Your Inverter App vs. the Automate[it] Solution

Most solar installations come with some form of “monitoring” and a mobile application for the viewing of system performance (graphs showing solar production, grid consumption, battery levels and so on).  When quoting on a project, we’ve heard people compare our solution to the standard inverter app and the “monitoring” features offered with the perspective that they must be the same. As such, we thought we’d write this article detailing the clear differentiating factors.

Comprehensive Alerts

Many inverter apps will provide the customer with alerts relating to faults and power interruptions. These alerts are very basic in nature and are always reactive. Our solution takes alert functionality to a whole new level by providing the customer with comprehensive and fully customisable alerts that aren’t just limited to the inverter but also empower the customer to plan accordingly.

As an example, our solution can advise a customer of a grid failure as well as the current load, solar production and battery state of charge. Similarly, it can notify the customer when grid power is restored or if battery levels reach specific threshold values. 

Another example would be a custom notification to advise the customer of high load usage during load shedding (where solar production is low/unavailable) and that usage should be curtailed.  

Our solution is truly flexible and alerts can be created specific to the customer’s needs – if you can dream it, we can probably create it.

Vital Insights

While graphs are undoubtedly informative, they can lack context without real-world events factored in. Our solution bridges this gap by providing practical insights.

One of our favourite metrics is the practical insight into battery levels at the end of the current load-shedding cycle. With this knowledge, a customer can quite easily reduce consumption and plan appropriately for any load-shedding event. 

As an example, if load shedding commences now and your battery levels are at 98% with a household load of 3000w, our solution may advise that your battery levels will be at 63% by the end of the current load-shedding cycle. This information will assist you in curtailing consumption if necessary to ensure you don’t land up in the dark.

This is something no other application can do and another key area that sets us apart from the competition. Another useful metric is understanding when your batteries will be fully charged or depleted. 

We make data actionable to proactively empower the customer to make informed decisions. 

Real-Time Data

When it comes to data updates, all of the inverter apps (Sunsynk, Solarman, Growatt, Kodak etc.) lag behind by at least 5 minutes – meaning that by the time you receive your inverter’s data, it is already outdated.

In contrast, our application offers real-time data refreshed every 1-2 seconds. This enables you to have real-time data at your fingertips. This is not only useful for understanding what is happening with your inverter but our automation leverages this data to dynamically control the inverter’s load and charging parameters.

Dynamic load control

In some cases, the inverter will come with an auxiliary port to allow for non-essential appliances to be included in the installation. This is a great feature as the installer can differentiate between essential and non-essential loads (non-essential loads would typically include your pool pump, geyser, air conditioners etc.). While this is a great feature, it has its limitations in that the non-essential port cannot control individual appliances. As such, the inverter can only cut power to the non-essential port which would then mean all appliances on this port will be turned off. Unfortunately, this is a major pitfall (in our view). 

Our solution provides individual intelligent control over each appliance and dynamically controls the load based on the client’s requirements. In other words, we control each device and turn them on/off in a calculated and systematic approach. A really great example of this would be a pool pump and geyser – both typically installed on the non-essential port. Under normal circumstances, the inverter will cut power to the non-essential port and render the pool and geyser useless. With our ability to control specific devices, we can turn the pool off and leave the geyser to run uninterrupted. If the geyser reaches its heating temperature, we can then turn the pool back on and continue to maximise solar usage. It’s the smart way of doing things…

Effortless Inverter Settings Changes

Inverter applications are intended for viewing purposes with little developmental effort having gone into the ability to make changes to the system. If you’ve ever tried changing a setting on your inverter through the standard inverter app, you’ll appreciate just how frustrating and unintuitive it can be! 

While our solution automates continuous adjustments to the inverter based on weather conditions and load-shedding information, we enable the customer to override our controls and easily make safe changes to the system if required.

All-in-One Ecosystem

Our application doesn’t just stop at providing information about your solar system. It serves as a hub, offering insight and control over not only your solar setup but also your appliances and more. We believe firmly in a single, intuitive interface, to manage your entire energy ecosystem and home/business.

As an example, the inverter apps will only provide you with information about your inverter, battery and solar production. This is quite limiting as you would have to open another app If you have smart switches/appliances. With our solution, everything is housed in a single app and the user interface is developed with the customer’s requirements in mind. Let’s say the customer is data-crazy and loves seeing performance metrics. We would customise the interface to provide these metrics and include any available smart devices/appliances.

Intelligent Automation

Unlike the standard inverter apps, which are primarily viewing platforms, our solution is truly smart. It harnesses data from multiple sources – like weather conditions, load-shedding schedules, inverter status, and appliance statuses – to make intelligent adjustments. 

For instance, our application’s advanced algorithms automatically fine-tune your inverter’s charging settings based on real-time weather and load-shedding information. It will also dynamically manage appliances by intelligently turning them on and off to optimize your energy consumption.

In summary, our application isn’t just a solar management tool; it’s a holistic energy ecosystem that offers unprecedented convenience, control, and intelligence.