Starting a new thread as this was getting lost in the Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting thread.
Post details of your integration with Home Assistant etc.
If the Solis has no wifi dongle/data logging stick, then it makes it a bit more difficult. How are you currently monitoring the inverter as it stands? Is it all through MyEnergi app? How do you know when battery is empty? Just assume that its empty if it pulls from grid when PV not generating?
You can still poll the inverter directly using Modbus/RS485, but the Gen 2 data logging sticks are just easier because you can poll them remotely via wifi.
The Solis should already have a CT reading the grid. But I don't read generation at all.
Read my reply again. I adjust CONSUMPTION ultimately based on battery SOC% to ensure I don't discharge the battery.
If you want to allow a battery to charge, you make sure that the Zappi and Eddi or on STOP. I never use ECO+ on the Zappi - only ECO. But reading the battery SOC from the inverter means that it can draw a bit from battery if clouds roll by, but stay charging.
@championc thanks.
so in order for me to be able to implement logic such as yours im going to need a CT on the puredrive + comms/dongle on the solis?
sorry if thats is a really basic question but i need to go 101 on the setup before getting into the intricacies of the apps/programming
Hi @mag
You possibly need to look at this from a different perspective, which will actually be simpler to control.
The thing to do is to let the inverter do it's own thing (leave it in Auto mode from 09:00 till midnight).
The trick is to control your Eddi and Zappi based on your generation and / battery SOC%.
So with a https post, you can use the MyEnergi API to turn an Eddi On or Stop. With the Zappi, you can set it to Fast, Eco, Eco+ or Stop.
So in my case, I turn the Eddi on at SOC 98%. The Zappi is also generally turned on to ECO at 98% but it has priority over the Eddi. The Eddi is stopped at 97% while the Zappi stops at it's trigger -3. I have my Node-Red Dashboard giving me the ability change the starting trigger point.
For example -
Will Raspberry Pi 3 B work well enough with HA or do i need Pi 4?
Do i need another CT on the battery?
The Solis has no comms/dongle, what is best here in terms of api, etc..
Sorry if this stuff is obvious but its not clear to me, despite reading through this thread + googling goodo
Hi all, thanks to @Jonathan for pointing me here to (hopefully) resolve my PV monitoring/automation needs!
Firstly im a PV newbie and so if im saying anything obvously dopey then have mercy :)
My setup is a 8.1kw array, 6kw Solis hybrid inverter, 5kw Puredrive battery, Eddi, Zappi, Harvi & Hub. The battery was installed way after all the MyEnergi kit and so doesnt have a CT or the Solis doesnt have comms/wifi dongle.
Im having issues around battery drain. I want to employ a simple logic such as - If power from panels is less than current demand (Home, Zappi Eco+, Eddi) = Pull from battery, If power from panels is greater than current demand (Home, Zappi Eco+, Eddi) = Put excess in battery. And also on top of that be able to see and control the energy usage and best utilise the battery.
The MyEnergi kit is all nicely trackable in the app but the Solis/Puredrive is not seperately viewable and controlable within that enviornment, so i understand the only way around this is through building my own solution. Something like Raspberry PI hosting Home Assistant with MyEnergi/Solarman integration?
Im reading in the thread about different versions of Pi, loggers, etc.. Im not particularly techy, would appreciate if someone could lay me out exactly what it seems I would best need to achieve what I want. Cheers!
Thanks Jonathan - I can manually add to a new page so that will work - HA nice piece of kit.
I got this a while back and they make you sign an NDA for it (overkill much?) but they use a very weird auth method and I never got it working.
This is for polling soliscloud directly, not the old system m.ginglong.com
Would be interesting to see if someone can get that to work.
@silver_sky You need to email them or create a ticket on their support website to ask for API access. I did so a week and a half ago and it has not been responded to yet.
However there is now an agent assigned to the ticket so I'm hoping that's progress!
@Jonathan I am currently trying to sweet talk an older gen one from my installer! They're pretty good so I'd say if they have one they'll give it to me.
Fair enough. Do I just send the solis customer service an email for the api access or is there some website to log it?
I saw it there but it is not appearing on the Overview screen - not hidden. All the other battery ones appeared fine.
It should be there. The default sensor entity ID is sensor.<PREFIX>_battery_soc
sensor.<PREFIX>_battery_soc
Question I got a look at HA the weekend set up on a Hyper-V and using the StephanJoubert /home-assistant-solarman I got the Sensor to appear in the Overview section. I was impressed but why does the SOC not appear, it is there in the solis-hybrid.yaml file?
You're in same boat as @Metric Tensor then unfortunately. No data logger Modbus passthrough methods identified yet.
How do I know if it's a Solarman-based logger? Model is S3-WIFI-ST. Looks kinda like this
If you have a Solarman-based data logger, use the Solarman integration from HACS for local polling.
'scuse the noob. I've a Solis hybrid+battery and SolisCloud account. I was pulling myenergi data into homeassistant but that's now a mess due to the new hybrid inverter. Who do I need to contact for the key and secret?
That certainly explains the totally different setup anyway. Rather than going down custom modbus master route, it might be cheaper to buy a gen 2 data logger.
Solis have completely ignored me. It's a week and a half later and nothing.
Interestingly Solarman emailed me back to say that they did not manufacturer the model of datalogger stick that I have. Looks like I'll have to try and do some sort of modbus hack instead.
Very hit and miss, sometimes rude AF over emails other times super helpful over the phone. Mixed bag.
How do you guys find the Solis customer service? I opened a ticket last Saturday requesting API access but it has not been responded to and the online tracker says it is still "unassigned".
Is there some different way of contacting them that I am missing?
Would definitely recommend going the automation route as what seems confusing can start to come more natural after being run through the basics by anyone here. @connesha had great patience guiding me through and now have a lot better understanding of it thanks to him and now looking to add to it by watching videos online which now make a lot more sense.
If you decide it's not for you there are items like this for the fan part to keep it cool. Just pop the probe in near heatsink of the inverter and set the temperature you want it to come on and off at and it will work away.
For remote operating or configuring charge to come on etc you would need to go the automation route or its back up and down the ladder to the attic in the winter 😃
For an easy off the shelf solution (if you have power in the attic ) is this:
Just plug it in set it to whatever speed you want and forget about it.
Don't see a reason to adjust the fan speed since it will be in the attic anyway.
To get any real automation, you would need some "computer" that's running all the time. That could be a Raspberry Pi, a NUC, an old Laptop that you leave plugged in/running permanently, or similar.
You would then need to install some Home Automation software on that. Home Assistant is the more common one that's used (NodeRed is also used by some on here)
If you can get to the point that you have this running, and are comfortable (and interested in) playing with some basic configuration, then you should be good to go. There are any number of people here that can get you to the next step after that. I'll happily walk you through the stuff I setup with IrishChris for doing remote inverter configuration from HomeAssistant (writing registers to the Inverter)
There are loads of really good videos / guides / tutorials online about setting up an RPI / NUC with Home Assistant.
The only warning I'd have is that it all takes time; its a big rabbit hole you can't get out of. Most people enjoy it, especially when they have an interest in this kind of stuff. Somebody "could" set it all up for you, but I don't think I'd recommend going this route, as it does require some maintenance/tweeking, even after setup, so its better to have a reasonable understanding of whats happening when something inevitably goes wrong.
Overall, it shouldn't be beyond anyone semi-technically minded, that can install/update software, and are not afraid to tinker with configuration. They just need to say goodbye to their evenings ;-) We can get you to the point where you don't have to actually write any code yourself; instead you'd be "configuring" Home Assistant/automations. You could start with something basic, like turning a switch on at sunset, and then build on that.
OK, I've been reluctant to jump into this thread for fear of being overwhelmed...
I'm no expert in automation, at all. But I do have a lot of smart stuff around the house, lights, blinds, garage and gate etc. All connecting to Alexa and various automations running.
I have 2 things on my wish list re solar.
1 - is there any EASY way to get any kind of automation from the Solis inverter? In an ideal world I'd be able to adjust battery charge times remotely, even better if it would do so itself based on the weather forecast. Any time I've seen this mentioned though it is followed by a load of stuff about Raspberry Pi etc and I just check out.
So is there anything very basic and easy? Or is it all in/out?
2 - if number 1 is beyond me, can someone recommend a smart thermostat? If its a particularly hot day my attic gets very stuffy and the inverter core temp hits almost 60°. I have a fan up there that I can activate remotely, but that means logging into the inverter, checking the temp, then turning on the fan. I'd like the fan to turn on automatically if the attic ambient temp hits a certain point.
Great stuff that will make a huge difference- I just have a scheduled task every 15 mins to switch to feed in priority if SOC>95
works fantastic
only getting into the basics so far of this but have 33,35 and 96 registers working good now thanks to the immense help of @connesha who tirelessly guided me through it. lots more to learn but will make big difference for my system having this ability to remotely do this. thanks also to @graememk for loads help along the way too with my system and to all who started this and just goes to show what decent community can do
Sorry no steps. Esp8266 and relay hat I bought from Aliexpress. I've flashed them with esphome since I have it integrated with HomeAssistant and used NodeRed for automation. I used elfin-ee11 RS485 to Ethernet for modbus. Here is a script that I wrote to poll the registers https://github.com/NosIreland/solismon2
I stopped using it after @Jonathan released his code that allowed reading registers directly from WiFi stick. Just had to modify my code.
Did you post the steps you took anywhere reklamos?
It sounds like exactly what I need to do!
Edit: Why did you stop doing it that way?
