Making sure your solar is working

By David Coote

It’s all too common that a household with rooftop solar will have their electricity bill showing zero energy exported and no feed-in tariff payments. This could happen from a renovation, maintenance or any other number of common situations. 

A solar system not exporting energy back to the grid is wasting money. It may also indicate an equipment problem that needs prompt attention from a licensed electrician. 

Here’s a few ways to check if your household’s solar is supplying electricity.

1. Is the solar isolation switch set to on? It may have been set to off while an electrician worked on site. Ask the electrician why they have left it turned off.
2. Is generation showing on smart meter/inverters? Display should show increases on a sunny day. This is a useful way to check an older rooftop system where the inverter doesn’t have an app.
3. For more recent installations, check the inverter app.
4. Inhouse displays and monitors should show solar generation.
5. Retailer and distributor online portals should show some export even at sites where most of the generation is consumed onsite.
6. Electricity bills will generally show some export.

If the solar system is supposed to be connected and working but isn’t generating, call an electrician. Similar  issues can be found with batteries. 

David is a renewable energy and energy efficiency consultant and software developer. David helped establish and collaborates with CoPower partner organisation Earthworker Smart Energy Cooperative. David shares CoPower’s ethos that the financial benefits of the energy transition should flow to energy customers. Check his original post here.