Internet of Things Applications in Solar Energy Monitoring and Fault Detection for Small Businesses in Uganda: Opportunities and Implementation Challenges

Internet of Things technologies can make small solar installations observable at a distance, but monitoring creates business value only when trustworthy measurements lead to an appropriate and affordable response. This review examines existing photovoltaic monitoring and fault-detection technologies, their relevance to Ugandan small businesses, and the conditions required for adoption. A structured integrative review combines technical implementations, diagnostic reviews, international standards, cybersecurity guidance and Ugandan enterprise and communications evidence. Published statistics are reproduced with explicit populations, units and reporting periods; incompatible performance results are not pooled. The findings identify useful applications in energy accounting, underperformance detection, storage supervision and maintenance coordination. They also reveal recurring limitations: short validation periods, uncertain sensor quality, dependence on connectivity, incomplete lifecycle costing and insufficient separation of faults from normal operating changes. A Ugandan battery-management prototype demonstrates local integration capability, while a survey of 578 women-run businesses illustrates the importance of business support and careful interpretation of energy-use denominators. National communications growth supports mobile interfaces but does not establish reliable connectivity at individual premises. The article proposes a staged adoption framework centred on critical business loads, calibrated sensing, local operation during internet interruptions, explainable diagnostics, secure data exchange and a contracted maintenance response. It recommends field evaluation using event-level detection performance, telemetry completeness, useful energy recovered, restoration time and full-service cost. The principal conclusion is that an affordable monitoring service should be selected around a verified business problem and a feasible response pathway, rather than around the sophistication of an algorithm or dashboard.