60Hertz vs SolarGrade: Which Solar O&M Platform Is Right for Your Field Teams?
As solar portfolios grow in complexity and scope, software tools for operations and maintenance (O&M) are no longer optional, they’re foundational. Two names you may be comparing in your search are 60Hertz Energy and SolarGrade.
Here’s a breakdown of where the softwares overlap, what they offer, and more importantly, how they differ.
What They Both Offer
Both 60Hertz and SolarGrade are modern O&M software applications built to optimize field-centric reporting by replacing spreadsheets with digitalized toolkits. They each support:
- Inspection tracking
- Task assignment
- Site documentation
- Streamlined field data capture
- Role-based access and reporting tools
Where 60Hertz Stands Out
While SolarGrade leans heavily into QA/QC documentation and inspection workflows, 60Hertz is built for field-centric maintenance, empowering teams to manage entire asset lifecycles, not just inspections.
1. Preventive Maintenance Engine
60Hertz automates PM scheduling by converting OEM manuals into site-specific service plans, including AI-generated SOPs for each task. SolarGrade, while strong on inspections, doesn’t offer the same level of PM logic or scheduling depth.
2. AI-Powered Workflows
60Hertz supports AI-informed SOP creation, dynamic scheduling (in development), and condition-aware asset management, helping teams operate efficiently across hundreds of distributed sites.
3. Integrated Inventory & Asset Tracking
With ShelfSense, 60Hertz brings parts, tools, and consumables into the work order itself, something SolarGrade doesn’t currently support.
4. Offline functional and field tested
60Hertz was born in remote field environments (like Alaska and rural co-ops), so offline capability is a fundamental feature.
5. Monitoring integrations with fault code resolution.
60Hertz has extensive experience integrating major monitoring platforms and DAS portals into the software. To date, 60Hertz 30+ integrations with brands like AlsoEnergy, Wattch, Ammp, and most major inverter and Battery Management Systems (BMS). Integrations are easy. But helping asset managers do useful things quickly and efficiently is much harder. 60Hertz’s has spent years learning from our customers about what functionality is most useful to parse, silence, escalate and report on fault codes.
SolarGrade is starting to work on integrations with monitoring platforms but is still relatively less experienced. Each integration is charged for new customers rather than being produced for free using 60Hertz.
Both SolarGrade and 60Hertz have this advantage over generic maintenance tools insofar as other competitors can charge as much as $17K for new integrations.
6. Time and materials tracking:
60Hertz helps asset managers anticipate and budget for the expected time it will take to complete a job, and then report on the actual time spent. This function is easy and intuitive to set up when creating a work order or executing it. 60Hertz can integrate with various financial software. It does not send invoices from the platform.
Who SolarGrade May Be Best For
SolarGrade excels for EPCs and QA teams who want:
- Clear inspection reporting
- Streamlined closeout packages
- Punch list visibility and photo documentation
- Quick and pretty reports to document a site visit.
If your use case is primarily around project QA, commissioning, or field data capture, SolarGrade delivers strong value.
Who 60Hertz Is Built For
60Hertz is ideal for:
- O&M managers supporting ongoing maintenance across the full suite of maintenance tasks from preventative to corrective to predictive to conditional maintenance – with escalations, integrations, and workflows that range from simple to complex.
- Distributed solar and storage portfolios with repeatable PM needs
- Teams looking for AI-powered workflows and work order management
- Operations that value maintenance planning, reporting visibility, and not just documentation
Final Takeaways
If your priority is inspection reporting or punch list closeouts, SolarGrade may fit your needs.
But if you’re running the day-to-day health of solar or storage systems, and need tools built around field execution, inventory, and proactive maintenance, 60Hertz is designed to handle it all. Many customers graduate to 60Hertz when SolarGrade functionality reaches a limit and asset managers need more to accomplish all their work.
Ready to compare? Book a live demo at 60hertzenergy.com
