If you’ve recently had solar panels installed in Northern Ireland, chances are you’ve become slightly obsessed with checking your SolisCloud app. It’s a great way to see how much electricity your solar PV system is generating, when your battery is charging or discharging and the best times to run appliances like your washing machine or dishwasher.
However, you may occasionally notice some readings that don’t seem to make sense. A few minutes later, everything looks normal again.
If you’ve heard the term “bad snapshot“, don’t worry – it’s a completely normal part of how the SolisCloud app records data. In this guide, the First Class Solar team explains what a bad snapshot is, why it happens and how to tell the difference between a harmless data reading and a genuine issue with your solar inverter.
What Is a Bad Snapshot in the SolisCloud App?
A bad snapshot is simply a misleading reading captured by the SolisCloud app at the exact moment your inverter is responding to a sudden change in your home’s electricity demand.
Your solar PV system isn’t faulty – the app has simply captured a split-second transition before the inverter has had time to adjust.
Why Does the SolisCloud App Show Bad Snapshots?
The key thing to understand is that SolisCloud uploads data every five minutes.
Each upload is a single snapshot in time, not an average of everything that happened during those five minutes.
This means if something changes just before the app records its snapshot, the reading can appear unusual until the next update.
Common events that can cause this include:
- Turning on a high-power appliance such as a kettle, oven or electric shower
- Clouds suddenly reducing solar generation
- Your battery beginning or stopping charging
- Your inverter adjusting to prevent importing or exporting electricity to the grid
These changes happen in seconds, but the SolisCloud app only captures one moment, resulting in what’s called a “bad snapshot”.
Example of a Bad Snapshot in the SolisCloud App
Imagine your battery is powering your home as normal.
You switch on a kettle that suddenly requires around 3kW of power.
For a brief moment, your home draws electricity from the grid while the inverter tells the battery to increase its output.
If the SolisCloud app records its five-minute snapshot during those few seconds, it might appear that:
- your battery isn’t supplying your home
- you’re importing electricity from the grid
- your battery isn’t working correctly
In reality, just seconds later the battery has increased its output and grid import has returned close to zero – the app simply captured the transition.
What Can a Bad Snapshot in the SolisCloud App Look Like?
A bad snapshot can create readings that seem confusing, such as:
- Importing electricity from the grid even though your battery is fully charged
- Exporting electricity while your battery is still charging
- Your battery appearing not to discharge even though your home is using electricity
These readings don’t mean there’s anything wrong with your solar PV system. They’re simply a snapshot taken during the brief period while the inverter balances power between your solar panels, battery, home and the electricity grid.
If you’re curious, you can always check your inverter screen. Because it displays live data rather than five-minute snapshots, you’ll usually find everything is operating exactly as it should by the time you reach it.
Real-Life Example #1
A customer contacted the First Class Solar team because their SolisCloud app appeared to show only a small amount of the home’s electricity being supplied by the battery, while a significant portion was coming from the grid.
In reality, the app had simply captured the system in the brief moment before the inverter instructed the battery to increase its output. Within seconds, the battery responded and resumed supplying the home’s electricity demand as expected.
Real-Life Example #2
In another example, the home was using 0.45kW of electricity while the solar panels were producing 1.505kW.
At first glance, the SolisCloud app appeared to show electricity still being imported from the grid. This was another classic bad snapshot which had been taken during the second or two before the inverter fully adjusted to power the home entirely from the available solar generation.
How Can You Tell the Difference Between a Bad Snapshot and a Fault with your Solar PV System?
If the unusual readings only appear occasionally and disappear at the next update, they’re almost certainly bad snapshots.
A good way to check your system’s performance is to look at the hourly or daily graphs within the SolisCloud app rather than focusing on individual five-minute readings.
These graphs give a much more accurate picture of how your solar PV system is performing over time.
You can also compare the app with the information displayed on your inverter screen, which shows live data rather than periodic snapshots.
If the inverter is displaying normal readings, there’s usually nothing to worry about.
When Should You Contact First Class Solar?
While bad snapshots are completely normal, you should contact us if you notice:
- The same unusual readings continuing for long periods
- Error messages appearing on your inverter
- Your battery not charging or discharging at all
- Your solar generation being significantly lower than expected over several days
Our team can check whether your system is operating normally or whether further investigation is needed.
Need Help With Your Solar PV System?
At First Class Solar, we install and support solar panel systems across Northern Ireland, helping homeowners get the most from their solar panels, battery storage and monitoring apps like SolisCloud.
If you have any questions about your system or you’re unsure whether what you’re seeing is normal, get in touch with our team – we’re always happy to help.
Simply give us a call on 02896 005042 or email info@firstclasssolar.co.uk.