Am I looking for a standard, accessible API, commitment standards to access?

I have to buy into battery and inverter tech soon…before I get up to speed with HA but I want to ensure I can link them

  • SayCyberOnceMore@feddit.ukEnglish
    6·
    9 days ago

    Depending on the capability of the devices, yes, look for existing open standard protocols like MQTT, RS232 / RS485, Modbus, etc

    You might need a device between the inverter / battery management system to convert to something that HA can read (ie a serial I/O port)

    If you’re only wanting to read the energy, there are other choices like using current clamps with something like EmonPi from OpenEnergyMonitor - this is what I’m doing as my inverter is just not practically accessible.

    • Squizzy@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      9 days ago

      Goodwe is what has been fitted but the app is neutered and I dont have admin on my unit which is BS. I was looking at others and they have integrations but, is there anything that means I have access forever or could it always be taken away?

      I aim to have nothing online, only feeding to HA and tunnell into that from two phones.

      • SayCyberOnceMore@feddit.ukEnglish
        2·
        9 days ago

        I don’t recall what we have, but the installer kindly set us up to report our usage to the chinese company so we could use their app.

        Needless to say, after commissioning I blocked it’s internet access.

        I didn’t bother with trying to read the data from the unit, I just went with the EmonPi which feeds direct into HA, so I’m 100% in control of my data and my energy.

        • Squizzy@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          2·
          9 days ago

          That looks good, I guess with the inverter it is only monitoring. The Heat Pump one looked good too but I would probably like to be able to manage not just monitor.

          How easy did you find setup?

          • SayCyberOnceMore@feddit.ukEnglish
            1·
            9 days ago

            Getting it up & running is just loading their software onto a Pi SD card, so easy

            I recall there was a bit of a faff learning how it creates “feeds” from sensor data - it’s just different, not complex, but took a couple of attempts to get it how I wanted it (which included some calibration of the sensors… I recall it was reporting a few W of solarpower at night)

            But… since then it’s been running for years with a few updates, so really stable.

            Then HA came along, and there’s an integration that pulls the data in, so I can see grid & solar power…

            Perhaps I wasn’t clear at the beginning though - I don’t have batteries (yet…), so I’m not montioring that, but I am presume it would be a similar process. I just didn’t want you to purchase something without checking it fits your exact needs first.

            Have a search / post on their forum, they’re really friendly there and someone might have already discussed this…