*SunEye210 with GPS

The acquisition of Solmetric by Vivint in 2014, left most installers and DIYers hopeful that Vivint would be producing replacement products and/or selling the popular Solemetric lines such as the SunEye. However, the 2015 announcement “Having reached the end of the product lifecycle, the Solmetric SunEye 210 and its line of products – including PV Designer, Solmetric Shade Training and the SunEye Extension Platform – will no longer be available”, made it clear that Vivint would not only be discontinuing the line, but not producing any replacement items into the solar market.

For those unfamiliar, Vivint is the second largest solar installer in the United States, outpaced only by the well-known SolarCity. Although Vivint will not be offering the Solmetric technology to the public, they have retained the Solmetric technology and engineers to improve their internal installation process. The move is similar to the one made by SolarCity with their acquisition of Zep racking components. The utilization of this technology is extremely beneficial for homeowners; however, it is also harmful to installers who no longer have access to Solmetric’s test and measurement tools.

Although it does not entirely fill the void left in the handheld site mapping tools, Bright Harvest Solar offers a remote shading and analysis software that analyzes the shading impacts on individual modules. Even with the use of the SunEye products, this kind of analysis can be extremely time consuming, so there is a great deal of potential benefit in using Bright Harvest Solar’s software tools, particularly in time management. The software is well worth taking a look at, and may serve as an alternative to new and small installers site design. The company also offers single and individual pricing plans to fit their client’s individual volume needs. If you would like to find out more about Blue Harvest Solar check out their website.

The products lifecycle is clearly not at its end, as numerous installers use Solmetric’s test and measurement tools to conduct shading analysis, and plan residential and commercial installation sites effectively. Furthermore, even after almost three years of not being available, new installers consistently seek the products to streamline and improve their installation processes. They will most likely not be able to obtain any of the products from a solar retailer. We recommend that those seeking the Solmetric products use Amazon or Ebay to find gently used items. Given the lifetime expectancy of Solmetric’s products, it is highly likely that even an older model will still work to serve the purposes of the installer.

Alternatively, at Solaris, we offer the option to have us assist in the design of PV arrays from small residential to large-scale commercial, you can contact us to get the process started free of charge. We also offer a number of services to assist in site design that adheres to county, state and federal regulations. Pro Tip: For sites with potential shading problems, we recommend using Enphase microinverters, or SolarEdge inverters with optimizers. You can find pre-designed systems with these tools in our pre-designed solar panel kits.