What it is
Sense Solar adds solar production monitoring to the Sense home energy monitor. Additional CT clamps on the solar feed measure real-time generation alongside consumption. The app shows net energy flow: when solar production exceeds consumption, you see the surplus feeding back to the grid. Historical data tracks daily, weekly, and monthly solar production versus household consumption, identifying periods of over-production and under-production.
Why we picked this
Most solar monitoring systems show how much your panels produce. Sense Solar shows how much of that production you actually use. This distinction matters enormously for optimizing self-consumption. If your panels produce 30kWh on a sunny day but you only use 10kWh during daylight hours, 20kWh goes to the grid at net metering rates (often lower than retail). Sense Solar helps you shift loads (laundry, dishwasher, EV charging) into peak production hours to maximize the value of every kilowatt your panels generate.
Key takeaways
- Sense Solar tracks net energy flow in real-time, showing exactly when solar production exceeds consumption and surplus feeds back to the grid.
- Optimizing self-consumption by shifting discretionary loads to peak solar hours can increase the financial value of a solar system by 15 to 25%.
- The device identification feature shows which appliances run during solar production hours, enabling targeted load-shifting strategies.