Solar monitoring: inverter data, smart meters and bills
Sources checked
Monitoring should show generation, where electricity is used and what crosses the grid connection. An inverter normally knows its own output; without suitable additional measurement, it may not know the home's total demand or exports. A PV smart meter is not automatically the distributor's billing meter.
Understand the measurement points
Check where each meter is installed, how phases are combined and which periods the application displays. Generation, import, export and battery flows are different measures. The same kWh label does not prove two figures describe the same circuit or time interval.
For a complete household balance, confirm which flows are measured and which are estimated. Keep battery losses and energy remaining in storage visible when interpreting the totals.
Offline data does not always mean stopped generation
Check the last update time, communications status and recorded alarms before treating an offline cloud application as an electrical failure. Preserve the error and event time for the service company.
Compare final billing data with the relevant metering period, rather than expecting every application total to equal the invoice. Investigate persistent unexplained differences using the wiring and measurement arrangement.