Maintenance · 3 min read
Quick answer
The quickest check is your inverter app or screen: on a clear day production should climb through the morning, peak around midday and fall in the afternoon. Compare it with similar days, look for error messages, and watch your bill's export line. A sudden drop is a reason to call your installer.
Your inverter is the box that turns panel power into household power. Most have a screen, lights or an app. On a working system you will see:
If the screen is blank, shows an error or reads zero on a sunny day, something needs attention.
On a clear day the production graph forms a smooth hill: low in the morning, highest around the middle of the day, low again late in the afternoon. Clouds cause dips. Compare a few clear days with each other. They should look similar. If one string of panels or one part of the day is suddenly missing, it is worth investigating.
Only the safe basics. You can check that the solar supply main switch in your switchboard has not tripped, following your installer's shutdown and start-up instructions. Do not climb on the roof, open the inverter or touch DC isolators. Solar panels produce dangerous voltage whenever there is light.
A periodic check by a licensed electrician is good practice: they look at connections, isolators, mounting and the inverter. Monitoring in the app catches most problems in between.
Battery systems add more detail: how full the battery is, when it charges and discharges, and how much the house drew from it. A healthy battery charges from surplus solar in the day and discharges in the evening.
We installed a 33.28 kWh GoodWe battery for a home in Andrews Farm. The owners can see in one app what their panels made, what went into the battery and what the house used, which makes any drop in output easy to spot.
If your output has dropped, your inverter shows an error, or you are not sure what you are looking at, contact your installer. If we installed your system, call us on 1800 413 883.
A real Panda Power install that shows this topic in practice.
More practical guides from the Panda Power team.
Maintenance · 3 min read · 6 October 2026
Rain cleans most solar panels. Here is when cleaning is worth it, how to tell from your output, and how to do it safely without voiding warranties.
Read article →
Sizing · 3 min read · 3 October 2026
Shade on even part of a panel can cut output across a whole string. Here is how shade affects solar, and how design, optimisers and layout reduce the loss.
Read article →Written by the Panda Power team from our own installs and the questions customers ask us.
56 days left
Install before 1 January 2027
