Why we created the SunDial

We built the Synth SunDial with the intention that your solar setup should not be installed and forgotten, but that the more information you have on the performance and status of your solar system, the more you can increase your savings over the long term. SunDial shows the live performance of your Synth solar system within a beautiful walnut-encased device you can place anywhere in your home.

SunDial connects directly to your Synth solar system, providing a live monitoring service on the performance of your solar panels. With this, you can become more accustomed to how your panels are performing, their energy generation, and the savings that you are able to realise from your system.

Information Displayed on the SunDial

SunDial cycles through a total of five screens, spending a few seconds on each in order to display different performance data related to your system. Each of the screens and the information that is displayed is described below:

Savings Screen

The Savings screen shows how much money your solar panels have saved today, calculated based on the amount of electricity that your solar panels have offset from requiring to need to buy from the grid. This will start at zero each day, and increase as the sun generates more electricity for your home.

Today Screen

Today screen indicates the total units of electricity in kilowatt-hours that your solar system has generated today. The chart on the lower half of the screen indicates the performance of your panels throughout the day. As the sun rises in the morning the chart grows, showing the electricity generated by your solar panels.

Peaks in the chart represent times of the day when the sun was brightest, and the solar generation was highest. Troughs in the generation indicate breaks in the generation, such as clouds passing between the sun and solar panels.

Battery Screen

Battery screen shows the live charge status of your solar battery. SunDial displays ‘Charging’ when your solar panels are charging, or ‘Powering’ when the battery is powering your home. ‘Charged’ will be displayed when the battery is fully charged – this is the ideal time to use appliances in order to maximise the savings from your solar panels.

Live Generation Screen

Live Generation refers to the current performance output of your solar panels, measured as a percentage of the theoretical maximum amount of electricity that the system could generate. This number will increase in the morning when the sun is rising, and drop at the end of the day as the sun is lowering. As the solar panels experience shading from clouds or other obstacles the generation percentage will decrease.

For context, to be at 100% would require every solar panel to be in direct sunlight, without any shading, essentially in the ideal conditions for all panels. This scenario is extremely rare for a typical setup owing to the fact that panels on the property may face in different directions, or there may be shading on some panels whilst others are in direct sunlight. As such, a maximum generation percentage of 50-60% is more common.

Live Consumption Screen

Live Consumption screen displays the amount of electricity that the property is currently consuming. ‘Usage’ refers to the total consumption, which is a function of all appliances and lights currently drawing power from the property. ‘Grid’ indicates the proportion of that figure coming from the national grid, and ‘Synth’ refers to the proportion from the solar panels and battery. If ‘Grid’ is zero, the property is effectively ‘off grid’ at that time.

“8-Bit” Mode Selector

SunDial can operate in two modes – termed ‘Digital‘ and ‘8-Bit‘. The images above are the ‘Digital’ screens. Below are the equivalent images for the ‘8-Bit‘ screens.