Confirming your system is producing energy:

Is your solar system on and producing power?

  • If you have an inverter, is it on and displaying an active green indicator light, with no red fault indicators?

  • Your solar meter will typically be labeled “Solar Meter” and will usually have a green ring around its base. It should be mounted in its own stand alone base or socket.

  • Does your solar meter have numbers on the screen, and below that, are there boxes or dashes moving from left to right during the day?

    • Your meter may have dashes on the bottom of the screen regardless of what information is displayed above it or it may have boxes in the bottom right corner of the screen regardless of what is displayed above it.

If you answered no for anything above: Please contact us for further troubleshooting as soon as possible at 520.882.4131 or DM@tfssolar.com

If system production has been confirmed, and we need to troubleshoot the Data Monitoring connection:

Have there been any recent changes, outages, or work done on the internet service at the home? This could include events such as:

1. A new internet service provider

2. A new modem/router

3. Change in the network name and/or password

4. Extended internet service outages

  • There are a variety of ways in which a system can be connected to the internet. The most common is with a device called a PowerLine Adapter (PLA). The PLA is a small, approximately 2” x 3” plastic device. It will be plugged directly into an electrical outlet, and have a cable connecting it to the modem/router. There are various makes and models of these devices, but some examples look like this:

If you are able to locate this device, please check the following:

  • Is it plugged directly into a wall outlet? These devices are not able to function properly when plugged into a surge protected outlet, or power strip. If it’s currently disconnected from an outlet, please plug it back in.

  • Are the indicator lights on? There are typically a total of 3 indicator lights. If your PLA is operating normally, all three should be solid (though one may periodically flash).

  • Is the cable firmly plugged into the adapter, and into a port on the modem/router? It is important to check that the cable is not loose or at risk of falling out of either the PLA or modem/router.

If you have confirmed the adapter is in place properly, or that there is not an adapter used for your system:

It’s not uncommon for the connection between your system and the online monitoring platform to be lost on occasion, and the most common solution is to reboot the connection equipment.

  1. For most systems, this can be done by locating the electrical breaker for the monitoring equipment and resetting it. It is typically located in your main electrical panel, and has a label which says “PV System Monitoring”, “Data Monitoring Power Source” (see sample image)

  2. If you locate this breaker, please flip it to the OFF position, leave it for 1 minute, then flip it back to the ON position.

  3. Once this is complete, it can often take several hours before the connection is restored to the online monitoring platform. This can be confirmed on your solar monitoring app/website, or by reaching out to us.

*Please avoid flipping any breakers labeled “Photovoltaic Power Source” or anything similar as this will impact the production of your system.