Many solar owners have little idea if the solar photovoltaic (PV) system on their roof is working properly.

A 2018 CHOICE member survey found that about one in every three solar PV system owners had experienced problems with their system, with 11% reporting that their system was producing less energy than the installer told them it would, and 21% saying they had no idea if it was performing properly or not.

Solar PV systems can chug away quietly for years without an issue, but the figures above show it’s not unusual for an unknown problem to cost you money. If you’re not sure how well your solar panels are working, follow these six simple steps to do a quick health check of your system.

Step 1: Don’t rely on your electricity bill

Solar PV system owners often rely solely on their electricity bill to indicate any problems with their solar system, but we advise against this.

Here’s why:

• Your bill may come monthly, or quarterly; if your solar is underperforming, that’s a long time for you to be losing money.
• Your bill usually only shows how much power you exported to the grid, and how much you bought from the grid. It won’t show how much solar power was generated in total, or how much of it you used in your home.
• The amount of power generated by your solar panels changes from day to day and season to season, depending on factors like cloud cover and the number of hours of sunlight. And the amount of power you use at home can also vary a lot from day to day. That makes it hard to compare one bill with another in order to figure out how well your solar panels are performing.

Overall, while your electricity bill does provide a rough guide, it’s not the best way to check in on your solar PV system’s health.

Step 2: Look up – is there shading or dirt on the panels?

Stand back and look at your solar panels. Are they clean and shiny, or dull and dirty?

Dirt and other soiling

Dirt isn’t usually a problem when there’s regular rainfall to wash the panels. However, any build-up of dust, tree sap, bird droppings or lichen will reduce the output of the panels and may even cause damage over a long period. Consider giving your panels a hosing from the ground if it hasn’t rained in a while. If the dirt won’t budge, hire a contractor with the right safety equipment to clean them for you.

Note: We don’t recommend using a ladder or going up on the roof to clean the panels yourself. Falls from a height are an extremely common cause of injury in Australia, with thousands admitted to hospital every year for this reason. You’re also dealing with high voltage equipment up there, and there may be a risk of damaging the panels.

Step 3: Look at the inverter – is there a red or green light?

Many solar owners never pay attention to their inverter, but our survey found that 20% of surveyed solar owners had experienced problems with it. As the inverter is the most complex and hard-working component in your solar PV system, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it’s often the first component to fail.

It is important to know what the indicators on your inverter actually mean. The installer should supply the instructions to you, but you can always look them up on the manufacturer’s website.

A simple way to check on the health of your system is to look at the colour of the lights shining on the box on a sunny day, when the system should be busily generating solar power.

A green light on your inverter means your system is functioning properly. A red or orange light during daylight hours means there’s a system event or fault

Step 4: View your system’s data

There are two ways to access the information about a modern solar PV system’s output from the inverter – on the digital screen (if it has one), and through an online account connected to your inverter.

The online data and graphs are more detailed and easier to understand and compare with your systems’ expected performance. They may give you monthly and annual kWh output.

What do those numbers on the inverter’s screen mean?

The data on the inverter’s screen isn’t as useful, but it should be able to give you three figures:

• The number of kilowatts of power being supplied to your house and/or the grid at that point in time (in kW).
• The number of kilowatt hours of energy it has produced so far that day (kWh). Check this after sundown for the day’s total.
• The number of kilowatt hours of energy it has produced in total since it was installed (kWh).

Power or energy?

When talking about electricity, power is the rate at which electricity is being delivered at any one moment, and is measured in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW). Energy is the amount of electricity that has been delivered or consumed over a period of time, and is measured in watt hours (Wh) or kilowatt hours (kWh). If your solar panels output 5kW of power, and do that for one hour, they will have produced 5kWh of energy.

article source: https://www.caishengsolar.com/news/are-your-solar-panels-working/

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