Your monitoring app shows a fault long before your bill does. Learn what a normal daily curve looks like, how to compare like-for-like sunny days, what zero production and clipping mean, and what to send our support team. The fastest way to check your solar system is to open the daily production graph for a clear, sunny day. A system working normally draws a smooth hill: rising from early morning, peaking around the middle of the day and falling away in the afternoon. Most faults show up as a shape that is wrong, such as a flat line at zero, a curve noticeably lower than a similar sunny day, a sudden step down, or dips at the same time every day. A two-minute look each week can catch a problem that would otherwise cost months of lost production.
What a normal day looks like
The shape of the curve depends on how your panels face:
- North-facing arrays: a fairly symmetrical hill peaking around solar noon, which in Sydney is close to midday in standard time and close to 1 pm during daylight saving.
- East-west arrays: a wider, flatter curve with a lower peak, producing more in the morning and late afternoon.
- Cloudy days: a jagged line of spikes and drops, which is completely normal.
- Clipping: a flat top across the middle of clear days. This happens when panel capacity is larger than the inverter rating, for example 6.6 kW of panels on a 5 kW inverter. It is a normal design choice and usually costs only a small amount of energy.
For daily totals, a 6.6 kW system in Sydney produces roughly 24-27 kWh a day on average across the year, with more in summer and less in winter. Your own system's history is a better benchmark than any rule of thumb, because orientation and shading vary from home to home.
Compare like with like
Most false alarms come from comparing the wrong days. A few habits make comparisons meaningful:
- Compare clear days within a couple of weeks of each other, not a January day with a June day.
- Use the month and year views to compare the same month against last year.
- Remember that very hot days reduce panel output slightly, so a cool clear day in spring may outperform a scorching summer day.
- Allow for gradual change. Panels commonly lose around 0.4-0.55% of their output a year, so a small year-on-year drop is expected, while a sudden fall is not.
- Look for new shade from tree growth or new buildings, and dust or bird droppings after long dry spells.
Some apps also display an expected or modelled yield. Treat it as a rough guide only, because it may not allow for your shading, roof pitch or local weather.
Patterns that point to a problem
| What you see | Possible cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Zero production on a sunny day | Inverter fault, tripped solar circuit breaker, grid outage | Look at the inverter display or lights from a safe position and note any error code, then contact support |
| App shows no data, but the inverter display shows production | Wi-Fi password or router changed, data logger offline | Reconnect the logger using the app's instructions; the logger itself may need replacing |
| Clear-day curve suddenly a third or half lower | One string not contributing, for example a connector or isolator fault | Contact support; this needs testing by a licensed electrician |
| Output drops to zero briefly, several times around midday | Inverter disconnecting because local grid voltage is high | Screenshot the times and dates so the pattern can be investigated |
| Dip at the same time every afternoon | New or growing shade | Check for tree growth or new structures from the ground |
| Gradual decline over months beyond seasonal change | Soiling, a developing fault or faster-than-expected degradation | Compare with last year and ask for a performance check |
Please do not open the inverter, touch DC isolators or cabling, or go onto the roof to investigate. Panels generate dangerous DC voltage whenever there is daylight, and all diagnosis and repairs must be carried out by a licensed electrician. In an emergency, follow the shutdown procedure displayed near your switchboard or inverter.
Production data versus consumption data
Many apps only show what the inverter produces. Without consumption monitoring, you cannot see how much solar your home uses directly, how much is exported, or when you import from the grid. Adding current sensors at the switchboard fills that gap, which makes it far easier to judge whether a battery, load shifting or a tariff change would help. If your system has no monitoring at all, or the old data logger has failed, monitoring can often be added or restored.
Battery owners have extra lines to watch: state of charge, battery charging and discharging, and grid imports. A battery that never charges much on clear days, stops discharging in the evening, or suddenly appears to hold far less energy than it used to is worth reporting, together with a screenshot of a typical day before and after the change.
What to screenshot for support
Good information lets our team diagnose remotely where possible and arrive with the right parts when a visit is needed. Please send:
- the day view of the problem day, and a recent clear day that looked normal;
- the month and year views showing when the change started;
- any alarm or error codes, with their dates and times;
- a photo of the inverter display or indicator lights, taken without removing any covers;
- a note of anything that happened around the same time, such as a storm, blackout, switchboard work, a new router or tree work.
Our energy market lists the related services: Solar Fault Diagnosis at $249 for the call-out and first hour, a Replacement Monitoring Gateway from $290, a Solar Monitoring Kit from $390, and the Blue Energy Care Plan Basic at $199 a year, which includes remote monitoring and an annual performance report. Prices are indicative, and any repair is confirmed after a site assessment.
Next steps
If something in your app looks wrong, send your screenshots through our contact page and our team will advise on the next step. Answers to common questions about monitoring and faults are in our FAQs. If your inverter is ageing or you are ready to upgrade, request a quote and we will assess the whole system.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I check my monitoring app?
A quick look at the daily graph once a week is enough for most homes, plus a month-view comparison every few months. Also check after storms, blackouts or any electrical work, because an inverter that does not restart properly can sit idle for weeks unnoticed. If your app supports it, turn on notifications so faults come to you rather than waiting to be found.
Can I get alerts instead of checking manually?
Many monitoring platforms can send you a notification when the inverter reports a fault or stops sending data. Make sure alerts go to someone who actually reads them, and learn the difference between a communication alert, which often means a Wi-Fi issue, and a fault alert. Care plans that include remote monitoring add another set of eyes on your system's data.
My system is old and has no app. Can monitoring be added?
Often, yes. Many inverters can be connected with a compatible data logger, and a separate monitoring kit using current sensors can measure solar and household use regardless of the inverter. Some very old inverters are not supported. If yours is nearing the end of its life, replacing it with a modern inverter that includes monitoring may be better value than adding hardware to old equipment.
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