FAQ

What is SolarDashboard?

SolarDashboard shows your photovoltaic system on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch: solar production, consumption and the home battery live, a solar forecast for the coming days and Insights into past weeks, months and years. Based on this data, SolarDashboard can automatically use surplus solar power for your devices: it charges your electric vehicle through a wallbox or directly, heats the hot water tank of your heat pump and switches Matter and HomeKit devices. When there is not enough surplus, the devices are switched off again. For wallboxes, the charging power follows the available surplus dynamically.

What is new in version 4?

The Apple Watch app with complications, the Forecast tab with a solar forecast for the next seven days, the Insights tab with history, comparisons, base load, battery analysis, savings and CO₂, the control of Viessmann, Vaillant and Stiebel Eltron heat pumps, forecast notifications and the Energy Coach, new manufacturers (Anker Solix, EcoFlow, Hoymiles), Multi-Account for plants of several manufacturers in one app, the search for devices in your home network, and SolarDashboard Pro.

Which devices are supported?

Find the full list of supported inverters, batteries, wallboxes, electric vehicles, heat pumps and smart home devices on our homepage.

Can I connect several inverters?

Yes, with Pro you can sign in to several different manufacturers at once, for example SolarEdge and Anker Solix. Every plant appears as its own page in the dashboard. Charging, switching and hot water with surplus always use your default plant. Two accounts of the same manufacturer are not supported.

Which Apple devices does SolarDashboard support?

iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later, Mac with macOS 14 or later and Apple Watch with watchOS 10 or later. Widgets for the Home Screen and the Lock Screen and Siri Shortcuts are included.

What does the Apple Watch app show?

The rings show the current solar power, the consumption and the charge level of the home battery of your default plant. Further pages show the solar energy and consumption of today, this week, this month and this year, and the energy charged into and discharged from the battery. Pull down to request fresh values from the iPhone. Complications bring the rings or single values to your watch face and the Smart Stack; tapping one opens the matching page.

Why does the watch show a dash or old values?

The watch receives its data from the SolarDashboard app on your iPhone. The iPhone has to be signed in to your solar system and reachable; the watch never signs in on its own and stores no credentials. Complications are refreshed by watchOS in its own rhythm and show a dash when the last values are older than 15 minutes. Open the watch app or pull down to request new values.

Where does the solar forecast come from and how accurate is it?

SolarDashboard requests the weather forecast for the location of your plant from Apple Weather (WeatherKit): cloud cover and temperature, hour by hour for the coming days; the app estimates the solar radiation from them and the position of the sun. From this and the peak power of your plant, the app calculates the expected production. Enter the peak power (kWp) of your plant in the settings if the manufacturer does not provide it. Weather forecasts are estimates; the Pro feature "Forecast in depth" shows how well the forecast matched your actual yield on past days and projects the year.

What are forecast notifications and the Energy Coach?

With Pro you can switch on a morning briefing with the expected yield and the best hours for washing machine, dishwasher and car, a hint when the sun returns after cloudy hours, and on Sunday evening the Energy Coach plan for the week: which days are sunny enough for large loads and when to run them. The notifications are scheduled on your device; no push server is involved.

What do the Insights show, and where does the history come from?

Insights show production, consumption, self-sufficiency and surplus for the week, month, year and all time, compared with the same period in earlier years, with your best and your weakest day, the strongest hour, a consumption heatmap, the base load at night, the battery analysis and the battery simulator, savings, payback and CO₂ avoided. The history comes from the portal of your inverter or battery manufacturer and is stored only on your device. The current week is free; months, years, the total and the analyses are part of Pro.

What is the base load?

The base load is the power your home draws at night when nothing is deliberately running: routers, fridges, standby devices, pumps. SolarDashboard measures it from the consumption curve of your plant. The base load value is free; Pro shows every night with its jumps, the share and cost of the base load, a saving calculator and the night hour by hour.

How much does SolarDashboard cost?

The dashboard with today’s values, the power flow and the battery for today, the solar forecast for today and tomorrow hour by hour, the Insights of the current week, your solar year, the Apple Watch app with complications, widgets, the setup of all devices, the home network search, tariffs and the one-time charge of a heat pump are free. SolarDashboard Pro is a monthly subscription through the App Store; a free trial may be offered. Pro unlocks charging and switching with solar surplus, hot water from the sun, forecast notifications and the Energy Coach, the forecast for the days after tomorrow, Insights for months, years and all time with comparisons, the energy flow in detail, savings and payback, the battery analysis, the consumption analysis, the base load in depth and plants of several inverter manufacturers side by side. Prices vary by country and are shown in the app.

I have been using SolarDashboard for a long time. Do I need Pro?

If you installed SolarDashboard between January 2017 and April 2024, the time of the paid app, you keep Pro for free. If you installed the app before November 1, 2026, charging and switching with solar surplus stays free for you; the new Pro analyses, the forecast in depth and the notifications are part of Pro. Features that were free stay free.

How do I cancel Pro, and does it work on all my devices?

Pro renews automatically and can be cancelled at any time in the subscription settings of your Apple Account; it then ends with the paid period. The subscription is linked to your Apple Account. On your other devices signed in with the same account, use "Restore purchases" in the SolarDashboard settings if Pro is not recognised automatically.

Which heat pumps are supported, and how does hot water from the sun work?

Viessmann (ViCare account), Vaillant (myVAILLANT account) and Stiebel Eltron (ISG web in your home network). SolarDashboard switches the hot water of your heat pump to heat when there is enough solar surplus, or in the sunniest hours of the forecast, and guards against short cycling. A one-time charge is free; the automatic control with surplus is a Pro feature. The heat pump keeps your own settings, and the manufacturer’s app continues to work.

Why are Tesla and Volkswagen vehicles not supported?

Tesla changed the pricing for the API required to connect to its vehicles; the costs would exceed the savings. Volkswagen restricts API access for third-party apps. Any electric vehicle can still be charged with solar surplus through a supported wallbox.

Does the app need to run in the foreground?

The surplus automation works best when the app is open, for example on an older iPad mounted on the wall and permanently connected to power, or on a Mac that stays awake. In the background, iOS updates the app roughly every 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the battery level, the available resources and the connection; the exact interval is controlled by Apple. The forecast, the notifications and the Energy Coach work without the app being open.

What is the impact on the battery of my iPhone or iPad?

Background updates are managed by iOS and have no noticeable impact. An app that is permanently open in the foreground does shorten the battery life; a dimmed screen helps, or simply keep the device connected to a charger.

How are third-party usernames and passwords handled?

Usernames and passwords are not stored. Only the access tokens are stored securely and encrypted in the keychain of your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Signing out deletes them. The watch stores no credentials at all.

Does SolarDashboard send my data to an AI service?

No. On devices with Apple Intelligence (from iOS 26), recommendations and briefings can be phrased by Apple’s language model on the device itself; the facts come from the app’s own calculations. Nothing leaves your device for this, and on other devices you get the same facts in the app’s own wording.

What happens if the EV is not near the solar system?

For Audi, Skoda and Seat/Cupra vehicles, SolarDashboard can determine whether the car is at the site of the plant and only then starts charging. Your location data is not used for any other purpose and not shared with third parties.

How much can I save per year when charging an EV with SolarDashboard?

Several hundred euros a year are realistic. An example for Germany:
Annual mileage: 15,000 km
Average consumption: 16 kWh / 100 km
Total annual consumption: 2400 kWh
Share of charging at home: 75 % = 1800 kWh at home and 600 kWh at fast chargers
Electricity costs at home without SolarDashboard (40 cents / kWh): 720 euros
Share of charging with solar surplus: 50 % (900 kWh)
These 900 kWh are not fed in, so about 65 euros of feed-in compensation are lost
Electricity costs with solar surplus: 425 euros
Savings of approximately 300 euros per year. Insights shows the savings for your own plant.

How can I connect Shelly or Home Assistant devices?

Shelly devices work via Matter or with the HomeKit firmware. Home Assistant can expose any switch through its HomeKit Bridge; SolarDashboard then controls it like any HomeKit device with solar surplus.

How can I contact the developers?

Just send us an email at info@tapwork.de.