Compare
The SolarCare advantage, as a gap you can see.
Hover any SolarCare feature and watch the other columns dim — that's the gap between us and a typical monitoring plan or full-service O&M provider.
Standard monitoring: ≈$500–$2,000/yr — $0.50–$2.00 per kW on a 1 MW siteSolarCare SolarLink: $4,950/yr — $4.95 per kW, with the analysis and reports includedFull-service O&M: ≈$12,000–$28,000/yr — $12–$28 per kW, usually quote-onlyIn-house crew: ≈$169,205/yr for two technicians — about $169 per kW on the same 1 MWStandard monitoring: ≈$500–$2,000/yr — $0.50–$2.00 per kW on a 1 MW siteSolarCare SolarLink: $4,950/yr — $4.95 per kW, with the analysis and reports includedFull-service O&M: ≈$12,000–$28,000/yr — $12–$28 per kW, usually quote-onlyIn-house crew: ≈$169,205/yr for two technicians — about $169 per kW on the same 1 MWStandard monitoring: ≈$500–$2,000/yr — $0.50–$2.00 per kW on a 1 MW siteSolarCare SolarLink: $4,950/yr — $4.95 per kW, with the analysis and reports includedFull-service O&M: ≈$12,000–$28,000/yr — $12–$28 per kW, usually quote-onlyIn-house crew: ≈$169,205/yr for two technicians — about $169 per kW on the same 1 MWStandard monitoring: ≈$500–$2,000/yr — $0.50–$2.00 per kW on a 1 MW siteSolarCare SolarLink: $4,950/yr — $4.95 per kW, with the analysis and reports includedFull-service O&M: ≈$12,000–$28,000/yr — $12–$28 per kW, usually quote-onlyIn-house crew: ≈$169,205/yr for two technicians — about $169 per kW on the same 1 MW
Typical plan
Standard Monitoring
Live irradiance
Drone thermal
24/7 dispatch
Warranty claims
Certified crews
SolarLink + O&M
SolarCare
RecommendedLive irradiance
Drone thermal
24/7 dispatch
Warranty claims
Certified crews
Typical provider
Full-Service O&M
Live irradiance
Drone thermal
24/7 dispatch
Warranty claims
Certified crews
Your own technicians
In-House Crew
About $169,000/yr for a 2-technician crew — before any parts
You manage hiring, training, safety programs, scheduling and coverage
Strong control — but a fixed cost whether sites need work or not
Specialty gear (IR camera, IV curve tracer, drone) and certifications you buy and maintain
Coverage gaps during vacations and turnover
In-house estimate: SolarCare analysis of typical CT/NY wages, benefits, vehicle and equipment costs for a 2-technician crew.
Side by side
What you get with each option — line by line.
Search any feature to see who covers it, and who doesn't.
Feature
Standard Monitoring
SolarCare
Full-Service O&M
Monitoring
Expected vs. actual output using live irradiance
Method rarely published
Yes — SolarLink
Varies by provider
Performance report
Quarterly or annual on some plans
Monthly SolarLink Report + annual summary
Varies; often not published
Underperformance alerts
Common
Live SolarLink alerts
24/7 automated alerts are standard
Pricing
Published pricing
Sometimes
Yes, per kW, on the website
Usually quote-only
Commercial O&M price
n/a
SolarLink $4.95 per kW DC/yr; services à la carte, no contract required
About $12–$28 per kW per year; usually quote-only
Inspection
Drone IR thermography
Not included
FAA Part 107 pilots, Level II thermographer
Offered by many regional providers
Credentials
NFPA 70B · OSHA 30
Varies
Yes
Varies
Maintenance
Panel cleaning
Not included
Available à la carte
About once a year at standard level
Vegetation / landscaping
Not included
Available
Often included in full O&M
Snow removal
Not included
Seasonal contracts with pre-season mobilization
Rarely advertised
Inverter checks & repair
Repairs billed per job
Preventive checks + Break & Fix repairs
Per contract
Response
Emergency response
Repairs billed per job
24/7 emergency dispatch — Break & Fix
24-hr critical response standard; ≤4 hr at premium
Warranty
Warranty claim management
Some plans cover repairs
End-to-end claim management (repair labor billed separately)
Varies by contract
Coverage
Service area
Often nationwide (remote)
Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest
Usually regional
Monitoring options compared
What each monitoring option actually gives you.
Monitoring hardware and software show you data. Only SolarLink tells you what your site should be making, reads its history back to day one, explains the gap in dollars — and has a crew that can act on it.
In-house crew vs SolarCare: $164,255/yr saved on a 1 MW site — $450 a dayOne missed fault: ≈$1,618 lost while nobody watched — $39.45 a day while it sitsEvery $1 of SolarLink returns $1.45 of added production at +5% on a 1 MW siteBreak-even at $0.12/kWh: +3.44% — everything past it is money in your pocketIn-house crew vs SolarCare: $164,255/yr saved on a 1 MW site — $450 a dayOne missed fault: ≈$1,618 lost while nobody watched — $39.45 a day while it sitsEvery $1 of SolarLink returns $1.45 of added production at +5% on a 1 MW siteBreak-even at $0.12/kWh: +3.44% — everything past it is money in your pocketIn-house crew vs SolarCare: $164,255/yr saved on a 1 MW site — $450 a dayOne missed fault: ≈$1,618 lost while nobody watched — $39.45 a day while it sitsEvery $1 of SolarLink returns $1.45 of added production at +5% on a 1 MW siteBreak-even at $0.12/kWh: +3.44% — everything past it is money in your pocketIn-house crew vs SolarCare: $164,255/yr saved on a 1 MW site — $450 a dayOne missed fault: ≈$1,618 lost while nobody watched — $39.45 a day while it sitsEvery $1 of SolarLink returns $1.45 of added production at +5% on a 1 MW siteBreak-even at $0.12/kWh: +3.44% — everything past it is money in your pocket
| Option | What you see | Tells you what you SHOULD be making (expected vs. actual from sunlight) | History back to day one | Diagnosis in plain English with dollar impact | A crew to fix it | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System-level monitoring | Whole-site output only | No | No | No | No | ≈ $300–$600 hardware |
| String-level monitoring | Which string is down | No | No | No | No | ≈ $800–$2,500 hardware |
| Module-level electronics | Panel-level detail — residential-focused | No | No | No | No | ≈ $0.06–$0.12 per watt extra |
| Full SCADA | Detailed utility-scale data | No | No | You interpret it | No | ≈ $0.02–$0.05 per watt |
| Monitoring software (100 kW–1 MW) | Dashboards and alerts | No | No | You interpret it | No | ≈ $500–$2,000 per year |
| SolarLink | Your existing inverter data, where available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | $4.95 per kW DC / year |
Hardware and software cost ranges: SurgePV, Solar Monitoring Systems Comparison 2026
For a 250 kW site, SolarLink costs about $1,238 a year — in the same range as monitoring software alone. At larger sites SolarLink costs more than software, because it includes the analysis, the monthly report, the day-one history, and a crew that can act on it.
Behind the scenes
What our team sees for your site.
When SolarLink flags something, it lands in a queue like this — counts, ages, and the dollars at stake, until a person picks it up and works it to done.
Work queues
Riverside Logistics · 1 MW ground-mount · SolarLink since 2024
My work
JOB-1051EmergencyNorthgate Mall — site down, tech en route6m ago
JOB-1042HighRiverside Logistics — INV-05 repair, parts ordered2h ago
JOB-1049NormalWestfield Cold Storage — post-wash verification1d ago
F-0311NormalFinding: String ST-01 shading — trim scheduled2d ago
Queues
URGENT — 15-min ack
1
oldest 6 min ago
New requests
3
oldest 2 days ago
Awaiting customer approval
2
oldest 1 day ago
Scheduled visits this week
4
next: Tue, 8–12
Open findings
5
top loss: $39/day
Ready to invoice
2
$3,410 total