What Your Solar Monitoring Dashboard Is Telling You: A Plain-English Guide
Introduction Your solar monitoring app shows a lot of numbers. Most homeowners only look at one — "How much did I generate today?" — and miss the bigger picture. This guide explain
Introduction
Your solar monitoring app shows a lot of numbers. Most homeowners only look at one — "How much did I generate today?" — and miss the bigger picture. This guide explains every key metric in plain language so you can tell at a glance whether your system is healthy and earning you money.
The Difference Between kWp and kWh
- kWp (kilowatt-peak) — Your system's capacity. This is fixed when your system is installed (e.g., 10 kWp). It is the maximum power your panels can theoretically produce under perfect lab conditions. You will never exceed this number in real life.
- kWh (kilowatt-hour) — Energy produced over time. This is what your monitoring app measures. A 10 kWp system in Singapore typically generates 8–14 kWh per day.
Analogy: kWp is the size of your engine. kWh is the distance you drove.
Real-Time Power (kW)
This shows how many kilowatts your system is generating right now. It fluctuates constantly with clouds, sun angle, and temperature. At peak midday on a clear day, expect roughly 70–85% of your kWp as real-time output.
- 10 kWp system → expect 7–8.5 kW at midday
- Below 50% of kWp at clear midday → investigate
- Drops to zero → system stopped (fault or grid event)
Today's Yield / Daily Energy (kWh)
The total energy your panels have produced today. This resets at midnight. In Singapore, a 10 kWp system should generate:
- Sunny day: 10–14 kWh
- Partly cloudy: 5–9 kWh
- Overcast/rainy: 1–4 kWh
If a clear sunny day yields under 5 kWh for a 10 kWp system, something is wrong.
Self-Consumption vs Grid Export
These two numbers tell you how your solar energy is being split:
- Self-consumption — energy your solar panels generated and your home used directly. This displaces grid electricity and saves you money at the retail rate (~$0.30/kWh).
- Grid export — excess energy sent to SP Group. You earn the Net Energy Rebate (NER) at a lower rate (~$0.10–0.14/kWh). This is still money earned, but self-consumption is more valuable per kWh.
Rule of thumb: If you export more than 60% of your generation, consider shifting high-consumption appliances (washing machine, dishwasher) to daytime hours to boost self-consumption.
Grid Import
Energy drawn from SP Group to supplement what your panels produce. You pay the full retail rate for this. Your goal is to minimise grid import during daylight hours through self-consumption and (if installed) battery storage.
Performance Ratio (%)
A quality score for your system — actual output divided by theoretical maximum output. In Singapore's tropical climate, a healthy system performs at 75–85%. Anything below 70% for more than a week warrants a check.
Factors that reduce performance ratio:
- Panel soiling (bird droppings, dust, haze)
- Shading from new nearby structures or tree growth
- Degraded panels or failing optimisers
- Inverter operating below rated efficiency
Total Lifetime Yield (kWh)
The cumulative energy your system has generated since installation. Keep a note of this figure every year — it is useful evidence for warranty claims and for tracking long-term system health. A solar system should not degrade more than ~0.5% per year, so your year 10 total yield should be roughly 95% of your year 1 yield on a per-year basis.
CO₂ Saved
A calculated environmental metric — informational only. In Singapore, the grid emission factor is approximately 0.4076 kg CO₂ per kWh (from EMA). Your monitoring app multiplies your yield by this factor to estimate carbon displacement.