Service
Solar and Battery Monitoring, Gold Coast
Most solar systems come with a manufacturer app that nobody opens after the first month. Most batteries report through a different app. Most homeowners have no real idea what their system is doing day-to-day. Solar and battery monitoring with Home Assistant pulls every device (inverter, battery, EV charger, smart meter, individual circuits) into one local dashboard with alerts that mean something. No more checking five apps to see if today's a good solar day.
Who actually needs this
Monitoring work earns its keep when there's enough going on to justify watching it. The five situations where it pays for itself:
- You've got solar and a battery from different manufacturers and they don't talk to each other in any useful way
- Your inverter app stopped updating weeks or months ago and you don't know if the system is fine or if something's wrong
- You want to know which appliances are actually using your stored solar versus which are pulling from the grid
- You've got an EV charger and you want it to charge from solar surplus, not from the grid
- You're planning to add a battery to existing solar and want to be sure you can actually see what it's doing afterwards
If you've got a small solar-only system, you check the app once in a while, and you're happy with that. This isn't necessary. If your system is doing more than just spinning the meter backwards, the monitoring layer is what turns it from "a thing on the roof" into "a system you can actually optimise."
What the audit covers
Monitoring work is scoped from the Home System Audit, $450, residential. 2 to 3 hours on site producing a written report covering current installation, integration paths, and a fixed-price install quote. Here's what we measure:
1. Inverter make, model, and integration path
Solar inverters in Australia mostly come from a small number of brands: Fronius, SMA, Sungrow, GoodWe, Solis, Enphase, SolarEdge, Sigenergy, Growatt, and Huawei. Each has a different integration path into Home Assistant: some excellent (local API, polling-based, no cloud dependency), some good (cloud API with occasional rate limits), some limited or broken. We confirm your specific inverter and identify the cleanest integration option.
2. Battery make, model, and how it reports
Residential batteries in Australia: Tesla Powerwall, BYD Battery-Box, Sungrow SBR, Pylontech, LG Chem RESU (older installs), Alpha ESS, Sigenergy Sigen, Sonnen, Redback. Most report through their host inverter rather than directly. Tesla Powerwall is the exception. It has a local API of its own. We map which path applies to your specific bank and what data we'll actually be able to see.
3. Existing monitoring and what's missing
Most installs already have some monitoring: the inverter manufacturer's app, the battery manufacturer's portal, the smart meter portal from your retailer, maybe a third-party energy monitor. We document what's already in place, what data each layer reports, and where the gaps are. Often the issue isn't "no monitoring," it's "monitoring scattered across five places that don't agree."
4. Network capacity and where Home Assistant lives
Home Assistant runs on a small local controller: usually Home Assistant Green for solar-only monitoring, Home Assistant Yellow or a small x86 mini-PC if more integrations are coming. The controller needs ethernet, power, and ventilation. We confirm location, network connectivity, and whether the existing router can handle the additional integration traffic.
5. Smart meter integration if applicable
Many newer Gold Coast properties have smart meters with the ability to expose real-time data through a separate device (Wattwatchers, Catch Power, or the inverter's CT clamps). This is what turns "I can see solar production" into "I can see solar production, household consumption, grid import, grid export, and battery flow, all on one chart." The audit confirms whether your meter setup supports this or whether a CT clamp install is part of scope.
6. EV charger and other smart loads
If you've got a Tesla Wall Connector, Wallbox, Schneider EVlink, Ocular, ABB, or similar EV charger, most have either local API or community-supported integration paths. Same for smart aircon (Daikin, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu Wi-Fi modules) and pool pumps with smart control. The audit covers every connected device that should be visible on the dashboard.
The audit produces a written report with photos, brand-specific integration assessment, recommended scope, and a fixed-price install quote. Fee credits 50 percent against installation when you proceed within 90 days.
What audits typically uncover
After enough residential monitoring audits, certain patterns repeat.
1. The inverter integration is fine, the battery integration is patchy
Common pattern. Fronius and SMA inverters integrate cleanly into Home Assistant via local Modbus. The battery, if it's BYD or LG Chem on an older install, often only reports limited data. Workarounds exist (calculating SOC from inverter data, using CT clamps to measure flow), but they're approximations. The audit makes this trade-off clear before you commit.
2. The smart meter exists but isn't exposing data
Many homes have a smart meter the retailer reads remotely, but the homeowner has no real-time visibility into their own consumption. The fix is either a CT clamp installation on the main feed (showing total household consumption) or a dedicated energy monitor like Wattwatchers or Catch Power. Both feed cleanly into Home Assistant once installed.
3. The inverter is fine but the data is locked in the cloud
Some older or budget inverters only report through the manufacturer's cloud portal with no local API. Integration is still possible through cloud polling, but it's slower (5–15 minute updates instead of 5-second updates), depends on the manufacturer staying in business, and rate-limits during outages. We're honest about this. Sometimes the right answer is "the integration works but it's not real-time, here's what you can and can't do with it."
4. The EV charger is on a separate world
Most EV chargers run their own app, their own schedule, and their own load logic, completely separate from the solar system. A common monitoring goal is "charge the car from solar surplus only, never from the grid." That requires the charger and the solar to talk to each other, usually through Home Assistant as the middleman. We confirm which charger brand is fitted and what's actually possible. Tesla and Wallbox integrate well, some cheaper brands don't.
What the install actually involves
Solar and battery monitoring installs are typically focused, fast jobs once the audit has set the scope. Three common shapes:
Software-only integration
Existing inverter and battery have working integration paths into Home Assistant. We supply and install a Home Assistant Green controller, configure all integrations, build the dashboard for your specific system, set up alerts, and integrate any smart meter or CT clamps if already in place. One day on site. Indicative cost $1,800 to $3,500 including the controller.
Software plus CT clamps or energy monitor
Same as above plus the hardware install of CT clamps on the main feed and on dedicated circuits (EV charger, hot water, aircon) so we can see consumption per circuit. Half-day to one day extra for hardware install. Indicative cost $3,000 to $6,000 including hardware and controller.
Full energy management system
Software, energy monitoring hardware, EV charger integration, and automation logic that actively manages loads: running the pool pump only when there's solar surplus, charging the EV from excess generation, scheduling hot water around forecast solar, alerting on unusual consumption patterns. Two to three days on site. Indicative cost $6,000 to $14,000 depending on scope and hardware.
Every install ends with a documented handover: dashboard configuration, integration credentials, alert thresholds, and a written guide on how to interpret what you're seeing. The Home Assistant configuration is yours. Exportable, portable, and not locked to us. Any other Home Assistant installer can pick it up later.
What we deliver directly versus what needs an SAA partner
Monitoring work is integration, not installation. If the audit identifies a hardware problem on the solar or battery side, the path forward depends on what kind of hardware:
Direct work
Battery installation (off-grid systems and standalone storage), DC-side fault finding, BMS configuration, DC isolator replacement, monitoring hardware (CT clamps, energy monitors, controllers), inverter integration with the broader electrical system, EV charger circuit work. All delivered directly under our Queensland Electrical Contractor Licence.
SAA partner work
Anything that touches the grid-connection point on a grid-tied solar system (replacing a grid-tied inverter, panel removal and refit, system commissioning to claim STCs) requires SAA accreditation under the Clean Energy Regulator's small-scale renewable scheme. Iron and Air's SAA accreditation is in process. Until it issues, this work is coordinated through an SAA-accredited partner installer and we project-manage the integration end-to-end.
The split is invisible to the client
One project manager, one written scope, one combined deliverable. You don't manage two contractors. We do. The pricing reflects the actual scope and the reports document who did what for warranty purposes.
Available packages
Home System Audit, from $450 (Zone 1)
2 to 3 hours on site, brand-specific integration assessment, written report, fixed-price install quote. Fee credits 50 percent against installation when you proceed within 90 days.
Final scope and pricing for installation work land after the audit. See /pricing/ for the full pricing structure.
What good monitoring looks like, and why most installs miss it
Most homeowners get one app from the inverter installer and call it done. The result is "set and forget" in the wrong direction. You forget about the system because the app doesn't tell you anything actionable. Here's the technical context behind what proper monitoring actually delivers.
One dashboard beats five apps
Modern households accumulate apps. Inverter app for solar production. Battery manufacturer app for state-of-charge. Retailer app for grid usage. EV charger app for charging history. Smart aircon app for energy use. None of them talk to each other and none of them give you the full picture. A unified dashboard that pulls all sources into one view is the single highest-value outcome of monitoring work, not because it's a fancy interface but because it's the only way to actually see what your house is doing.
Real-time matters more than it sounds
Cloud-based monitoring (most manufacturer apps) reports on five to fifteen minute averages. Local integration (Modbus, local API, CT clamps) reports every one to five seconds. The difference: with five-minute averages, you can see what happened. With five-second data, you can act on what's happening. Automating a pool pump to run during solar surplus needs real-time data, not five-minute averages. So does a "stop charging the EV when the rest of the house is high-load" rule.
The major Australian inverter brands, ranked by integration quality
Fronius and SMA are excellent: local Modbus, well-documented, decades of community support. Sungrow is very good: solid Modbus TCP integration, regular updates. Enphase is excellent at the microinverter level: local API, per-panel monitoring. GoodWe is good: works through the SEMS portal API. Solis is good with the right Modbus dongle. SolarEdge is workable but rate-limited. Sigenergy is newer and growing. Growatt and Huawei are limited. Honest brand-by-brand assessment matters. There's no point promising features the inverter can't actually deliver.
Battery integration is mostly through the inverter, not direct
Tesla Powerwall is the exception with its own local API. Everything else (BYD, Sungrow SBR, Pylontech, LG Chem, Sigen) reports through the host inverter. Which means battery data quality depends on inverter integration quality. A BYD Battery-Box on a Sungrow inverter integrates well because the Sungrow integration is good. The same battery on a less-supported inverter has worse integration. The audit considers the system as a whole, not just the battery brand.
Why CT clamps unlock the rest
A CT clamp is a current-measurement device that fits around the main feed cable without breaking the connection. Installed at the switchboard, it measures total household consumption in real time. With consumption data, suddenly you can calculate self-consumption (how much of your solar is actually being used in the house), grid export precisely, battery flow direction, and per-appliance usage if clamps are added on dedicated circuits. CT clamps are the single biggest data-quality upgrade most monitoring installs include.
For deeper reading, see our guides on Why Your Solar Stopped, Solar Battery Storage Diagnostics, and Monitoring Data Explained, and the related Home Assistant Integration and Solar Health Check service pages.
Frequently asked
▸ Does it work with my brand of inverter?
▸ What about my battery?
▸ Will I lose access to the manufacturer app?
▸ Do I need internet for this to work?
▸ Can I see usage by appliance?
▸ Will this work if I add a battery later?
▸ Can it tell me when my solar is underperforming?
▸ What if the integration breaks because the manufacturer changes their API?
▸ Can I install Home Assistant myself and just have you set up the integrations?
Book a System Audit
Tell us your inverter make and model, your battery brand if you've got one, and what you actually want to see: production, consumption, battery flow, EV charging, individual appliances. Most enquiries get a response within four business hours. If you've got the manufacturer apps already, screenshots of those before the visit help us pre-assess integration paths.