Your first year with solar: what to check and when

Week one: establish a baseline

Your system will generate from the day it is commissioned, but your first job is not to watch it - it is to record what normal looks like, so you can recognise abnormal later.

Open your monitoring and note the daily generation over the first clear week. Compare it against the estimate in your design. A well-designed system on a clear day should land close to its modelled figure; if it is consistently well below, that is worth raising early rather than at your first bill.

If your system includes consumption monitoring, this is also the week to learn your own load shape - when your house actually draws power, and how much of your generation you are using rather than exporting. That single insight drives most of the habit changes in our energy management article.

Weeks two to six: the meter and the first bill

After installation your retailer reconfigures or replaces your meter so exports are measured. This step sits outside your installer's control and is frequently the slowest part of the process. Until it is done, your system still generates and still offsets your usage - you simply are not credited for exports yet.

When your first bill arrives, do not just look at the total. Check three things: that exports are being credited at the feed-in rate you expect, that your tariff still suits a solar household, and that the daily supply charge has not quietly changed. A solar home on a pre-solar plan is the most common money leak we see, and the fix is a twenty-minute comparison - our retailer offers article covers how.

This is also the moment to confirm any rebate paperwork is settled and to file your compliance documentation somewhere you will find it in eight years. It matters for warranty claims and for selling the property.

Months three to six: learning the seasons

The most common first-year worry is a drop in generation that is entirely normal. Output falls through autumn into winter - shorter days, lower sun angle - and recovers through spring. A system that produced 45 kWh on a December day may produce half that in June. That is the system working correctly, not a fault.

Two counterintuitive things worth knowing. Very hot days often produce slightly less than mild sunny ones, because panels lose efficiency as cell temperature rises. And a mild, clear spring day is frequently your best production of the year.

The meaningful comparison is not month against month. It is this month against the same month's expectation, or against last year once you have one.

The few things actually worth checking

Monitoring still reporting. The most common real fault is not a panel failure - it is the system dropping off your Wi-Fi after a router change or password update. If data stops, check connectivity before assuming the worst.

Shading that has changed. Trees grow, neighbours build. A new afternoon shadow across a string shows up as an unexplained drop at a consistent time of day.

Anything stacked against a battery or blocking clearances, and any physical damage to equipment.

Inverter fault codes. Occasional grid-related trips are normal; a recurring code is not.

You do not need to clean panels in most of Sydney - rain handles it, and walking on a roof to chase a couple of percent is a poor trade. If your site is unusually dusty or under trees, that is a conversation rather than a routine.

The end of year one

At twelve months you have something genuinely useful: a full seasonal cycle. Compare your actual annual generation against your design estimate. Within a reasonable margin, the system is performing. A significant shortfall is worth investigating properly, and your monitoring data is the evidence that makes a warranty conversation straightforward rather than a debate.

Also revisit your plan again. Retail offers move, and the one that suited you at commissioning may not be the best available a year later.

Beyond that, a well-installed system should be uneventful. If something does not look right, our service and warranty process is there - and the earlier you raise it, the easier it usually is to resolve.