SolarCity®, a national leader in solar power system design, financing, installation, monitoring and related services, unveiled a new edition of SolarGuard™, its graphical, Web-based energy monitoring system, this week. SolarGuard 2.0 has been updated to include a range of new features, including the ability to measure electricity usage to give SolarCity customers a real-time view of their home or business’ net energy consumption and carbon footprint. SolarGuard 2.0’s key new features include:

• Demand Monitoring. SolarGuard 2.0 overlays customers’ electricity usage against solar electricity output in an easy-to-read graphical display. Because many customers pay higher utility rates for electricity during certain times of day, this allows them to modify their electricity usage to maximize cost savings.
• My SolarCity Account. This feature provides customers with a personal Web page to view the status of their solar energy system installations at any given moment, from the initial site audit and design of the system; through the permitting and installation; to bringing the system online through interconnection with the local utility company.
• Mobile Access. SolarGuard 2.0 is viewable on a wide range of Web-accessible handheld devices to provide customers anywhere, anytime access to solar energy system data.

“Our relationship with our customers lasts for the full, productive life of their solar energy systems,” said Ben Tarbell, SolarCity’s director of products. “SolarGuard makes the performance of our systems transparent to our customers and enables us to extend our performance guarantee. The new features in SolarGuard 2.0 help customers improve the return on their investment in solar, and further reduce their impact on the environment.”

SolarGuard collects, monitors and displays critical performance data from SolarCity solar energy systems, including production levels, local weather, electricity usage and environmental impacts such as carbon offset and pollution reduction. SolarGuard evaluates data for performance changes to identify problems as they arise, and updates status on its customer-accessible Web pages every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day.

SolarGuard 2.0 is scheduled for release this fall. Screenshots of the new software are available to members of the media upon request.

SolarCity also announced its Canopy™ Mounting System today, which optimizes performance, improves reliability, reduces installation costs and enhances the aesthetics of rooftop solar panels. More information about Canopy can be found here: http://www.solarcity.com/solar/pressreleases/displaypressrelease.aspx? id=15. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

About SolarCity

SolarCity – a national leader in solar power system design, financing, installation, monitoring and related services – was founded with the mission to help millions of homeowners and businesses adopt solar power, protect themselves from rising electricity costs and protect their environment from polluting power sources. The company’s first-of-its-kind SolarLease offering makes it possible for homeowners to switch to clean, solar power for less money than they currently pay for electricity. SolarCity currently serves more than 300 communities in California, Arizona and Oregon. Additional information about the company is available on the Web at www.solarcity.com.