phone, tablet, or computer.
All Gold Path Solar installations include Enphase Enlighten monitoring at no additional cost. The Enphase system provides panel-level monitoring with real-time production data, historical tracking, and automated performance alerts.
What Should I Monitor?
Daily Production
Your monitoring dashboard shows a daily production curve – typically a bell curve that starts low in the morning, peaks around midday, and tapers off in the evening. A healthy system shows a smooth, consistent curve on sunny days. Cloudy days show lower, more irregular patterns, which is completely normal.
Monthly and Annual Production
Monthly totals are where you compare actual production against projections. Your Gold Path Solar proposal includes estimated monthly production values. Over the course of a year, your actual production should closely match the projected annual total, even if individual months vary due to weather.
Typical monthly production patterns in Gold Path Solar’s service areas:
- Highest months: May, June, July (long days, high sun angle)
- Moderate months: March, April, August, September, October
- Lowest months: November, December, January, February (short days, low sun angle, more cloud cover)
Panel-Level Performance
With Enphase microinverters, you can see the output of every individual panel. This is valuable because:
- You can spot a single underperforming panel immediately – before it affects your savings.
- You can identify panels affected by new shading (a growing tree, a new neighboring structure).
- You can verify that all panels are functioning after weather events.
String inverter systems only show total system output, making it impossible to identify which panel is underperforming without a physical inspection. This is one of the practical advantages of microinverter technology. See our equipment guide for more on inverter differences.
[INSERT IMAGE: Monitoring dashboard showing monthly production bar chart with seasonal variation pattern]
What Do Monitoring Alerts Mean?
Your monitoring system will notify you if something requires attention. Common alerts include:
| Alert Type | What It Means | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Low production alert | One or more panels producing below expected levels | Check for shading, debris, or snow. If none visible, contact your installer. |
| Microinverter offline | A specific microinverter has stopped communicating or producing | May resolve on its own (temporary communication glitch). If persistent, contact installer for warranty service. |
| Communication error | The monitoring gateway has lost connection to the internet | Check your WiFi router. Restart the gateway if needed. Your system is still producing – only the data reporting is affected. |
| System offline | No production data being reported from any panel | Check if your main electrical breaker for the solar system is on. Check for a grid outage. Contact installer if the issue persists. |
| Grid event | System shut down due to a grid voltage or frequency issue | Usually resolves automatically when grid conditions stabilize. If frequent, contact installer and utility. |
The vast majority of alerts are minor and resolve quickly. Serious equipment failures are rare with Tier-1 equipment but are caught immediately by monitoring – which is exactly the point. Without monitoring, a failed microinverter could go unnoticed for months, costing you production and savings.
How to Tell If Your Solar System Is Performing Well
Compare Actual vs. Projected Production
The most straightforward check is comparing your actual annual production to what Gold Path Solar projected during design. Factors that affect this comparison:
- Weather variation: A sunnier-than-average year will exceed projections; a cloudier year will fall short. This is normal and expected.
- Seasonal timing: Do not judge annual performance by a single month. A below-average January does not mean your system is underperforming – wait for a full 12-month cycle.
- Panel degradation: Production declines very gradually (0.3–0.5% per year). This is already factored into multi-year savings projections.
If your system consistently produces 5%+ below projections over a full year with normal weather, contact your installer to investigate. This is exactly the kind of issue monitoring is designed to catch early.
Check Your Electric Bill
Your utility bill is the ultimate performance indicator. After your system is operational, compare your monthly bills to pre-solar levels. You should see a dramatic reduction – often to the minimum fixed charge. If your bills are not declining as expected, review your monitoring data and contact your Gold Path Solar Advocate.
Energy Consumption Monitoring
Some monitoring systems (including certain Enphase configurations) can track not just how much energy your panels produce, but also how much your home consumes. This gives you a complete picture:
- Net production: How much solar energy you produced versus how much your home used.
- Self-consumption rate: The percentage of solar production used directly by your home in real time.
- Grid export: How much excess production was sent to the grid for net metering credits.
- Grid import: How much electricity you drew from the grid (typically at night or during high-demand periods).
This data helps you optimize your energy usage patterns – for example, running high-consumption appliances during peak solar production hours to maximize self-consumption.
Does Solar Monitoring Cost Extra?
With Gold Path Solar, monitoring is included at no additional cost. The Enphase Enlighten platform provides lifetime access to your production data, alerts, and panel-level diagnostics through the free Enphase app.
Some other monitoring platforms charge monthly subscription fees ($5–$15/month) for premium features. Enphase provides comprehensive monitoring as part of the standard package – another reason Gold Path Solar standardizes on Enphase equipment.
Monitoring and Your Warranty
Monitoring data serves as documentation for warranty claims. If a panel or microinverter underperforms, the monitoring system provides the production evidence needed to initiate a warranty replacement. Without monitoring, you would need to hire someone to physically inspect and test each panel to identify the problem – a much more expensive and time-consuming process.
This is one of the often-overlooked benefits of panel-level monitoring with microinverters: problems are detected automatically, documented with data, and resolved efficiently under warranty. See our maintenance, lifespan, and warranty guide for more on warranty coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions About Solar Monitoring
Can I check my solar production on my phone?
Yes. The Enphase Enlighten app (included with all Gold Path Solar installations) shows real-time and historical production data on your smartphone. You can check production, view individual panel performance, and receive alerts from anywhere.
Does my solar system still work if the monitoring goes offline?
Yes. Monitoring is a data reporting system – it does not control your panels. If your WiFi goes down or the monitoring gateway loses connection, your panels continue producing electricity normally. Once the connection is restored, the monitoring system backfills any missing data.
How do I know if a solar panel is broken?
With panel-level monitoring, a broken or malfunctioning panel shows up as producing significantly less (or zero) compared to neighboring panels. The monitoring system flags this and sends an alert. Without panel-level monitoring (i.e., with a string inverter), you would not know unless you noticed a change in your electric bill or arranged a physical inspection.
How often should I check my solar monitoring?
There is no required frequency. Many homeowners check daily when the system is new (it is genuinely satisfying to watch your panels produce), then settle into checking weekly or monthly. The automated alert system means you do not need to actively watch – it will notify you if something needs attention.
What if my solar system is producing less than expected?
First, check for obvious causes: unusual weather, seasonal variation, new shading from tree growth, or debris on panels. If production is consistently below projections for a full year, contact Gold Path Solar. Your Advocate can review your monitoring data remotely and determine if a site visit or warranty claim is needed.
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