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FIELD NOTES / 60 PRACTICAL GUIDES
Solar monitoring.
Made clearer.
Read your energy, plan the hardware and make the next decision with better information.
CHOOSING YOUR TOOLS
Which monitoring approach fits your home?
Compare Sunstead, SolarAssistant, Victron GX with VRM and Home Assistant by equipment fit, access and setup responsibilities.
Read the documented comparison6 GUIDES
Start here
Six foundations for understanding the equipment, choosing software and planning access.
How to read a solar monitoring dashboard
Make sense of solar power, household demand, battery flow and daily energy. A worked example shows what your dashboard can—and cannot—tell you.
4 min readPlan a Raspberry Pi solar monitoring setup
Choose a host, display, storage and equipment connection before building a Raspberry Pi solar monitor. Includes Sunstead’s current DIY image limitations.
4 min readBattery state of charge vs voltage: why they differ
Understand why battery percentage and voltage disagree, how a BMS or shunt estimates charge, and what to check before trusting a solar battery runtime.
4 min readLocal vs remote solar monitoring: plan your access
Choose local screens and remote viewing around the connection you actually need. Includes a Sunstead outage checklist, shared access and a second-screen plan.
4 min readWill a solar monitor read your inverter and BMS?
A practical compatibility worksheet for solar inverters, battery BMS and charge controllers: model, firmware, protocol, monitoring port and expected readings.
4 min readChoosing solar monitoring software: four approaches
Compare Sunstead, SolarAssistant, Victron GX with VRM, and Home Assistant by equipment fit, local access, remote viewing and setup responsibilities.
4 min read8 GUIDES
Read the data
Turn readings into useful comparisons, without losing the units or missing intervals.
Estimate appliance energy from watts and hours
Build a realistic appliance-energy estimate using running time, standby power and duty cycle, with a worked worksheet you can check against measurements.
3 min readFind your home’s overnight energy baseline
Measure the electricity your home uses while people sleep, separate steady and cycling loads, and compare nights without mistaking a data gap for a saving.
3 min readCompare two solar days fairly
Use matching time windows, weather notes and data coverage to compare solar production without mistaking a change in conditions for equipment performance.
3 min readSelf-consumption and self-sufficiency are different
Two worked examples explain solar self-consumption and household self-sufficiency, including the data and battery boundaries needed for meaningful ratios.
3 min readRead grid import and export without guessing
Identify grid power direction, separate net readings from energy totals, and avoid inferring export from solar surplus when the measurement is missing.
3 min readWhat a gap in solar data really means
Calculate valid monitoring coverage, distinguish measured energy from estimates, and decide what can still be learned when a solar data stream goes missing.
3 min readA flat solar peak: clipping or something else?
Investigate a plateau in a solar power graph using rated limits, battery state, timestamps and repeated observations, without diagnosing equipment from shape alone.
3 min readWhy energy totals disagree across midnight
Align timestamps, local days and UTC boundaries before comparing energy reports, including a worked example and a daylight-saving checklist.
3 min read8 GUIDES
Battery questions
Understand charge, capacity, current and the limits of an estimate.
Convert battery amp-hours to energy carefully
Use nominal voltage and amp-hours to estimate battery energy, then account for reserve and conversion assumptions without claiming guaranteed usable capacity.
3 min readEstimate battery runtime under changing loads
Replace a single runtime promise with a time-block energy plan, including reserve, changing household demand and explicit uncertainty.
3 min readPlan an overnight battery reserve
Build an overnight energy budget from observed loads, uncertain demand and a documented reserve, without copying a universal battery percentage setting.
3 min readRead a bank with multiple battery packs
Use a physical pack inventory, capacity-weighted charge example and reporting-scope checks to avoid misleading battery-bank totals.
3 min readIs the battery charging or discharging?
Interpret signed battery current and power using the source’s convention, fresh timestamps and independent observations, without relying on a guessed solar balance.
3 min readWhat battery cell-voltage spread tells you
Read the difference between highest and lowest battery cell voltages with timestamps, operating state and manufacturer context, without inventing a universal threshold.
3 min readUse battery temperature readings in context
Identify the sensor, unit and operating limit behind a battery temperature reading, and create a useful trend record without borrowing another model’s thresholds.
3 min readBattery capacity, charge and health are different
Separate state of charge, remaining capacity, full capacity and state of health before interpreting battery labels or comparing reports.
3 min read8 GUIDES
Plan your system
Build a practical operating plan for the people who use the property.
A first-week plan for a new solar monitor
Use seven focused observation sessions to confirm data sources, learn your normal patterns and leave a useful monitoring baseline.
3 min readBuild an essential-load inventory
Create a practical inventory of household loads using measured energy, operating time, priorities and questions for your installer.
3 min readChoose which household loads to move into daylight
Design a small load-shifting trial that accounts for solar availability, battery behavior and the household schedule.
3 min readPlan for several cloudy days off grid
Use a conservative energy worksheet to identify a reserve trigger and practical load choices during a run of poor solar generation.
3 min readPlan monitoring for a property you do not live at
Define responsibilities, access and a useful escalation record for solar monitoring at a rental, cabin or shared property.
3 min readLeave a useful solar-system monitoring handover
Create a short handover that preserves equipment identities, data meanings, access ownership and tested recovery information.
3 min readPlan a two-screen solar monitoring setup
Separate the Sunstead host from a browser satellite and plan network placement, screen power and viewing permissions.
3 min readDIY or prebuilt solar monitor: what are you buying?
Compare the responsibilities and current availability of Sunstead DIY software and prebuilt hardware before choosing a route.
3 min read8 GUIDES
Pi & hardware
Prepare a host and screens you can maintain and recover.
Choose power for a Raspberry Pi monitoring host
Match a Raspberry Pi power supply to the board and attached peripherals, then keep a useful record for diagnosing resets.
3 min readPlan Pi cooling inside a monitoring enclosure
Evaluate the complete enclosure, airflow and placement of a Raspberry Pi monitor without assuming a fan guarantees reliable operation.
3 min readChoose storage for a continuously running monitor
Separate storage capacity, application performance, endurance and recovery when choosing media for a Raspberry Pi solar monitor.
3 min readVerify a downloaded OS image before writing it
Use the published SHA-256 value to check the exact downloaded image, then distinguish file verification from card-writing and boot tests.
3 min readA Raspberry Pi will not boot: narrow the problem
Separate a blank display, failed boot and missing application while preserving the original storage and useful diagnostic evidence.
3 min readChoose a touchscreen for a solar dashboard
Evaluate readable size, resolution, video and touch interfaces, power and mounting before buying a display for solar monitoring.
3 min readPrepare a monitoring Pi for an update
Define the update scope, preserve recovery options and compare actual monitoring behavior before and after a software change.
3 min readTest recovery after a monitoring power outage
Check host, network and display recovery separately and record the data gap after an outage or planned host restart.
3 min read7 GUIDES
Networks & access
Make the right connection and give each viewer appropriate access.
Ethernet or Wi-Fi for a solar monitoring host?
Choose a network connection by installation constraints and observed reliability, then test the path your screens will actually use.
3 min readFind the correct local address for your monitor
Identify the Sunstead host’s actual local URL and distinguish hostname, IP address and application port when a bookmark stops working.
3 min readWhy guest Wi-Fi cannot see your solar monitor
Distinguish internet access from local-device access and diagnose guest-network isolation without broadly disabling network protections.
3 min readRemote solar viewing is offline: a five-step check
Trace a failed remote session from local collection through host connectivity, account access and the viewer’s browser.
3 min readGive someone viewing access without sharing your login
Create and verify a Sunstead viewing invitation, then understand expiry, revocation and separately paired connections.
3 min readTurn a spare screen into a useful monitoring kiosk
Plan a browser satellite that is readable, has appropriate access and recovers predictably after display or network interruptions.
3 min readWhat stays local in a solar monitoring system?
Map equipment history, remote traffic, account records and optional website analytics as separate data paths in Sunstead.
3 min read3 GUIDES
Water & property
Plan tank measurements and household dependencies. Water integration is currently a preview.
Water tank capacity and usable reserve
Distinguish rated tank capacity, estimated stored volume and water above a planning reserve, with a transparent worked example.
3 min readPlan a water-level sensor before buying hardware
Compare non-contact and submerged level sensing, identify the complete communications path and understand Sunstead’s untested integration candidates.
3 min readMake a water and energy outage checklist
Map the dependencies between stored water, pumping, power and household needs, then leave a practical observation and response card.
3 min read7 GUIDES
Troubleshooting
Narrow a symptom before changing a working part of the system.
Zero, missing or stale: three different readings
Classify a questionable solar reading before troubleshooting, using source identity, timestamps and supported fields.
3 min readThe inverter is visible but the battery is missing
Separate inverter battery-terminal data from direct BMS telemetry and collect the right compatibility evidence for a missing battery.
3 min readWhy solar power readings do not add up exactly
Check measurement boundaries, timing, losses and duplicate sources before treating a power-flow mismatch as an equipment fault.
3 min readOne device appears twice: avoid double counting
Determine whether two dashboard entries represent separate physical devices or two interfaces to the same equipment.
3 min readToday’s solar history is incomplete
Investigate missing history by checking collection coverage, time boundaries, source changes and host recovery before comparing daily totals.
3 min readA slow dashboard: screen, network or collector?
Use two viewing devices and timestamps to distinguish browser performance, network delay and stale equipment collection.
3 min readWrite a support report that can be acted on
Capture an exact symptom, equipment identity, timestamps and a short reproduction while removing private access information.
3 min read5 GUIDES
Choose your approach
Compare measurement methods and documented software responsibilities.
Inverter monitoring or whole-home energy metering?
Choose the measurement boundary that answers your question, and understand why inverter telemetry and a property energy meter can complement each other.
3 min readBattery BMS or shunt: which reading do you need?
Compare pack-level BMS information with shunt-based current accounting, including the source questions behind charge estimates.
3 min readManufacturer app or local solar monitor?
Compare a manufacturer’s monitoring service with a local host by exact equipment support, data access and maintenance responsibilities.
3 min readDedicated solar monitor or Home Assistant?
Compare a focused solar-monitoring host with a broader home platform by supported data paths, maintenance and the outcome you need.
3 min readWhy a solar dashboard differs from your electricity bill
Reconcile measurement periods, import and export, system boundaries and data coverage before comparing a solar dashboard with a utility statement.
3 min readREADY TO PLAN YOUR SETUP?
Start with your equipment.
Check the exact inverter and battery connection before choosing a host or screen. The DIY release page keeps current image availability and alpha limitations in one place.