Solar Monitoring Software Development

Faults you find first cost less than faults your customers find

A 15-minute polling interval is standard for most inverter APIs. A fault that trips at 9am and stays undetected until the customer calls at 3pm is six hours of lost generation, and across a fleet of 200 sites the performance gap adds up fast. Custom solar monitoring software changes the response model: real-time event streams detect faults in minutes, automated alerts route to the right technician, and the customer sees a clear status in their portal before they think to call.

  • Real-time generation data from inverters, meters, and weather sensors

  • Fault detection with automated alerting and severity classification

  • Customer portal showing generation, savings, and environmental impact

  • Fleet-level monitoring for installers managing multiple sites

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See our work

The problem

Sound familiar?

  • Solar monitoring dashboard polling inverters every 15 minutes and missing fault events until the customer calls to report zero generation?

  • Customer-facing portal showing raw kWh numbers with no context about expected output or savings to date?

Short answer

Solar monitoring software connects inverter and meter data to a platform that tracks real-time generation, detects faults before customers call, and gives site owners a clear view of output, savings, and system health. RaftLabs builds custom solar monitoring platforms for installers, EPCs, and asset owners, from single-site customer portals to fleet-level dashboards managing hundreds of systems, typically delivering in 10 to 14 weeks at a fixed cost.

Key takeaways

  • Threshold alerting catches hard failures; fault detection against the IEC 61724-1 performance ratio model catches the string-level degradation that costs money before it becomes a hard failure.
  • Server-side inverter integrations cover SolarEdge, Enphase, Fronius, SMA, Huawei, and ABB, plus local Modbus for inverters without a cloud API.
  • Customer portals show savings in dollars, not performance-ratio jargon - the number that motivated the purchase should be the number they see first.
  • A single-brand customer portal build runs $30,000-$80,000; a full multi-brand fleet monitoring system runs $60,000-$150,000.

Trusted by

Vodafone logo
Aldi logo
Nike logo
Microsoft logo
Heineken logo
Cisco logo
Calorgas logo
Energia Rewards logo

Solar monitoring delivery, by the numbers

products shipped
100+
cost delivery
Fixed
week delivery cycles
10-14
industries served
24+

Faults you find first cost less than faults your customers find

A 15-minute polling interval is standard for most inverter APIs. A fault that trips at 9am and stays undetected until the customer calls at 3pm is six hours of lost generation. Multiply that across a fleet of 200 sites and the performance gap adds up fast.

Custom solar monitoring software changes the response model. Real-time event streams from inverter APIs detect faults in minutes, not hours. Automated alerts route to the right technician with fault type and severity attached. The customer sees a clear status in their portal before they think to call.

Capabilities

What we build

  • 01
    Real-time data ingestion

    Inverter data via manufacturer APIs and local Modbus RS-485/TCP, with DNP3 and IEC 60870-5-104 for utility-scale SCADA integration. Smart meter integration adds import/export/self-consumption measurement; irradiance data from NREL NSRDB or SolarAnywhere enables performance-ratio calculation without hardware at every site. Event-driven triggers fire on fault conditions rather than waiting for the next scheduled poll.

    Built with
    SolarEdge · Enphase · Fronius · SMA · Huawei
  • 02
    Performance and yield analysis

    Performance ratio calculated per the IEC 61724-1 standard at system, string, and inverter level flags underperforming components without a technician visit. Soiling loss estimation compares the PR trend against a post-cleaning baseline; weather-normalised yield comparison removes irradiance variability from performance comparisons. Clipping detection flags undersized inverters relative to array output, common in commercial retrofits.

    Built with
    IEC 61724-1
  • 03
    Fault detection and alerting

    Fault events classify by type and severity, ground fault, arc fault, over-temperature, with distinct response protocols. String-level detection flags underperformance that doesn't trigger an inverter alarm, a meaningful share of undetected degradation. Alert routing sends critical faults to the on-call technician by SMS within minutes; degradation alerts route to the service queue. Suppression rules prevent false positives during curtailment and low-irradiance conditions.

  • 04
    Customer-facing solar portal

    Generation shown in dollars saved, not just kWh, updated daily and cumulative since installation, the number that motivated the purchase in the first place. Fault status appears as a plain-language indicator with a clear next step, not an inverter fault code. PPA customers see the generation volume and calculation behind their bill. Mobile-responsive, branded to the installer, not the monitoring vendor.

  • 05
    Fleet and portfolio monitoring

    A fleet dashboard shows every site's status, generating, degraded, faulted, offline, filterable by status, size, inverter brand, or region. Bulk alert review triages the full site list by severity. Portfolio-level generation and performance-ratio summaries give asset managers the numbers investor reporting and PPA verification require, whether the fleet is 50 sites or 500.

  • 06
    Historical data and reporting

    Time-series storage retains 5-minute interval data for the system lifetime, downsampled to hourly/daily for long-term trend views. Automated monthly reports deliver generation summary, performance ratio, and savings to customers by email. Annual summaries support FiT reconciliation and warranty documentation; CMMS integration exports maintenance history alongside generation data.

How we work

From scope to live monitoring platform

  1. Week 1
    01

    Inverter mix and fleet scoping

    We map your inverter brands, fleet size, and current monitoring gaps. You leave week 1 with a written scope document and a fixed-price quote.

  2. Weeks 2-4
    02

    Integration and portal design

    Inverter integration approach and customer portal UX confirmed against your fleet before build starts.

  3. Weeks 5-10
    03

    Build and integrate

    Ingestion, fault detection, and portal built in parallel, tested against real inverter feeds.

  4. Final 2 weeks
    04

    Rollout and alert tuning

    Live rollout with fault thresholds tuned against real generation and weather data.

Why us

Why solar operators choose RaftLabs

  • 01
    Senior engineers build what they scope

    The engineers who assess your fleet also build the solution. No bait-and-switch, no offshore handoff after the contract is signed.

  • 02
    Fixed price before development starts

    We scope the work, calculate the cost, and lock it in writing before any development starts.

  • 03
    9 years and 100+ products shipped

    Clients include Vodafone, T-Mobile, Aldi, Nike, Cisco, and Lockheed Martin. Track record building multi-source telemetry and IoT monitoring systems.

  • 04
    Fault detection, not just threshold alerts

    We build against the IEC 61724-1 performance ratio model, catching string-level degradation that never trips a hard alarm.

  • 05
    Portals built for the customer, not the engineer

    Savings in dollars, plain-language fault status, tested with real users before launch, not performance-ratio jargon.

Have a solar monitoring project?

Tell us your inverter brands, fleet size, and what your current monitoring is missing. We'll design the platform and give you a fixed cost.

Talk about your solar monitoring project

Related services

Solar Monitoring Software Development, scoped in one call.

Tell us what's broken. Within one business day you get a straight take on cost, timeline, and the right first step. No deck, no pressure.

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Frequently asked questions

We integrate with SolarEdge via the Monitoring API, Enphase via the Enlighten API, Fronius via the Solar.web API and local Fronius Data Manager, SMA via the Sunny Portal API and local Modbus interface, Huawei via the FusionSolar API, and ABB via FIMER. For inverters without a published cloud API, we use local Modbus RS-485 or Modbus TCP directly over the site network. For utility-scale assets, we support DNP3 and IEC 60870-5-104 protocol integration. We review your inverter mix during scoping and confirm integration feasibility before development starts.

Threshold alerting fires when a value crosses a fixed line: generation below zero, inverter offline, communication lost. It catches hard failures but misses the degradation that costs money before it becomes one. Fault detection goes further: it compares actual output against expected output calculated from current irradiance and the IEC 61724-1 performance ratio model, detects string-level underperformance that doesn't trigger an inverter alarm, identifies intermittent failure patterns, and suppresses false alerts during grid curtailment and scheduled maintenance so technicians spend time on real faults.

Most solar customers want to know three things: is my system working, how much did it save me this month, and what do I do if something is wrong. We design the portal around those questions: generation shown in dollars or pounds saved alongside the kWh figure, system status as a clear indicator with plain-language explanations rather than inverter fault codes, and alerts with a clear next step. For PPA customers, the portal shows generation volume and the billing calculation. We test the design with real users before development concludes.

A customer-facing monitoring portal covering inverter API integration for one or two brands, generation and savings dashboard, fault alerting, and customer portal typically costs $30,000 to $80,000 depending on inverter integrations and portal complexity. A full fleet monitoring system for an EPC or asset manager, covering multi-brand integration, performance analytics, fleet dashboard, and automated reporting, runs $60,000 to $150,000. We scope the project before pricing so you know cost and timeline before development starts.

Work with us

Tell us what you need. We'll tell you what it would take.

We scope Solar Monitoring Software Development in 30 minutes. You walk away with a clear cost, timeline, and approach. No commitment required.

  • Scope and cost agreed before work starts. No surprises. No obligation.
  • Working prototype within 3 weeks of kickoff.
  • Pay by milestone. You see progress before each invoice.
  • 60-day post-launch warranty. Bug fixes, UI tweaks, and deployment support. No retainer.
  • All conversations are NDA-protected.

Go deeper

Browse our case studies

Solar software by area