Enphase vs SolarEdge, what to look at.
Short answer: Enphase shows per-microinverter detail (great for spotting single-panel issues like bird droppings or microcracks). SolarEdge shows per-optimizer detail at a slightly less granular level but with a stronger 'expected vs actual' comparison. SMA central-inverter systems show only system-level data, useful but limited. Use whichever your system has; the specific dashboards to watch are similar across all three.
Enphase Enlighten
Enphase systems have one microinverter per panel, meaning the monitoring is per-panel. This is the most granular detail available in residential solar.
What to open in the app
- Energy view, daily / monthly / yearly kWh. Switch to "Year" to spot long-term trend.
- Modules view, grid showing each panel's individual output. Look for outliers.
- Compare to prior year, same-week comparison shows real decline vs seasonal expectation.
Signals that mean clean
- All panels showing 5 to 10% below same-week prior year → dust/pollen accumulation
- Single panel showing 20%+ below its neighbors → bird droppings, debris, or microcrack
- Multiple adjacent panels showing decline → bird-nest under that section of array
SolarEdge mySolarEdge
SolarEdge systems have one optimizer per panel, with a central inverter. Monitoring is per-panel but the optimizers communicate up through the central inverter.
What to open in the app
- Dashboard, current power, today's energy, and a comparison to "expected" (based on your system's design model)
- Production page, past 30 / 90 / 365 days with comparison to prior year
- Layout view, per-panel grid (only available if you have layout configured)
- Alerts, SolarEdge automatically flags panels deviating significantly
Signals that mean clean
- System producing 8%+ below "expected" for 14+ consecutive days → cleanable
- Alerts on individual optimizers → potentially panel-specific issue
- Production curve flattening (peak kW lower than typical) on clear days → film on glass
SMA Sunny Portal
SMA central-inverter systems show system-level totals only. No per-panel detail. This means:
- You can spot system-wide cleaning needs (overall production decline)
- You can't identify single-panel issues (a bad panel just drops the system's total)
- Cleaning decisions are based on total kWh comparison alone
For SMA users, the seasonal plan's value increases, regular cleaning prevents the system-level decline without needing to identify a specific problem panel.
The screenshots to bring to the visit
- Last 30 days kWh chart
- Prior year same-30-days comparison
- Per-panel grid (Enphase Modules view or SolarEdge Layout) if available
- System dashboard with peak kW
The network specialist arrives with this data already useful, they can confirm or refine the diagnosis on the spot and target the clean accordingly.