Solution
Monitoring and maintenance
Module level production alerting and a scheduled service programme that catches faults early.
- SpecificationPer module telemetry · annual service · 48 hour response
How we scope it
An array that quietly loses a string can go unnoticed for a year. Bills drift up, nobody connects it to the roof, and by the time it surfaces the lost production is gone for good. Module level telemetry solves this: every module reports, and a module that falls outside the expected band for its plane and hour raises an alert.
We set expected production by month from the design model, not from last month, so a genuine seasonal decline does not mask a fault and a fault does not hide behind a cloudy week. Alerts go to our desk first. You hear from us with a diagnosis, not from an app with a red dot.
Physical service matters less here than in dusty climates, but it is not zero. Pollen in April, pine debris year round, and the occasional squirrel nest under the array all cost kWh. An annual visit handles those, checks torque on the lugs, inspects conduit and flashing, and runs a thermal scan of the combiner and inverter terminations.
Scope
What is included
Six deliverables, written the way they appear on the contract rather than the way they appear in a brochure.
Per module telemetry
Every module's output visible by hour, with a modelled expectation to compare against.
Alert thresholds by month
Set from the design model rather than a rolling average, so seasonality does not hide faults.
Annual site visit
Torque check, flashing inspection, debris and nest removal, conduit and disconnect condition.
Thermal scan
Infrared on terminations, combiner and inverter, where the failures actually start.
Inverter service
Firmware, fan or filter service where fitted, and fault log review.
Annual performance report
Modelled against actual kWh for twelve months, with any deviation explained in writing.
Sequence
How the work runs
- 1
Baseline
Commissioning data becomes the reference: IV curves, string voltages and the production model.
- 2
Watch
Automated comparison runs daily. A deviation opens a ticket on our desk, not on your phone.
- 3
Diagnose
Remote first. Most faults are identifiable from telemetry before anyone climbs a ladder.
- 4
Service
Scheduled annual visit, plus reactive visits inside the response window for real faults.
- 5
Report
A yearly document your accountant or facility manager can file, with kWh actual against kWh modelled.
Pricing factors
What moves the number
We do not publish a single price for this scope because these five variables change it substantially. Here is what each one does.
How people pay for it| Factor | Typical range | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| System size | Residential to 1 MW | Larger sites need more inspection time and more string level checks |
| Monitoring level | String or per module | Per module finds single panel faults, string level does not |
| Site access | Easy to difficult | Steep or high roofs need rope access or a lift |
| Vegetation | Clear to heavy | Pine and oak cover raises debris frequency |
| Response window | 48 hours to next visit | Commercial contracts usually buy the shorter window |
Questions
Monitoring and maintenance: common questions
Rarely, and rain does most of it. Heavy spring pollen and pine debris are worth removing once a year. Routine washing schedules sold in the desert climates are not justified in central North Carolina.
Modern modules are typically warranted at roughly 0.4 to 0.5 percent loss per year, so about 87 to 90 percent of original output at year 25. Our models use 0.4 percent as a sample figure.
Yes, after an inspection. We check the mounting, terminations and inverter condition first, because we will not alert on a system we have not seen.
A loose or corroded termination, by a wide margin. That is why a thermal scan is worth more than a panel wash.
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Start with the numbers, not a sales visit
Send twelve months of kWh and a roof photo. You get a sized system, a production model and a payback figure before anyone comes out.
No pressure appointment. The site check is free and the design is yours to keep.