Google Sheets PV Tracker

Feel free to download if you wish

I created a Google Sheet to track some of the most important elements of our PV system.

I THOUGHT I’d be able to show you an updated version of this sheet whenever you clicked on this project, but the money-hungry people that run Squarespace say I must upgrade to an even higher paid tier of service to show you that. Grrrrrr… That’s not doing much for my opinion of Squarespace, but their site has been easier for me to use than Wordpress, so it is what it is for now. If you want to see that sheet, you’ll need to click here. You can also download a copy if you wish (click on File, then Download).

I track the amount of electricity we’ve used each day (the Load), the amount our PV system has produced, and how many kilowatt hours we’ve put into and taken out of our batteries. The sheet also calculates the difference between those values (“Net Power” and “Net Battery”). If we’ve had a good day and produced / charged more than we consumed/discharged, the net difference cell is yellow. If we’ve used more than we’ve produced/charged, it’s grey.

I also wanted to keep track of any days when we had to run the generator. If that happens, I just put an “X” in the appropriate cell for that day. And finally, I record the lowest state of charge for the batteries for that day (well, technically the lowest charge I see the next morning, before the PV panels start to make significant power).

If you decide to download and use a copy, I hope you find it useful. Note that this file also includes the sheet I use to track similar data for the smaller system I have in my office, which is the second sheet in the file.