SolarSense
Tells rooftop solar owners whether washing their panels will actually pay off this month, using their inverter data plus local dust, pollen, and rain signals.
Homeowners with rooftop solar wondering if maintenance is worth scheduling
- Inverter integrations for Enphase, SolarEdge, Tesla, and others with bank-level output comparison
- ROI projection in dollars per year per percentage-point of efficiency recovered
- Local dust, pollen, AQI, and rainfall overlay that flags high-soiling periods
- One-tap booking with vetted local panel cleaners when the math is positive
The trending post (160 HN points, 135 comments) makes it obvious homeowners have no way to quantify a 2-5% gain against a cleaning visit, and consumer inverter APIs are finally mainstream enough to wire in.
Strong consumer interest indicated by the cited HN thread (160 pts/135 comments) and dedicated search volume — solarcalculatorhq launched a free panel-cleaning cost calculator, showing real homeowner curiosity.Solar Panel Cleaning Cost Calculator Canada — DIY vs Pro Pricing 2026 ↗How Much Does Solar Panel Cleaning Cost? (2026) - HomeGuide ↗
Not empty: Swish Solar (Canadian startup) already markets an AI-driven cleaning-schedule optimizer, plus FieldProxy's reminder automation and Codasensor's CDG-19B dust detection sensor target the same wedge.Canadian startup unveils AI tool for solar panel cleaning optimization ↗Solar Panel Cleaning Reminder Automation | Boost Efficiency by 25% ↗CDG-19B Solar Panel Dust Detection System - codasensor.net ↗
Cleaning visits run $150–$500 per visit (HomeGuide avg ~$325), so even a $5–10/mo subscription or one-time $20–$40 wash-decision report is plausible, but consumer solar software historically struggles to convert (Enlighten, SolarEdge monitoring are free), keeping willingness-to-pay modest.How Much Does Solar Panel Cleaning Cost? (2026) - HomeGuide ↗Solar Monitoring App Comparison — Enphase vs SolarEdge vs Tesla ↗
Rooftop solar installed base keeps growing and soiling is a permanent physical phenomenon, but AI cleaning-optimization is a fast-moving category and incumbents (Enphase/SolarEdge) could add a 'cleaning advisor' feature natively.New - Enphase API ↗
Enphase v4 API, SolarEdge, and Tesla inverter APIs are documented and mainstream; soiling/rain/pollen data available from NOAA + AirNow, but correlating them to per-panel output and handling inverter-bundled vs. unenrolled users adds real engineering.New - Enphase API ↗GitHub - Matthew1471/Enphase-API ↗