Home Energy Monitoring

robh71

Hello,

Am looking for advice / feedback around this product base don my requirements below.

OWL Intuition-PV 3 Phase Solar PV Energy Monitor (130A Sensors)

https://www.smartgreenshop.co.uk/owl-intuition-pv-3-phase-standard-solar-power-monitoring-system-standard-sensors-71-71-amps-main-solar-per-phase

1) To get hourly usage of kWH consumption in my home, with SMART meter

2) To get a breakdown of energy exported back to the grid from my Solar PV panels.

3) In addition to this I'd like to get insight on units used in charging my EV car from my home EV charger (Zapphi).

4) I would also need the ability to export the data to csv for my own analysis.

Thanks in Advance

the_amazing_raisin

So if you have a Zappi you should already have this capability to some degree

The Zappi should have a CT clamp around the grid connection to the house either wired directly to the Zappi, or to a Harvi

If you have solar, you might also have a second Harvi monitoring the solar output

Then the app should give you a breakdown of the flow of energy

If you tap into the middle circle it'll give you the data over time

It's what I've mainly been using since getting the PV installed since the Sofar app can be very slow to update

the_amazing_raisin

Here's a screenshot from my MyEnergi app for example

the_amazing_raisin

I think the one thing you're missing is the ability to export data, I don't think the Zappi has this, although it's worth checking with MyEnergi, the customer support team there is really good

One option for exporting data is the Open Energy Monitor

https://openenergymonitor.org/

It's not the easiest tool to use but it has a lot of configuration options and has the advantage of being open source, so no proprietary data formats to deal with

TerraSolis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058285694/home-energy-monitoring

Are you handy with Python at all? I pull my historic MyEnergi data into python for analysis - can spit it into a CSV that way too.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058285694/home-energy-monitoring

MyEnergi does all that apart from the .csv into XL. I'll throw a few screenprints from the phone

slave1

You may have more info on the online web account, haven't had the need to use that

jasgrif11

As a matter of interest what is your CT1 set to on your Harvi/Zappi interface? I was installing 2 new CT clamps yesterday and mistakenly changed CT1 and don’t remember what it was set to.

Should I assume “Grid”?

I plan to have CT2&CT3 set for Generation only (2 solar PV installs).

slave1

CT1 is always grid, can't be anything else

In your case the MyEnergi app will combine both your arrays into one single figure

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120282673#Comment_120282673

re ct2... i have solar with a hybrid invertor/battery... the zappi installer set the ct clamp to solar even though i only have one clamp connected to the zappi... figure its kinda pointless having a clamp on the invertor as no way of knowing if its solar/battery? i should just set ct clamp 2 to off or something?

slave1

Well at present MyEnergi can see both PV and House consumption, if you negate the CT clamp on the solar it won't know e.g. your house load is 1kW and PV is producing 0.7kW, if you remove then all MyEnegi will see is import of 0.3kW and won't know 0.7kW of your house load is being provided from your PV

slave1

just reread your post, if the installer has just fed the grid clamp to the zappi then what did they do with the other end of the clamp on the solar?

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120283693#Comment_120283693

i only have one clamp... there was a harvii there with a clamp but it was just reporting grid import for solar.. they put it in the wrong place.. i removed it as was pointless.. ive been told there's no point having myenergy try to monitor solar/battery with a hybrid invertor as it can't see whats solar versus battery? the zappi installer won't come back to look at it as its a different crew did the solar and they don't care about it

DC999

@robh71 What solar inverter have you got? Most let you get all that home usage and grid export from the web browser. Can get CSV export from some depending on the login rights you have / inverter. As in you might already have what the product you showed gives. "1) To get hourly usage of kWH consumption in my home, with SMART meter 2) To get a breakdown of energy exported back to the grid from my Solar PV panels." I know others have answered on the Zappi side too.

Though maybe if the solar was in when you got a new build, or they are micro inverters, you can't see the stats.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120283781#Comment_120283781

That's partly true, if you set it to Generation only then it can't tell the difference between Solar PV or Battery (assuming the battery is DC connected to the inverter)

However it's still of value IMO, you can see how much of your houses demand is being met by PV and how much is from the grid. Otherwise the MyEnergi app doesn't know the true consumption of the house

Now you can just use the app for the inverter, assuming it has one. However so far I'm finding the MyEnergi app to respond quicker than the Sofar one, so I'm using it more

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120282458#Comment_120282458

How'd you get the historic data? Is there an API you can query or anything?

robh71

Thanks all for your response & suggestions.

 

Regarding Zappi, I have a challenge insofar as my WiFi isn’t reaching it. Need to boost signal, perhaps via repeater or other similar

In terms of PV monitoring my Sunny Boy (1.5 1VL-40) is monitored via Sunny Portal portal. I get production at 15 min intervals only.

While I'm familiar with Python, my skillset here is quite basic unfortunately.

In terms of MyEnergi supporting my requirements I can’t see how this would work since I only clamp for EV charger. I also want visibility of kWH being exported back to grid from my PV

PV were in when I bought (constructed 2017 - A3)

 

So is it a fair assumption that MyENergi could support my requirements with some additional h/w, s/w ?

championc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120283781#Comment_120283781

Pointless only in terms of not seeing the true live solar generation if generation going into the battery.

However, important to know the consumption. If solar satisfied the house load, then the grid would be zero, so you are missing an important part of the picture.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120286836#Comment_120286836

I get all the information from the givenergy app.

TerraSolis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120285269#Comment_120285269

There sure is.

To get API Key: https://support.myenergi.com/hc/en-gb/articles/5069627351185-How-do-I-get-an-API-key-

For python use: https://github.com/cjne/pymyenergi

radiofoot

Hi All,

I had solarpv installed last week and very happy so far even despite the mixed weather. I had lots of advice from boards that helped me with the key decisions.

I have a Solis inverter (no battery) and am only seeing production data in the SolisCloud app. My installed told me that usage data is only usually available with a hybrid inverter but there are products available to monitor consumption. I have a Zappi that shows the import/export to the grid, but no production data.

what is the best option to close this gap? Myenergi Hub and maybe harvi to get the consumption data and online access or should I go back to the supplier and get something done to get consumption data into the SolisCloud app?

thanks

championc

Just so people aren't misled, a Harvi is simply a device for sending data to the Eddi or Zappi WIRELESSLY, when the CT clamp cannot be hardwired.

So a Harvi should be only used as a Last Resort

So in reality, you only need a single CT clamp to read your Solar PV.

Don't bother with the Solis sh1te. It's not Live Data, as it's only a snapshot in time every 5 mins

radiofoot

Thanks @championc

So, I need a second CT clamp connected to my Zappi and the myenengi hub? Bearing in mind that I don’t know much about this, is that something that’s easy to do or do I need to get an electrician in? The hub looks straightforward but not sure about adding a CT to the Zappi

championc

Easily done by anyone who can use a screwdriver. There are little push in terminals to connect the CT red and black wires to. This CT needs to be fitted around the Live cable of the inverter to fuseboard cable, anywhere along it's length.

If the Zappi doesn't have an integrated hub, then the Zappi must be linked via it's wireless radio to the hub (which is physically connected to your internet router)