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    Solar PV Monitoring plug-in?

    Hi everyone,

    Anyone interested in building a plug-in to monitor solar panels production into HS3?

    I am using Solar edge and they have a REST API they provide to extract information.

    I am thinking it would be great to monitor electricity production and when its production is high to turn on the Pool Pumps, A/C in order to 'consume' the electricity generated by the panels instead of 'selling' it for peanuts to Georgia Power...

    Someone already has a Github page...so...any takers
    https://github.com/jbuehl/solaredge

    Solar Edge Rest API
    https://www.solaredge.com/sites/defa...toring_api.pdf

    I am willing to be the super guinea pig.

    Thanks
    Chris

    #2
    Looking at that API document you could likely get away with a script and not need a plugin (writing a plugin increases the complexity probably at least ten fold), the idea was in HS that the energy API could take your data and represent it in HSTouch even from energy produced rather than energy consumed. The API unfortunately has some issues and in places needs some work but would save you writing any in built charting functions.

    There are probably a couple of scripts knocking around that might be able to be adapted for that purpose if you were to search for things like the energy API.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks Mr Happy,

      I will take a look at scripts for the energy api.

      Thanks
      Chris


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

      Comment


        #4
        I too own a SolarEdge system with 24 310w panels and I would certainly use a script or plug-in, either of which I am not capable of handling myself.

        During normal use, I get full retail credit for any power generated that gets returned to the grid. I get to "bank" kW of electricity for later use. However once a year there is a settlement. If I have generated more than I consume then my local utility sends me a check at wholesale pricing, which I understand but also disappointed with.

        Please keep us updated.

        Comment


          #5
          A bit of research shows that the SolarEdge inverter can talk via zigbee to its own proprietary gateway but also via RS-485 simultaneously.

          The RS-485 goes through MODBUS, whatever that may be. At that point you can process the data to non-SolarEdge device.

          The RS-485 is a simple plug-in accessory for the inverter. But the MODBUS?? It appears to be more a protocol than a physical device although there are some very expensive MODBUS devices out there.

          Anyone have ideas or suggestions?

          I can provide links to where I got some of this info if anyone is interested or if others have gotten further than me.

          Thanks to @zwolfpack for getting me this far.

          Comment


            #6

            Comment


              #7
              @John245

              Thanks for the reply, you make it sound so simple and it might be, but I'm lost.

              I installed the plug-in. Now, are you saying I can read the data received by my zigbee gateway and sent on to the SolarEdge portal? Or do I still need to install an RS-485 cable, but to where?

              Meanwhile I'll dig deeper into the SolarEdge documentation.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by racerfern View Post
                @John245

                Thanks for the reply, you make it sound so simple and it might be, but I'm lost.

                I installed the plug-in. Now, are you saying I can read the data received by my zigbee gateway and sent on to the SolarEdge portal? Or do I still need to install an RS-485 cable, but to where?

                Meanwhile I'll dig deeper into the SolarEdge documentation.
                You don't need zigbee or the solar edge portal. The Modbus PI is directly communicating with your inverter.

                I think you read the documentation below:

                sunspec-implementation-technical-note.pdf

                On page 4 there is the Use Cases for MODBUS over TCP section. So you can just use an ethernet cable.

                Page 7 and further modbus TCP support for further setup

                And page 8 and further for mapping the monitoring data.

                I'm impressed about the information you can uncover using the Modbus protocol.

                For your info Modbus is a professional protocol used in many Building Management Systems.

                Maybe you should also post in the Modbus PI area. As people there are also willing to help you.

                ---
                John

                Comment


                  #9
                  @John245

                  Thanks! I'll read the pdf.

                  You're right, from here I'll switch to the MODBUS area.
                  Last edited by racerfern; December 17, 2017, 05:36 AM. Reason: spelling

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by racerfern View Post
                    @John245

                    Thanks! I'll read the pdf.

                    You're right, from here I'll switch to the MODBUS area.
                    Ok,

                    If you didn't have these pdf I understood that it looks very complex.

                    ---
                    John

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Consume your own solar

                      Originally posted by clafa View Post
                      Hi everyone,

                      Anyone interested in building a plug-in to monitor solar panels production into HS3?

                      I am using Solar edge and they have a REST API they provide to extract information.

                      I am thinking it would be great to monitor electricity production and when its production is high to turn on the Pool Pumps, A/C in order to 'consume' the electricity generated by the panels instead of 'selling' it for peanuts to Georgia Power...

                      Someone already has a Github page...so...any takers
                      https://github.com/jbuehl/solaredge

                      Solar Edge Rest API
                      https://www.solaredge.com/sites/defa...toring_api.pdf

                      I am willing to be the super guinea pig.

                      Thanks
                      Chris
                      Chris,

                      While you can build the plugin to monitor your panels, you will miss the most important thing - knowing if you are sending power to the grid or pulling from it. I live in GA and learned how to deal with their poor buyback rate. There is no net metering here. You sell your excess power to them for essentially wholesale price and purchase it back at retail when you need more.

                      I purchased a Brultech Greeneye Energy Monitor and use the UltraECM3 plugin to pull the data into HS3 (on a PC only). With the additional use of Z-Wave and X-10, I can now control many of my major energy consumers when I generate more power than I consume. On sunny days, I almost never pull power from the grid when the sun is shining

                      I've already been the guinea pig on this one for the last 1.5 years and I'm very happy with the overall performance. I only have problems with my PC occasionally crashing but fortunately its about 1 one a month.

                      Let me know if you'd like more details on what I've done.

                      Comment

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