pv monitors and dataloggers

[GaryM]

I'm looking to order a display for my upcoming install. Would the Geo Solo PV be my best option? Inverter will be a Fronius IG TL 3.6.

 

[series530]

"I am looking into installing a Current Cost EnviR monitor with a NetSmart 24 bridge in order to monitor a pv installation remotely via the Current Cost web-based dashboard.

Has anybody any experience of this system please?"


I have this as part of my system:

Advantages :

accurate to within about 2% of the PV meter (so far) - provided it is coupled to an Optismart optical reader and NOT a current clamp
Gives a web based graphical display of energy throughout the day
the monitor sits nicely in the house and you can see PV without interrogating a web page via a PC.
Data can be downloaded as csv.

Disadvantages :

If using the data output via the bridge : cannot measure anything if the meter LED is constant - so only works if the PV is generating (which makes sense) or if the consumer meter is consuming (mine turns green if I am a net exporter).
The bridge has a habit of freezing and the only way out is a reboot. All data during the freeze is lost.

Not a bad system overall though!

 

[SpitfireW'sale]

We have experienced problems with the Wattson meter. The GEO is also a little over priced for the quality of the unit IMO. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any one manufacturer that has jumped on the opportunity to produce a decent unit for the UK market. I have heard they are less interested in "desktop monitoring" in Germany, hence why the market does not have several third party devices that are of good quality at a good price.

Most of the inverter manufacturers have their own units, but as many installers use 2 or 3 inverter brands, it is difficult to get the best unit to work with different systems.

We major on SolarMax inverters, and they have recently brought out a free app for iphone (Android version to follow soon) that communicates with the inverter wirelessly. This approach seems to me to be the future of monitoring, where inverters are wireless enabled, and any third party can write an app that can communicate with it. I would imagine the manufacturers will resist this however, since it removes a good add on sale for them! We also stock smart meters which have positive and negative points to their use.

If the SolarMax or smart meter option is of interest feel free to get in touch.

 

[dansk]

I'm looking to order a display for my upcoming install. Would the Geo Solo PV be my best option? Inverter will be a Fronius IG TL 3.6.

Yep - there better than most - and i know fronius do a data logger, but i dont know any who uses it.

 

[Graddie]

Re the Current Cost equipment - they have told me that freezing used to be a problem but more recent versions have resolved the issues and it is now very stable. Is yours an older version?

 

[series530]

Sadly no, mine is just a few weeks old.

 

[Graddie]

Oh!

Well, we'll give it a go as it's the only system we've found that can monitor and upload data to the internet to be viewed remotely, without the need for a computer in the chain.

 

[Jim Newmark]

I feel a bit like an interloper here as I am not a professional, only an individual who is looking to monitor energy in from the PV panels and out by domestic use. Piggy backing this thread as well, but the discussion does seem nearly what I was looking for.
The Geo Solo PV looks fine (but expensive) but this is only monitioring energy coming in. I could cope with that, especially as it must be dead accurate as it uses the LED light on the generation meter and am prepared to buy one if there is nothing else. But the idea of the Wattson Solar plus is better with it monitoring both energy in and out - however, surely using clamps is going to be intrinsically inaccurate? Our domestic meter is new and also has a LED. Surely the logical thing would be for the IDEA of the Wattson but both monitor cables, incoming and outgoing, monitoring the relevant LED lights rather than clamps? Are there any such monitors around? Will there be?

 

[series530]

I feel a bit like an interloper here as I am not a professional, only an individual who is looking to monitor energy in from the PV panels and out by domestic use. Piggy backing this thread as well, but the discussion does seem nearly what I was looking for.
The Geo Solo PV looks fine (but expensive) but this is only monitioring energy coming in. I could cope with that, especially as it must be dead accurate as it uses the LED light on the generation meter and am prepared to buy one if there is nothing else. But the idea of the Wattson Solar plus is better with it monitoring both energy in and out - however, surely using clamps is going to be intrinsically inaccurate? Our domestic meter is new and also has a LED. Surely the logical thing would be for the IDEA of the Wattson but both monitor cables, incoming and outgoing, monitoring the relevant LED lights rather than clamps? Are there any such monitors around? Will there be?

It's sort of what I do. I have two EnviRs and each has an Optismart . One connects to the domestic meter and the other connects to the pv meter. I could get by with a single EnviR but having two means that I can instantly see the state of the whole system. Even so, the same limitations apply as I stated above.

 

[Jim Newmark]

Thanks so much for this. I have done some web browsing and it looks like your solution is exactly what I was looking for with an unexpected added bonus of anytime Net access. THAT will impress! Amazing how much time you can save when discussing things with people who actually know!

 

[kadley]

Hi, another DIY piggybacker here. We have a domestic PV system using a SolarMax invertor installed in the loft. I'm looking at ways to monitor my generation and was interested to read about the i-phone app. Is it possibly to connect with the invertor using my home computer (wireless/ethernet/bluetooth) in order to obtain information about my on the spot generation and daily figures etc

 

[SpitfireW'sale]

Hi Kadley - you can direct connect your PC to the inverter via ethernet cable. Then just download free software from solarmax web page, and away you go. Only catch is you need a hard wire for this between inverter and PC. To use their app, you can connect the inverter to either your broadband router, or buy a cheap wireless router and put it in the loft. This will then broadcast a local wireless signal that your iphone or ipad can pick up.

Both options are free (apart from cable or router costs) Your install company should be able to advise you on how to do this, or SolarMax have a helpline that end users (public) can call. Have a look on their web site for details.

 

[sharpener]

Hi Kadley - you can direct connect your PC to the inverter via ethernet cable. Only catch is you need a hard wire for this between inverter and PC. To use their app, you can connect the inverter to either your broadband router, or buy a cheap wireless router and put it in the loft.

This could have been designed for the job and is less than £20:
TP-Link TL-WA500G eXtended Range Wireless Access Point w/ Passive PoE Support

Worked for me straight out of the box, and as you can see from the web page it has a number of other uses. I have mounted mine right next to the inverter and I was pleasantly surprised not to get any EMC problems.

 

[liquidity]

It's sort of what I do. I have two EnviRs and each has an Optismart . One connects to the domestic meter and the other connects to the pv meter. I could get by with a single EnviR but having two means that I can instantly see the state of the whole system. Even so, the same limitations apply as I stated above.

Curious as to what software you're using to upload data to the Internet and then view it?

 

[Vegelen]

Consumers with Transformerless SMA inverters i.e SMA 3000TL can monitor and upload data to PVOutput using bluetooth enabled Linux PC's.

NB: Once SMA-Bluetooth is installed enter the command line command:

cd sma-bluetooth-0.17

to go to SMA-Bluetooths program folder location.

Then enter the command:

./smatool --test

You will then see data from the inverter in 5 minute intervals detailing the output of your solar system.

Data can be extracted from SMA solar invertors and stored in mysql databases and csv files.

This data can be uploaded automatically to PVOutput to display real time output of your system for free.

Hope this information is of some use to any Linux PC users out there.

Installation Debian / Ubuntu Via The Command Line (Konsole)
Pre-requisites Build environment, mysql-server, libbluetooth-dev, libmysqlclient-dev, curl, libcurl3-dev, source code for sma-bluetooth

sudo apt-get install build-essential mysql-server libbluetooth-dev libmysqlclient-dev curl libcurl3-dev

Obtain sma-bluetooth wget http://sma-bluetooth.googlecode.com/files/sma-bluetooth-0.12.test.tgz OR apt-get install mercurial && hg clone https://sma-bluetooth.googlecode.com/hg/ sma-bluetooth

Uncompress tar archive {{{tar zxvf sma-bluetooth-0.12.test.tgz cd sma-bluetooth}}}
Compile sma-bluetooth gcc -lbluetooth -lcurl -lmysqlclient -g -o smatool smatool.c (there is currently no configure step)
Use hcitool scan to locate the inverter bluetooth address
Open smatool.conf.new with a text editor Edit this following the instructions within and save as smatool.conf
Run smatool -v If you get bluetooth signal strength only the password is incorrect. (Mine took about 5 save and run cycles before it worked)
Now edit smatoool.conf to add your mysql admin name and password Run smatool -H localhost -D smatool --INSTALL
Add your smatool user to mysql mysql -h localhost -u admin -p mysql > GRANT select,update,delete,insert ON ‘smatool’ TO ‘smatool'@'localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘secret’; Ctrl-D exits
Edit smatool.conf Change your mysql username and password, add in your latitude and longitude.
Run smatool again and your database should now fill.
Running from cron This requires changing the location of smatool.conf in the config file, but doing this didn’t alter anything, nor did specifying the config file on the command line, so a shell script was written
smatool_run
{{{#!/bin/bash
cd /home/user/sma-bluetooth
./smatool}}}
run each 5 minutess from cron using this line in a crontab 0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * * /home/user/smatool_run
Graphing with rrdtool and cacti to Upload data to PVoutput.org