Starting a new thread as this was getting lost in the Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting thread.
Post details of your integration with Home Assistant etc.
Ah ok! Sweet! What happens when it goes below the horizon? Does it start at 90 in the morning?
So when the sun is at.. 60 and your panels are at 60° (very steep I know) the panels are square on. This should boost the w/m2 value as I am thinking that the met data is assuming a m2 on the ground flat?
So, azimuth is the position of the sun, ,(N/S/E/W) and elevation is the height angle.
I need to start playing with this.
@Jonathan been a while since I done trig, and haven't got a chance to look at your code, but how are you calculating the angle of incidence?
Does the angle of the panels matter if the elevation isn't taken into account, only direction?
Yea, this gives you the height of the sun in degrees. For example, now returns 61.7 deg. At solar-noon today it'll give 55.7 deg. And at sunset it'll be close to 90deg.
That's great work. I started to dabble with it but got distracted.
Gotta love 12am coding!
Do we need to take the height of the sun into account too?
@Jonathan, RE: "angle of incidence ... for each hour .. using the cosine..."
There is a class in my implementation that may help. You should be able to take directly and it'll give you the actual Sun Angle, for any datetime. If you want to go that way, call it each time with any hour you need.
See the implementation of SunAngles.zen_angle_at_date(date_time, location), here: https://github.com/connesha/home-energy-mgr-ext-main/blob/master/utils/sun_angles.py
Call it as follows, to get the angle of the sun, for the given datetime, in degrees:
location = EarthLocation.from_geodetic(self.longitude, self.latitude) zen_angle = zen_angle_at_date(date_time, location)
My Met Éireann forecast has been failing miserably the past few days. I hit 67% on 25th, 78% on 26th, and just 50% on the 27th... :(
I've made some more progress on this this evening. Using pysolar, I'm calculating the angle of incidence (angle of the sun relative to the array) for each hour, and using the cosine of this (in the range of 0 to 1 for those that have forgotten their Leaving Cert Maths) as a crude correction coefficient. This correction coefficient is then used as a multiplier against the corresponding globalIrrediance value from MetEireann. There are other ways to calculate too, using the angle of incidence and the refractive index between air and glass (Snell's Law), but that is a bit more complicated to calculate.
Comparison below for raw W/m^2 values from Met for my location, and the corrected values for N/S/E/W arrays at 30° tilt. I'll give this a go for a few days and see how it turns out.
The drop off in radiation around lunchtime hits the S facing array badly, and would be surpassed by an E/W array.
Been tracking the forecasts from meteireann & solcast the last few days. Not bad!
arrayMultiplier = 0.187*27.3/1000 # panelEfficiency * panelArea(m2) = 1.95*14 / 1000 (to kWh)
Really good post. And it's really about how people can load shift. So great for those like me who are new to it all.
The 3 hour window is secondary in a way.
As is the automation. I don't have a clue about automation yet. Tis ninja stuff for me now. Hopefully I will in time. And this thread shows me the power of it.
Me and apps on a very few apps on my phone are the 'automation' for now. Check the standard Met Eireann forecast for tomorrow. Don't look at solar radiation per hour. Just if it shows sun in the hourly pics :) That gives a very crude estimate of output the next day.
Then check the charge on the EV. Decide how long to leave the scheduled nightly Zappi charge run to get to X% for the morning.
Set the dishwasher to run at night on a 7 euro smart plug. In fact I have it set to finishnow for when we get down for breakkie as heats the kitchen.
So people can still benefit themselves on lower cost oer unit and help emmisions from the grid by load shifting manually. Tis all a journey!
What I typed above took me longer than it does per night.
If you don't have any temperature sensors on the cylinder, this is likely your only option. The downside is that you're probably heating more water than you need if you have the immersion stat set to 60°C. Outside of the weekly Legionella cycle, 50°C is likely more than sufficient.
I'm in a similar position with both Solar Thermal and and Eddi feeding my cylinder. There is usually sufficient water for the morning showers, but after a particularly dull day, the cylinder needs a needs to be boosted by a kWh or two. I've set up a HA automation to look after this. It uses the MyEnergi HA integration that @connesha linked to above, together with three cylinder temperature sensors from my Solar Thermal controller (at the top, middle and bottom of the cylinder). The other point to note is that my immersion is at the side of the cylinder, about 1/2 way down, just below middle temperature sensor.
In summary:
alias: "Eddi: Daily Hot Water Boost" description: "" trigger: - platform: time at: "04:30:00" condition: - condition: time weekday: - mon - tue - wed - thu - fri - condition: numeric_state entity_id: sensor.resol_tankmiddletemp below: 50 - condition: numeric_state entity_id: sensor.resol_tankbottomtemp below: 40 action: - device_id: <EDDI DEVICE ID> domain: select entity_id: select.myenergi_eddi_operating_mode type: select_option option: Normal - service: myenergi.myenergi_eddi_boost data: target: Heater 1 time: 60 target: device_id: <EDDI DEVICE ID> - repeat: while: - condition: numeric_state entity_id: sensor.resol_tankmiddletemp below: 50 sequence: - delay: hours: 0 minutes: 1 seconds: 0 milliseconds: 0 - service: myenergi.myenergi_eddi_boost data: target: Heater 1 time: 0 target: device_id: <EDDI DEVICE ID> - device_id: <EDDI DEVICE ID> domain: select entity_id: select.myenergi_eddi_operating_mode type: select_option option: Stopped mode: single
Yep I saw your original post on that @SD_DRACULA a big thank you as I was on the older version Solis and was planning to upgrade for the 100A but that’s not possible so glad I didn’t. My plan was to add a second inverter to achieve the 20Kwh in the 3 hr window but as connesha shows I should really think about it apart from cost I would need some Eddi/Zappi usage in the 3 hrs and this probably means my 20Kwh needs would be reduced a bit so financially not worth it. @connesha thank you worth thinking about fyi Eddi/Zappi work in conjunction as you described.
If it's at temperature, the eddi will just go "max temp reached" and won't heat during the boost time. The hub is handy if you want to schedule depending on tomorrow's forecast, but if you're running it anyway the timer should be enough.
I was thinking about going that route but I have a solid fuel stove connected to the cylinder and won’t need the boost timer activated if the cylinder is up to temperature.
"I am looking to heat my hot water cylinder on night rate using the eddi."
Why not just simply set a timer, then that's possible with the older model too....
The newer model (V2.1 at least) has the hub built in. https://shop.zappi.info/en/eddi-power-diverter-v21-with-built-in-wifi-and-eth.html
For the older one, you need a separate hub.
Then use: https://github.com/CJNE/ha-myenergi (which depends on https://github.com/cjne/pymyenergi)
I am looking to heat my hot water cylinder on night rate using the eddi.
Do I need a myenergi hub to trigger the Eddi via HA?
It is possible quite easily to do a good bit with the 3 hours, if have the devices to take advantage of it (and the Eddi/Zappi are great devices for this).
For instance, looking at it relatively conservatively, taking voltage as 220V, with a 65A main fuse (and have set the Eddi/Zappi grid limit to 60A), you could plan to consume some 35kwh to 40kwh during the period. This wouldn't be any inconvenience (at least it isn't for us), as half of it is done via automations that you never have to touch, and have to turn on the dishwasher anyway, so just as easy to set the time when doing so.
Rough numbers for illustration (not labouring on losses, as they are rough calcs):
* Eddi:
**Zappi:
So, you could still be looking at 100km plus of range added to the EV every night, with no real inconvenience (even if only getting in 17kwh @ 6km/kwh)
You can't fill it in that window.
If you have a Solis 5G hybrid it drops the charge/discharge from 100a to 70a after 15 mins, so at best you're looking at around 10kwh in 3 hours.
Solis lied to us, again.
Thanks @connesha - yea spot on I had plans of doubling up to 20Kwh as usage has increased but would really need to be filling it in the 3 hr window to make it worthwhile. The cost would need to be looked at as I guess the 20Kwh would roughly be the max you could get maybe some hot water but you wouldn’t charge the car.
Looking forward to seeing it in action next Saturday! 😉
I've not yet had to fill the bigger battery at night, given the good solar generation this time of year, and there being enough leftover after a good day to more than cover a bad day. But, calculations say a Solis Inverter will put in approx 11.5kWh during 3 hours, given the derating to 70A after 15 mins.
Even in a bad day, this'll cover a days usage (ours at least), for the vast majority the time.
11.5kwh charge + yesterdays leftovers in battery + todays (poor) generation
Especially considering automation to boost immersion between 2-5AM when the forecast is very bad, and can set dishwasher/washing machine to run between 2-5am too. This takes care of 3 of the biggest consumers.
Would be hard to see the justification for a second inverter, given you already have a nice setup (unless your usage is very high?). You have 10kwh CALB cells, with Seplos BMS, right? Maybe just doubling it to a 16s2p? (buy more cells and keep the single BMS) So, especially if you have a large array, you'll find it easier to cover the bad days if you get some good-ish days thrown in the middle.
Thanks good spot I have updated the values now. The attic ladder has paid for itself already.
I went with BG dual fuel as the gas price is what decides it for me but am only on a standard tariff. Wasn’t offered near the same deal for the 2-5 smart plan. I did feel if I upgraded my battery from 10 to 20Kwh the 2-5 might make financial sense but I would need I guess a second inverter or how would you boost the amount you can get into a battery in 3 hrs. 100A continuous for 3hrs would be needed to fill 20Kwh? What do you get into the battery in that timeframe @connesha
👍
The charge limit should be approx 18.7A in that second image, for your 10kwh battery.
(9.4 would be for a 5kwh battery)
So just an update checked the inverter settings and it was set to discharge so that I think explains why the eddi started taking the excess during the test.
I have made the changes suggested and disabled discharge now.
I think that should be everything setup now. Thanks again @connesha for your time and patience.
Thanks again for all your help. I will check them settings first on the inverter tomorrow and set to what you suggested and test.
Completely agree on the plans every situation and use case is different. When I compared plans it was the same price on the standard smart tariff without the free Saturday or Sunday from BGE with unit rate and standing charge so want to try and utilize it as best I can.
Great, then do the steps I put just above and it'll do exactly what you're asking for (leave charge current set to 18.7A permanently, since you have 10kwh battery, assuming 20% lower SOC). It'll have your battery full by 5pm on Saturday, regardless of how empty it was in the morning. And there will be no discharge until after 17:00
Because the automation will set 43110 to 35 on Saturday only, the times don't need to be changed at all (they'll have no effect on other days because its set to 33)
so either charge them in the morning or evening
Is better, and much easier, to charge slowly for the entire period, like I put above. (I cannot see any reason to try to charge for only part of the time, and then try to "stop discharge").
BTW, I am on the EV 2am-5am plan. Yea, the standing charge is terrible, but with a large array, 20kwh battery, and lots of automation, can get close to 100% of purchased electricity be during this period (at 5.7 cents / unit). Different plans suit different people.
Watch out for the monthly limit on that Free Saturday plan.. its capped at 100kWh a month
Firstly thanks for all your help on this thread would have been lost without your detailed post on getting this initially setup and input from other users.
I will check the inverter charge time settings tomorrow they should be on defaults I never altered them post install.
I have 10kw of battery storage just trying to figure out the best way make use of the free energy on Saturday between 9-5pm.
This was the best rate I could find I looked at the option of the very cheap EV rate between 2-5am but the standing charge an extra €120 on that plan. If I stayed on 24 hour the discount on gas was only 10% with BGE and 15% with Energia with the smart plan it's 38%.
Ideally would like to use as much free energy on Saturday and be left with the batteries close to full that evening so either charge them in the morning or evening.
This had the effect of discharging from the inverter
If it discharged from the inverter when you set this, then you must have also set the discharge times and current (post a photo of the inverter screen if you want it checked). If charge and discharge current are 0, and none of the times are set, then setting to 35 would have had no effect.
Are you only looking to charge (or prevent discharge) during this Saturday slot? If so:
Set Charge times on the inverter to 9:00 to 17:00, and don't change them ever
Set the Charge Current on the inverter to be enough to slowly charge the battery during this time, and don't change it ever **
Create an automation that sets 43110 to 35 on Saturday morning (at e.g. 8am)
Create another automation that sets 43110 to 33 on Saturday evening (at e.g. 6 pm)
This will have the effect of slowly charging the battery through out the day. And even if it fills before 17:00, it won't discharge until after 17:00
** current calculation:
((usable_battery_wh)/hours)/53
e.g. a 5kwh battery, with 20% lower limit (4kwh usable), charged for 8 hours:
(4000/8)/53 = 9.4 Amps
Note, if you're looking to night charge/prevent discharge, I gave a script for that a couple of pages back: see post #788
Yeah hex can be a bit confusing at the start but you actually don't have to worry about that
What I'm planning on doing is not touching that setting, once it's set
But what I am planning on doing is changing the charge times and charge current.
To prevent overnight discharge, set the time to 00:00 to 09:00 and charge rate to 0amps
To charge overnight you just have to change the amps. And once you reach the desired SOC you can set the amps back to 0
Looking for some more help now after getting HA up and running and have verified that I can write to the modbus to change the settings so making progress. I did a test to change register 43110 to 35 which was previously set to 33.
This had the effect of discharging from the inverter and diverting to the eddi which I was not expecting. Set it back to the previous value and all good again.
I am moving onto a smart plan with BGE as it was the best rate I could find with free time Saturday 9-5pm. Two things I would like to achieve is the ability to charge the batteries from the grid to top them up during that window and second to not discharge the batteries during that time.
Anyone know how I can achieve this? Also struggling to understand how to convert the bit numbers to decimal or hex.
I have read @Jonathan detailed post on page 24 but still can't get my head around how to achieve this.
Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to have to visit the attic every Saturday.
