Australian business 'Solar Analytics' has taken top honours at the Smart Cities Expo World Forum event in Sydney this month, winning the overall award for Best Internet of Things Start-up.   Solar Analytics is an Australian business founded in 2013 by Stefan Jarnason and three other co-founders.   The business provides Smart Solar Monitors which are installed into homes and businesses with solar panels.   The monitor tracks the performance of solar systems in real time to ensure the systems are always optimised.   Households/businesses can log on to the solar analytics dashboard at any time to view their system's performance and to see how much money they have saved utilising solar energy versus coal powered electricity.

The Smart Cities Expo World Forum, which is being undertaken in Sydney every six months, showcases innovation and progress in the smart cities sector and also highlights the importance of Internet of Things industry and the need for Australian businesses and Governments to become involved in the burgeoning sector which is predicted to become one of the largest and most life changing industries in the world.

The event includes a series of awards designed to showcase the innovative work of Australian businesses in the Internet of Things sector.

Solar Analytics won the Best Smart Cities Start-up award and also won the Best Internet of Things Start-up award.

CEO of the winning start-up, Solar Analytics, Stefan Jarnason, today said he was delighted to win the awards.   "Our company has grown significantly over the last couple of years.  At the start of 2016 we had 3,000 customers across Australia, and this year the number increased to over 12,000.  Further rapid growth is planned for next year to service the 1.6 million solarhomes already in Australia, and 120,000 new solar systems that will be installed in 2017.

"The awards highlight the important work our business is undertaking in helping people across the world to adopt solar energy and to optimise their use of it." Mr Jarnason added.

"By installing and connecting Smart Solar Monitors with the internet, we educate and empower our solar owners. Through their Solar Analytics dashboard they can assess the performance of their and energy usage solar system, and have peace of mind that Solar Analytics will notify them of any issues straight away.

"As soon as the Smart Monitor detects a reduction in a system's performance, it can accurately diagnose the cause to identify the problem so the issue can be resolved quickly. This saves hundreds of dollars every year for the average home owner..

"Our simple yet clever system is a perfect example of how the internet is improving the lives of many people through better management of energy facilities.

"We have already started exporting our products overseas to countries including the US and New Zealand and look forward to continued growth.  Awards of this nature assist to provide us with much needed recognition to facilitate this process."

Dr Yasar, founder of the Smart Cities Expo World Forum today said "Solar Analytics was a worthy recipient of the top award because not only did they exhibit how the Internet of Things can generate real business opportunities, they also provide real and genuine benefits to peoples' lives and this is what the Internet of Things should all be about - improving humanity."