SolarTwin

SolarTwin is a digital twin for solar equipment. It creates a virtual representation of physical assets or equipment where you can track and manage issues and the health of that equipment over time. Each site’s twin collects and organizes the equipment’s history, notes, media, and performance data in one centralized location. This allows teams to monitor trends, address recurring issues, and maintain continuity throughout the asset lifecycle. 

SolarTwin works by assigning a unique asset profile to each project site. You can organize the site by equipment, block, or whatever way makes sense to you. Then you can nest equipment and create parent-child relationships. For example, you could have Inverter 1 > String 1 > Modules 1-15.  

When you create an asset, you can tag it with a name, type, and any relevant details. That data is stored within the project, and you can later associate your on-site findings with specific equipment.  

This historical view allows you to track degradation, catch repeat issues, and improve service response time by having all relevant data in one place. 

To create a new equipment asset in SolarGrade: 

• Navigate to the project where you would like to build out the twin 

• Select SolarTwin from the top bar (just to the right of Reports) 

• Select the + icon under the Site header to begin 

• Choose an equipment class 

• Select “Show all properties” to add additional information like name and serial number 

• Click Create 

You can then create child equipment assets within that asset by: 

• Click the downward carat to edit the asset 

• • You know you did this right when the bar turns green 

• Selecting the + icon 

• Repeating the process above 

You can geolocate an asset once it has been created. After creating the asset: 

• Click the downward carat to edit the asset 

• • You know you did this right when the bar turns green 

• Select the icon that looks like a pin with a pencil going through it. This is the location button 

• You have several options to add a location 

• • Add area 

• • • This is a polygon shape, and the asset resides within the polygon 

• • • To use this: 

• • • • Click anywhere to start your polygon 

• • • • Click for each corner you wish to create 

• • • • End the polygon shape by clicking the vertex where you started 

• • Add pin 

• • • This is a pin or singular location 

• • • To use this, click the location you would like it added 

• • Add string line 

• • • This is a line where the origin is positive, and the termination is negative 

• • • To use this: 

• • • • Click anywhere to start your string line 

• • • • Click for each corner you wish to create (if applicable) 

• • • • End the string line by clicking on the final vertex again 

• • • • You will know it is successful when there is a negative termination symbol 

• • You can also use the menu options to edit, move, or delete existing asset locations 

You can duplicate an asset by performing the following functions. However, it only duplicates the equipment information. It does not duplicate the location. You will need to create a new one. You will also need to edit any details, such as serial numbers. 

• Click the downward carat to edit the asset 

• • You know you did this right when the bar turns green 

• Click the duplicate button 

To view the full history of an asset, you need to click out of the Site Explorer tab (default) and to the Equipment tab.  

Once on the equipment tab, you can filter the data in one of two ways: 

1. Use the map on the right to select your equipment 
2. Scroll down on the left and select the equipment children you wish to learn more about 

Once you have your selection, you should see in the panel to the left of the map:  

• The name of the equipment or asset 

• Equipment properties 

• Equipment children (again, this is a clickable field to further your filtering) 

• Horizontal timeline of issues 

• • This field is filterable by site visit, dates, type of media, issue status, user (your issues vs. the whole account’s) 

• You can click any of the issue instances to see a snapshot of what was gathered in that site visit. This includes: 

• • Issue status 

• • Severity 

• • Site visit 

• • Section 

• • Category 

• • User who created or closed it 

• • Geolocation of issue 

• • Description of issue 

• • Occurrence 

• • Any photos associated with the photo 

This gives you a full picture of how the equipment has performed or changed over time. 

To link an issue to a piece of equipment, you must first create your SolarTwin site.  

Once you have the site created, you can link issues with the click of a button.  

When you are in a site visit: 

• Flag the issue or non-conformity as “Fail” 

• Select the button “Relate equipment”  

• • This is in between the “Location(s)” and “Add photo” buttons 

• Use the search or scroll to find the desired equipment 

• Select the right pointing arrow to move that piece of equipment into the “Related equipment” column 

• • You can relate multiple pieces of equipment if necessary 

• Scroll down and select Save