Solax X Hybrid, My new inverter and PVOutput question

Inverters Solax
#10

Hi Mike,

All working perfectly and pulling data from Solax and pushing to PVOutput without issue. I’ll come up with a crib sheet to help others get it working on Windows and post it in here. At some point I’m going to get a Raspberry PI and attempt to get it up and running on that…

Thanks again for creating this - It will help anyone with a Solax Inverter get their data to PVOutput as trying to get answers from Solax themselves is like trying to get blood from a stone !!

Cheers,

Dan.

#11

Nice, good to hear it works now. Your time offset being 8 hours, i’m guessing you’re in the UK? (I’m in NL). It turns out there were some problems with ssl connections on Windows, which is why the push didn’t work properly. The latest fix includes the certificate to verify the connection properly, so it works on Windows as well.

It should work equally well on a RPi, running on a Debian box over here, but it’s pretty much the same.

haha, yeah, totally agree on Solax there. I was a bit surprised that even though the inverter is connected to my network, it doesn’t provide some kind of API / web interface to allow me to locally access data.

Please note, in the latest version of the code, there’s a variable: $enableExtendedValue. If you are a donater at PVOutput.org, and set that to true, it will also push data on the individual trackers.

Mike

#12

Hi Guys,
I have been a PvOutput user since 2011. We used it to upload data from a small 1.5 kw SMA system from Bayswater, Vic Its was very usefull and I did it with help from a member from Adelaide.
Its still viewable, JM_Solar. We relocated to the ACT and now I have a Solax x Hydbrid with battery, 5 kw. I upload the data manually at the end of each month but would like to able to use the auto function thats been discussed here. As I am not a programmer, I would like some help in trying to achieving that. I see that someone from Melbourne has bee able to do that successfully with a 3 kw system.
This link is probably what I need but I wouldn’t know where to start (Yes, you may find the code here: https://gitlab.com/borft/solax-php 7) So any help would be great.
Thanks in advance,

#13

Hi,

If you are using Windows, I may be able to help you. If you are using Unix/Linux type system then Mike will be best placed to help. Let me know.

Regards,

Dan.

#14

Hi Dan, I am using windows 10 and would love to have your help with this. I was successful with our previous solar (SMA) in Bayswater Vic, now live in the ACT

#15

OK…
Few things you need to do first…

  1. Download and install PHP for windows (https://windows.php.net/download) - Download VC15 Thread-safe (second box down on the above page). You will need to have the Visual Studio Redistributable installed (see box on the left hand side of the same page - Note VC15 and x64 for 64bit Windows 10 or x86 32bit Windows 10.
    Once you have installed PHP you will need to make some modifications to the PHP.ini file which will be in the PHP7 directory (if you want, message me directly on “Sunnyview” PVOutput your email address and I will send you my ini file which has the correct options in it.
  2. You will need to download and install PostgreSQL (https://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/).
    Once this is installed, you will need to add a new system variable. Right click on “This PC” on your windows screen, select properties, then select “Advanced system settings”). On the page that comes up system select environment variables. A new page will come up and under System Variables, Click NEW, and type PGUSER for variable name and postgres for variable value (note postgres is in lowercase).
    At this point you have the basic needs for Mikes scripts to run, but you need to do a few things first.
  3. Open a CMD prompt and type psql and press return (This will get you into the SQL Database).
  4. Type Create Database solaxdb; and press return (note the ; at the end of the line). It will take a few moments to run.
  5. type \q and press return to leave PSQL
  6. You now need to download Mikes scripts from GitHub. Once you have done all the above, drop me a line for the next steps as a few modifications need to be made to some of Mikes scripts (i.e. API, Site ID, Username and password for Solax Website, etc.) to get it working for you…Let me know if you have any issues with the above.

Dan.

2 Likes
#16

Note - When installing PostgreSQL it will ask for a username (postgres) and a password - Make a note of the password as you will need to know this !!! (use default of postgres for username and postgres for password if you want).

#17

If you have trouble finding me, i’m - https://pvoutput.org/list.jsp?userid=68116

#18

Excellent manual Dan, I’ll add a link to this thread in the readme for any future users :slight_smile:

#19

Cheers Mike, not complete yet, but working on it :slight_smile: Will upload full instructions once I get John up and running. Do you want me to email you the PHP.ini file, so you can upload that for Windows users to your GitHub (message me direct your email address if you do) ?

Dan.

#20

Thanks for the guide, my Solax pv installation was put in last week and I’m going to get my reading in pvoutput as well.

Is the PHP.ini file already uploaded somewhere by any chance?

#21

Hi Karazz,

Please contact me directly through messaging (https://pvoutput.org/list.jsp?userid=68116) with your email address and I will send you the PHP.ini file (for windows 10).

Just as a note, Mike (borft) has amended the code so it now works on a Raspberry Pi - I have been running it on my Pi for a few days now without issue.

Dan.

#22

Just as a note, Mike (borft) has amended the code so it now works on a Raspberry Pi - I have been running it on my Pi for a few days now without issue.

Is there a guide for the Pi installation?

#23

Hi Borft,
I’m trying to use your scripts on Windows but I’m getting some PHP errors when I try and connect to the Solax Portal. Is the code for querying data from the Solax Portal finished or is it still in development?

Matt.

#24

Hi Franky_v,

No I haven’t created an installation guide for the Pi yet. You will need some knowledge of configuring Raspbian (adding modules to PHP for instance and setting up cron jobs) in order to get it running. You will also need an external Postgres SQL server (which the code has been written for, it should be able to be ported to other SQL servers) as running an SQL server on an SD card is not a good idea (I have my Postgres SQL server running on a QNAP NAS).

From memory, the minimum additional PHP modules/extensions you need are (assuming you have a Postgres SQL server):-

curl
openssl
pdo_pgsql
pgsql

I am not a Raspbian/*nix expert by any stretch of the imagination and learning as I go (my area of expertise is Windows Server), but I will try to help if I can. Mike may also be able to provide some help as he is a *nix (Debian) expert. I have had the code running on my Pi now since January 2019 and it works very well (the only issue is the reliability of the SolaxCloud Portal, which is rubbish to put it mildly !)

Regards,

Dan.

#25

Hi mattedwards,

This is Dan and I got it working on Windows. Are you trying to get it working with the Solax “CLOUD” portal or the SolaxPortal - The “CLOUD” works and the “SolaxPortal” is still under development I believe ?

Dan.

#26

Hi Dan,
I’m trying to get it working with SolaxPortal. https://www.solax-portal.com/.

#27

Hi Matt,

Yep, this works in a very different way to the Cloud portal and I know Mike has been trying to get it working. I was helping a guy in Australia who uses the Portal, but we had to stop until Mike gets time to look at the code. It is not straightforward…

All the best,

Dan.

#28

Hi Dan,
I’m in Australia as well so I’m happy to help out with testing if needed.

Matt.

#29

I moved and so i have a new solar install with an solax.

I used to upload with a youless monitor that was easy but this is next level stuff for me.

At this moment i’m stuck @ modifying de PHP.ini file ( can’t find it and don’t know how to modify )

These are the moments im realising software isnt my strong suit.

Can somebody help me out, because i would really like to get solaxcloud data into pvoutput…

Thanks in advance