Solar PV Monitoring/Automation Thread

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120100426#Comment_120100426

Not quite. I was talking to Francis about this and it is either or. i.e Solis Cloud updates stop while polling via Modbus TCP. Stop polling for 5 mins and data updates again to Solis Cloud.

Possibly workable with a 5 min stop/start at a quiet period of the day to keep Solis Cloud data synced.

Manion

OK, I think I'll stick with what I have as I now have the remote configuration support in the App. It's not useful for automations but it's 80% there in terms of removing hassle. I might revise the decision at a later point in time as generally I dislike being dependent on cloud services (too many of them have disappeared in my past).

randombar

Apologies for the replication here guys.

Setup with sofar2mqtt, ha, all talking to each other nicely. What do I need to do for the predictive SOC? Any doc? Link? I found a few posts here but there's edits after etc.

Also the energy dashboard is ok but it's displaying accumulated values instead of live (I think), I wasn't given an option to select the sensor / live options.

randombar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119268622#Comment_119268622

Just wondering if this code is all still valid?

Also rather than changing voltages etc. etc. I'd live to just change the SOC I have set in the inverter (Solarman). Any advice?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120117648#Comment_120117648

For the me3000, you'll have to set it to passive mode (it is a me3000 that you have right?)

So you'll need be telling it to switch between charge/auto/standby yourself. (Well your code will have to!)

I have it done in node Red but I've tweaked the code on the sofar2mqtt to report back what mode I'm in too but never looked at the rewrite (v2) , and work from that. And the code evolved over a year or so too, so it isn't the prettiest either!

The devils

Hi guys very hard to get a raspberry pi, seems like they are not in stock most places..would any of you know somewhere I might find one please

Manion

https://rpilocator.com/ is a good stock tracker. I bought mine through Berrybase.de, it was a pain in the head as I had to use a German Parcel Motel clone to get it over to Ireland at extra expense, but I got it. You could also purchase a HA Yellow. Lead time is very long but at least you're in a queue. https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2021/09/13/home-assistant-yellow/

Alternatively, if you're anyway handy with computers you can get home assistant up and running on a normal x86 computer with Debian/Ubuntu though Ubuntu is not officially supported it's just a few extra commands to get it working. This is what I did so I could learn how to use HA while waiting for the PI.

SD_DRACULA

Not sure what the stock situation is with the ordroids but they do HA well or so I hear

randombar

I put mine on a Nuc and it's well worth the extra 50 or so, speed is fantastic, streets ahead of the pi4.

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120123303#Comment_120123303

I bought stuff here before and found them ok. https://ie.farnell.com/raspberry-pi/cm4io/compute-module-4-board-arm-cortex/dp/3563491

Manion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120123875#Comment_120123875

If you're new to this @The devils , note that this is just the I/O board and your would need to purchase a compute module to go along with this. You could pick up a model B which is an all in one solution.

The devils

Thanks guys. I'll take a look this afternoon ,

I do have a decent PC that I really don't use anymore which I probably could use until I get a device like the ones mentioned above.

I'll you tube it and do a bit of research

Tks all ....

Manion

That's a great idea, get a feel for things and decide if you need bespoke hardware. HA doesn't require a lot of resources and the beauty of the Pi is that it uses minimal power. You could run HA off 10 watts versus 60/100 for a mini PC. A fast SSD or NVMe drive would give a big performance boost as well. I'll probably replace my 6 core polar lake Intel x86 media center with a Pi5 when those come out in 2024.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120123303#Comment_120123303

I'd just go straight for an x86 device. I moved my setup from a RPi to a Dell Optiplex Micro running Debian/KVM a couple of months ago, and then run HA as a VM within that. Oodles of power and only uses 7W idling.

You can pick them (or the HP/Fujitsu equivalents) up fairly cheap on Adverts.

Manion

Are you not constrained when running HA as a VM in terms of integrations?

randombar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120118339#Comment_120118339

So I've enabled all these buttons at the moment:

https://capture.dropbox.com/wmmcfrU8lPlzXnci

So I guess I need to switch off time of use mode again.

Then at a certain time:

Set the charge @ 3000W until SOC greater or equal to my desired amount.

Seems pretty straight forward after?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120124738#Comment_120124738

A VM dedicated to home assistant has no issues in terms of intergrations. It's basically the same as a Normal install.

It runs the Home assistant Os and supervisior.

There is VM for HyperV, VirtualBox, KVM, VMware..

There is restrictions with Home assistant Core i think though.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120125110#Comment_120125110

aw sweet, Thats pretty neat

Yep bang on, charge at x until soc is the desired SOC. pretty simple.

Then you can expand on it, Stay in auto mode until a lower SOC is reached (eg for summer),

championc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120124234#Comment_120124234

Hold on a sec. It absolutely does NOT need to be decent, and especially running Linux.

I got an old Thin Client tiny PC in work, whacked in an SSD and away we go. Anything even 10 years old will knock spots off a Pi really.

Also, I did run previously on a Pi ..... 2 !!! So you do NOT need a 4 or even a 3 TBH

Abromavich

Hey I posted this in the wrong thread so I think here is the right place!

I got my install complete on Monday. It's a 6kwp south facing system (with Solis inverter), delighted so far!

I dont have a battery so didnt bother with the Hybrid solis inverter. On the Solis cloud app I am only able to monitor the power produced and the units generated by the system.

I would love to monitor 4 things:

1) Units generated by system

2) Units self-consumed by house

3) Units expored (FIT tariff)

4) Units imported

What is the most straightforward setup to do this? Wireless would amazing if possible, ideally with a simple software interface on the app side. I realize I could have achived this if I opted for the hybrid inverter but I didnt want to pay the extra ~€700. Options??

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120126279#Comment_120126279

Simply, A shelly EM3 + home assistant Or an EmonPi

A CT on your main grid, a CT on your solar feed and you can monitor/calculate all that

Abromavich

Brilliant thanks!

I'm looking at the Shelly Pro 3EM:

https://www.shelly.cloud/en/products/shop/pro-3-em

It comes with 3 CT clamps, so is this all I need? So I install the 3EM in my consumer board/fuse box. Connect a CT clamp around the wire going into my smart meter and another CT clamp on the AC line coming out of the inverter? What is the home assistant? It it a device that communicates with 3EM and has an app I download?

Sorry for all the questions - I'm reasonably technical but a total noob with CT clamps and energy sensors 😥. I dont want to drill through walls so this sounds like a great solution if its all wireless.

randombar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120125633#Comment_120125633

So for those in my situation:

Sofar

Seplos

LifePo

Sofar2MQTT

Set up now in HA

Sofar manually set to "Passive Mode"

Charge to 3000W now currently working. However if I want to switch it off I turn off the button but I also have to toggle standby (if it's on I switch off and vice versa)

What I've to figure out now is come 8AM how do I get it to discharge and charge from PV etc.

I'm guessing I've to enable one of the modes but I'm not sure?

Auto Mode

Auto Saver Mode

or

Battery Saver Mode

graememk

Auto.

Not sure what auto save does?

Battery save will charge but not discharge

randombar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120127122#Comment_120127122

So far so good. 3 Automations at the moment.

1) Start charging

2) Stop charging when SOC greater than input

3) Stop charging and switch to auto

Also checking solar for tomorrow, just need to marry the two up after a few days of readings.

The devils

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120123695#Comment_120123695

Hi Manion.

I went with ubuntu to see could I get it working yesterday. Got as fair as uploaded from USB and installing ubuntu server etc...however I can't open up laptop with ubuntu starting it's own operating system.

Not a good idea having two together by all accounts, anyway I was onto Microsoft for 2 hrs this evening to get Windows operating system installed back on system ( because I've tried nearly everything else) can't seem to boot windows on any command.

Anyway if thuis has ever happened to u guys please help, otherwise I'll re image/install and wipe laptop the weekend.

Cheers.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131863#Comment_120131863

Sounds like you overwrote your bootloader. Can you see any references to GRUB (Linux bootloader) when you turn on the laptop? Do you know if it has BIOS or UEFI?

championc

It should have setup the laptop to dial boot if you selected the default options

The devils

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131934#Comment_120131934

Didn't see references to grub when I start it...it just goes through a load sequence and then looks like command prompt (but it's ubuntu if u know what I mean)

Uefi looks and sounds familiar..

I just shut down my laptop , my eyes are blood shot :) 😀

graememk

Next project taking shape!