Developing Residential Solar Installation Monitor

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A partnership between two companies will develop a home energy monitoring device for residential solar power installations.

Two startups – Tendril Networks, known for its home energy monitoring technology and Fat Spaniel technologies, a solar panel monitoring company – make up the partnership. The purpose of the partnership is to develop a monitoring device for homes that can gauge the sun’s intensity for any particular time and automatically adjust, or even shut down, home appliances as needed.

There are a growing number of people interested in having their own rooftop solar panel installations, and this concept could help them better manage the electricity their arrays produce. Production of energy by solar panels is known to be intermittent depending upon overhead conditions. The device will be designed to automatically power down appliances connected to it to conserve energy, controlling the balance between supply and demand.

*Image from Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons License

Mariella Moon (9 Posts)

Mariella is a freelance writer with a passion for clean technology, green gadgetry and environmental issues.


  • Charles Vismeg

    Unless I did not get it, the tail is wagging the dog here. There must be an intemediate step to introduce between power availability and end use, the appliance load. I don’t think a “shutting down” of the appliance is what the intent here is; maybe a trannsfer of the demand into the grid or other source of power is the intermediate step; a switching to alternate source of electrical power. Isn’t this what the intent was here?

  • Charles Vismeg

    Unless I did not get it, the tail is wagging the dog here. There must be an intemediate step to introduce between power availability and end use, the appliance load. I don’t think a “shutting down” of the appliance is what the intent here is; maybe a trannsfer of the demand into the grid or other source of power is the intermediate step; a switching to alternate source of electrical power. Isn’t this what the intent was here?

  • Charles Vismeg

    Unless I did not get it, the tail is wagging the dog here. There must be an intemediate step to introduce between power availability and end use, the appliance load. I don’t think a “shutting down” of the appliance is what the intent here is; maybe a trannsfer of the demand into the grid or other source of power is the intermediate step; a switching to alternate source of electrical power. Isn’t this what the intent was here?

  • http://www.solar-energy-at-home.com Michael from Solar Energy At Home

    Sounds like a great partnership that should help homeowners better manage their energy consumption to take full advantage of their solar energy systems.

  • http://www.solar-energy-at-home.com Michael from Solar Energy At H

    Sounds like a great partnership that should help homeowners better manage their energy consumption to take full advantage of their solar energy systems.