Question 1

What is soiling and why does it matter?

Accepted Answer

Soiling is the accumulation of dust, pollen, bird droppings, and other particles on solar panel glass. Even a thin layer reduces the light reaching the cells, cutting your energy output. In Cyprus and Greece — especially during Saharan dust events — soiling losses of 5–15% are common, which can mean hundreds of euros per year on a typical household system.

Question 2

How does Helios know when to clean?

Accepted Answer

Helios runs a physics-based soiling model every day using atmospheric PM10/PM2.5 particle data and local weather from the CAMS satellite service. It calculates how much dust has accumulated on your panels and projects forward to estimate your payback period: if cleaning costs less than the energy you'll lose before the next rain, Helios recommends cleaning. It never sends false alarms based on arbitrary thresholds.

Question 3

What data does Helios need from me?

Accepted Answer

To get started you need: (1) your GPS coordinates or address — for local weather and irradiance data; (2) your system capacity in kWp; and (3) your electricity tariff in €/kWh. That's enough for the free soiling model. If you have a paid plan and want performance analysis, you also upload your inverter's CSV export (we support SolarEdge, Enphase, Fronius, SMA, Aurora Vision, and more).

Question 4

Which inverter brands are supported?

Accepted Answer

Helios can parse CSV exports from SolarEdge, Enphase, Fronius, SMA, and Aurora Vision. We also have a generic CSV importer for any inverter that exports standard date/time + power columns. If yours isn't listed, send us a sample file and we'll add it.

Question 5

Is there a free plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The free plan gives you daily soiling monitoring, cleaning recommendations with payback estimates, rainfall detection, weekly email digests, and the cleaning event calendar — forever, no credit card required. The paid plan adds the Performance Analysis dashboard: performance ratio trending, energy loss tracking, clipping detection, and AM/PM asymmetry analysis.

Question 6

How accurate is the soiling model?

Accepted Answer

For Mediterranean climates, the model is validated to within 2–4% on typical dust days. Saharan dust events — where PM10 can spike to 300–600 µg/m³ — are harder to model because satellite data averages over a wide area. We document this limitation clearly and are working on a ground-station calibration layer for paid accounts.

Question 7

Does rain clean my panels automatically?

Accepted Answer

Helios detects significant rainfall (typically ≥10 mm in 24 hours) and models the cleaning effect — factoring in rain intensity and previous dust accumulation. When rain is sufficient to clean, it records a 'rain clean' event and resets the soiling estimate. Light drizzle is not counted as cleaning, because it can actually create mud if dust loading is high.

Question 8

I live in Cyprus or Greece — is Helios designed for me?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Helios was built for Mediterranean solar owners. Cyprus and southern Greece have some of the highest irradiance in Europe and also the most frequent Saharan dust intrusions. We use the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis dataset, which provides accurate particle data for the entire Mediterranean basin, including island locations.

Question 9

How is Helios different from my inverter's monitoring app?

Accepted Answer

Inverter apps (SolarEdge, Enphase, etc.) show you how much energy you produced. Helios shows you how much energy you're losing — and why. It uses atmospheric physics to separate soiling losses from normal temperature and weather variability. Your inverter app can't do that because it doesn't model what your panels should be producing under current conditions.

Question 10

Is my data private?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Helios is GDPR-compliant and hosted in the EU. Your inverter data and location are stored securely on Supabase (EU region) and never shared with third parties. We use PostHog for anonymous product analytics only. You can delete your account and all data at any time from the Settings page.

Question 11

How often does Helios update my soiling estimate?

Accepted Answer

Once per day, at midnight UTC. The daily pipeline fetches the latest weather and particle data, runs the soiling model, and updates your dashboard and notifications. Manual recomputation is available on the performance page for paid users.

Question 12

How do I get started?

Accepted Answer

Create a free account, complete the 4-step onboarding (location, system size, tariff, optional inverter CSV), and your dashboard will be ready within a minute. No credit card required. If you have any issues, reach out via the Contact page.

Questions about Helios

Frequently asked questions