Solar Diverter with Series of Priorities, Is This Possible?

Nelbert · 03-01-2023 09:25AM

That sequencing is a fairly standard approach. Can be done via a correctly configured inverter and something like the Eddi.

Big Lar · 03-01-2023 02:40PM

I have just completed my Christmas Project which does exactly this and its and automation that runs off Home Assistant where it checks every 20mins

Here is the way it will work

If battery nearly charged and there is power coming from the panels and the car is plugged in, then the Easee car charger will charge @ a rate of 4Kw using API to Easee Cloud

If the car is not plugged in then the electricity goes to the immersion using a Shelly Plus 1

If the car is not plugged and the thermostat on the immersion is after reaching its temp then the lads in the ESB can have the surplus.

Yesterday and the day before 4.16Kwh that should have went to the grid stayed at home

In your case as your immersion will most likely be 3 phase I think that a contactor would be used and controlled by a shelly to get the immersion going

unkel · 03-01-2023 03:30PM

Sounds like a nice project @Big Lar!

One thing though, what you did is standard functionality with the myenergi products (eddi + zappi), isn't it?

Big Lar · 03-01-2023 03:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120059994#Comment_120059994

Honestly I dont know how eddie and zappi work, I think that they dont kick in until the export starts.

Also I dont know if you can change the charging rate of the Zappi on the fly as I can with the Easee charger

And I dont know how much the eddie costs but the Shelly Plus 1PM is €20.00

unkel · 03-01-2023 04:23PM

You can change charging mode of zappi with the app or through home assistant. But not the charging rate and indeed they only work when you export, so you have a lot more control in your setup!

And yes the myenergi products are not cheap! But if you buy them well, they'll keep their value well. I sold my ABL charge point that I got for free from the ESB 7 years ago for €220 and bought a second hand zappi for €100 and later sold its cable for €50 as I used the one I had. So the upgrade to zappi + eddi (bought net of VAT and with 30% trade discount) only cost me a couple hundred quid 😁

Nelbert · 03-01-2023 07:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120060070#Comment_120060070

I think the Zappi varies charge and the Eddi I think has a variable rate of power provided to the immersion (open to correction) where as the shelly would be a full on / off scenario.

silver_sky · 04-01-2023 12:15AM

Eddi & Zappi will work based off the export power (minus margin if you've set it). What I've been doing is manually putting the inverter into grid-feedin mode to push it into export if I'm happy with the battery SOC. I'm doing that with homeassistant. I'll setup an automation at some point.

blobert · 04-01-2023 02:08AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120059693#Comment_120059693

Thanks for that looks interesting. I'd looked into the Shelly products and emailed them about it.

Did you find them easy to work with. I have no experience of Home Assistant, do you have it running on a separate computer?

Ideally it would be good to have some sort of ability to control power going to car charging, immersion and electric heating but I'm wary of somthing complex expensive. The Shelly stuff seems pretty cheap for the most parts and also works with 3 phase which is needed.

Big Lar · 04-01-2023 08:42AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062956#Comment_120062956

As the lads have said the Zappi and Eddie are basically automated for you but as for Home Assistant I also had no experience with Home Assistant but there are plenty of YouTube videos out there and its fairly handy to use once you get up and running, as for hardware you can use anything from Raspberry Pi up to a dedicated PC.

Got the shelly stuff up and running no bother at all, once again a burst of videos on youtube.

See this thread here for more info https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058224611/solar-pv-monitoring-automation-thread/p1

Solar Diverter with Series of Priorities, Is This Possible?

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