Consumption, who's using what?

Energy Monitors
#1

What hardware are people using to measure their consumption and upload to PVOUTPUT.org?

Conecting inverters Without data to Pvoutput
#2

Hi,

Cheers.

#3

I use Neuri with four CTs. It measures Net Consumption and Solar Production and tracks well with the electric company’s billing. I have a program running on a Raspberry Pi 3.0 which gathers the consumption data and uploads it to PVOutput every 5 minutes. Installation is straight forward but in my case my main breakers caused a problem with phase identification. This particular breaker swaps the output location causing a problem with the location of the CTs in my case. Due to constriction on the input side I was unable to connect the CT before the breaker making it necessary to connect one CT after the main breaker. As a result I had both CTs on the same phase. Generally this would not be a serious problem since most electrical panels are wired to balance the loads for the two phases. However, my home has some imbalance causing serious errors using the initial installation.
image

#5

i use a flukso it can use clamps or hook a pulse meter to it to get more accurate data.

i have also setup a PI running (measureit or PVoutput integration service) and CurrentCost ENVIR (i have created a walkthrough here)

#6

I use a TED 5000 (The Energy Detective) system with four CTs monitoring net and PV Generation to calculate consumption which I upload to PVOutput along with system voltage with a custom script every 5 minutes. My generation data is obtained directly from Enphase through PVOutput. I also have a Rainforest Eagle that I query using it’s local api to obtain Utility quality daily net energy. I use another custom script to get the daily generation from Enphase and then calculate and upload Net and Consumption to PVOutput. For me, this gives me the best mix of granularity (via TED) and accuracy (via Eagle).

#7

I use a Nansen Vector PAR at home. It has a PIMA output serial port. PIMA is required by brazilian laws to smart meters used by distribution companies. I can read it using an ESP8266, in my case, ESP sends data to local MQTT server for later process (and someday send it to pvoutput automatically since I did not write code for that yet). This setup is very simple if distribution give you access to the meter what is not common here in Brazil. I bought same unit company had installed and put mine behind it inside home so I can access the PIMA port. I though this would be a good idea because I would have same readings as my distribution company but it was not. First those meters are way too expensive, second they are big! I had to make room for it on the panel inside home and it was not easy. Third, PIMA protocol only allows counters to update in a KWh increment since our legislation only permits company to charge a full KWh increment. Hence, every counter on serial interface updates only in KWh increments what is really terrible for 5 minute plotting in a low consumption building.

Due to my experience above, at my mom´s inverter I will install a Eastron SDM630 with 3 CTs (3-phase / 4 wire setup). This Eastron meter is not the cheapest but it can measure 3-phase with neutral and report through Modbus protocol (same protocol used by Growatt/Canadian Solar - mom´s inverter) and all measurements has Wh or decimal Wh resolution. I already have it but not installed since I am writing the code to read it and send to RPi/Database/Pvoutput/Whatever, during this period it is mount in a JIG near my laptop with a dummy load (lamp) attached to it.

#8

I use an Flukso. https://www.flukso.net/about
Easy to set up with the supplied current clamps. I have a couple of DIN rail pulse meters so I use those instead into the pulse inputs.
Worked ok for the last few years. :slight_smile:
2 of these . One for consumption, one for solar input
https://www.schnap.com.au/kilowatt-hour-meter/single-phase-electric-kilowatt-hour-meter/single-phase-45a-4790.html

#9

I used to use a Efergy power meter, with CT clamps on the 3-phase power leads into the distribution board (https://efergy.com/). Now I use the ‘load’ statistics coming out of the Tesla PW2 battery controller.

#10

I use an emonpi with clamps on solar , import lines , a pulse reader on the Icredit meter and a voltage input. The Emonpi has very sophisticated software to log the inputs and upload to the cloud .

#11

Rainforest Eagle 200 -->Wattvision–>PVOutput. Simple once set up. Fairly accurate. That is, it tracks closely with what the power company (SCE) reports.

1 Like
#12

I have the same Eaton panel. I’d assume in your final installation you moved the lower-left CT to the right-side bar the “L1” side to properly measure both of your phases.

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This is a picture with both Neurio and Sense CTs clamped to the top (utility-side) and bottom (load-side) of the main-breaker. The two white-ones at the right-side are the Sense solar CTs, as well as the Neurio ones.

My original reference: https://solarprofessional.com/sites/default/files/articles/images/3_Soleil-photo-3.jpg

Meanwhile on-topic, I measure consumption with Neurio, Sense, and Rainforest Eagle-200. I don’t lose data if there’s any failure of one (which happens occasionally). Custom Qt/C++ app running on Raspberry Pi 3-B probes all 3 APIs and then uploads to PVoutput via latter’s API.

I use Neurio as my primary generation/consumption data, and put Sense/Rainforest-Eagle/SunPower-Monitor data in Extended Data.

I’ve found SCE has only RECENTLY lined up with the Eagle’s data. There used to be largish few kWh variance a day – lately it’s between 0 to 10 watts.

#13

Yes, I moved the CT to the same position…I just didn’t want to take a new picture.
I have the split core instead of the clamps which make the installation a little more difficult.
I upload data to PVOutput using a RPi3 as well. I am also working on a monitor version which records the power by phases but haven’t got a stable version yet. Right now I have to do it in a speadsheet…but it gives me something to do everyday.:sunglasses:
I have combined SDG&E data with the power company billing data in the table below. It shows the biggest differences in Conusmption values…Not sure why but amount to less than 1kWh.

Neurio Total SolarEdge SDGE Differnce from Neurio
Consumption 14.490 14.172 -2.25%
Generation 37.070 36.586 1.32%
Net -22.580 -22.414 0.74%
#14

Hello… I have a program running on a Raspberry Pi 3.0 which gathers the consumption data and uploads it to PVOutput every 5 minutes. Installation is straight forward but in my case my main breakers caused a problem with phase identification.

low volume pcb assembly

EAGLE push service down?
#15

lwsmiser and nushrike,

Are the both of you happy with your Neurio monitors? The TED5000 system I have is getting old and unreliable and I’m thinking about replacing it. I currently grab data from the TED locally via a local API and I understand that the Neurio has a similar capability. How does the Neurio report energy values? i.e. Do they reset daily or are do they accumulate continuously. Any other issues/complications?

I have a linux box that I currently use to poll the TED and upload to PVOutput using Perl. I’d likely stick with that approach over using an RPi3 as the linux box is on all the time as it also my home media server.

Any other thoughts you might have would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Phil

#16

Installed an Eastron sdm230 meter to monitor consumption ($50 from alibaba delivered)…it’s a bi-directional meter and links to our zevercloud system via modbus.

Issue is that PVoutput hasn’t been configured to auto upload the data so can’t see it in pvoutput yet

Second issue is that the solution only records consumption when the system is active so no understanding of what we’re using in the evening.

Output only occurs ever 20mins as is the standard with zeversolar inverters… If someone knows a way to change this it would be appreciated.

#17

I am quite happy with my Neurio system. It is very reliable and keeps data in the cloud. I also download daily and save in a spreadsheet for reference and backup. That takes about 20 minutes a day. I have had a couple of glitches with losses of some small chunks of data. In those cases the gaps are resolved by retrieval from the Neurio cloud and live uploads to PVOutput.
If I had to do it over again I probably would go with a modbus meter which is already integrated into my SolarEdge 7600 inverter. It would have cost about the same and much easier since it sends data through the SolarEdge setup.

#18

Based on what I’ve read and heard, I’ll probably end up going with a Neurio in the near future. I like the fact that it has a public API and someone has already written a Perl wrapper so integration into my current scripts should be pretty easy.

Incidentally, I believe that the issues I’ve been having with my TED system are related to a dead clock battery. We had an outage last week and when power was restored, the TED clock read Jan 2000 and it won’t update via NTP if its date/time is to far from the NTP date/time. The battery of course is not replaceable without breaking out the soldering iron and even then people report minimal success.

#19

I just ordered an IotaWatt USA bundle. 2x 200A Current taps and 2x 100 Solar other current taps. It has not arrived yet, but it looked interesting so I took a chance. Not sure how I will integrate stats to PvOut yet, but that is what makes it fun. They are now available from US source. Check out the community page for the link. I ordered mine from UK before I saw the new supplier source.
Not sure if I can post a link, but I will try and see what happens.

#20

flukso_wiring%20consumption
For consumption use where it says Flukso sensor.
To see both solar and consumption put extra cc on solar inverter lead.
Make changes in PVoutput input settings
I use s Flukso to monitor my solar and consumption. Read straight off PVoutput
https://www.pvoutput.org/intraday.jsp?id=1335&sid=4380

Bazzle

#21

I’m using two DIN kWh meters, one for consumption, one for production.
Both are fitted with a Youless energy monitor that send the data to PVoutput.

http://www.youless.nl/winkel.html
Sorry, they seem to only have a Dutch language site.

It is simple, effective and consumes very little power.