1. How to check if my solar panel is working or not?

(1) Checking the Electricity Meter

Every family’s domestic electricity consumption can be shown according to the electricity meter. When solar panels are installed in your home, if it is not a cloudy or rainy day, then most of the electricity used in the home comes from the electricity generated by the solar panels. But if the electricity given out by the solar panels is not enough to meet the electricity needs of your home, then the grid will provide electricity to your home and the electricity received from the grid will be reflected on your meter.

Therefore, if we want to check if the solar panel is working properly, we can choose to check the meter on a sunny day, if the meter shows that the power you are getting from the grid is not normal, then it is a big indication that there may be a problem with your solar panel.

(2) Remove obstructions from the panel

When there are obstacles such as branches, grass and trees on the solar panels, it can seriously affect the efficiency of the solar panels in generating electricity. This is because they will diminish the intensity of light received by the solar panel and will likely affect the entire panel. So you can regularly check whether there are obstacles on the solar panel and remove them.

(3) Check the weather

For different seasons and weather, solar panels generate electricity differently. So, there could be two reasons when your solar panels are generating erratic power. One is that there is a problem with your solar system, and the other may be due to the weather problem that causes this phenomenon.

Therefore, we can check the weather to determine if the solar panel is working properly.

(4) Check your electricity bill

Solar panels are installed to help us save money on our electricity bills, and the electricity bills after installing solar panels will be much lower compared to before. However, if your electricity bill after the installation of solar panels is similar to that before the installation, and it is not caused by other reasons such as the weather, there is a high probability that your solar panels are not working properly.

(5) Monitor Power Generation

Most solar homeowners don’t know how to tell if their solar panels are working properly, so for them, installing a solar monitor is the best option. Solar monitors are a lot more convenient compared to checking meters, solar inverters, and other methods, and it can monitor your solar system all the time to see if it is working properly, and if there is a malfunction, it can alert you through messages and other means.

(6) Check the solar inverter

In a solar system, the inverter is the component that is most likely to malfunction. The inverters are fitted with indicator lights, and on a clear day, if a green light is shown on the inverter, it is an indication that the solar system is working properly. However, when the indicator light is orange or red, we should pay attention to it, the system is likely to have a malfunction, and then we should contact a professional technician to check it.

Therefore, we can determine whether our solar panels are working by checking the color of the indicator light on the inverter.

2. What should I do when my solar panels are not working?

Check the solar panel: check whether there are stains or whether there are cracks on the solar panel, if so, clean and repair it in time. Also check whether the wiring interface is loose, whether the circuit is aging and other problems to ensure the normal operation of the solar panel.

Restart the inverter: Turn off the power to the inverter, wait for some time and then turn it back on, if the solar panel still does not work, you have to take other measures.

Contact a professional: when your solar panel stops working and you can’t find the reason, don’t act rashly, you should contact a solar company and ask a professional technician to repair it.

Summarize

You can combine the above six methods to make a judgment on whether your solar panels are operating normally and take corresponding measures. Timely handling can both reduce your electricity bill and extend the life of the solar panel.