Afternoon all,
I've been faffing about trying different solutions (spent a fortune!) and I've finally decided to take the plunge with oem!
From the top then, house with a 4kw 16 modules, SunnyBoy 3300 (soon to change to SolarEdge SE3500 with 16 x P300 optimisers), CurrentCost freebie energy monitor and currently have a geo solo pv monitor that came with the install but that doesn't report on import or net usage.
I have also just got an owl intuition-pv, just waiting for the y cable kit to land so that it can cope with the type 2 installation we've got.
I also have a solarimmersion solar diverter - and herein lies the problem as I read through the FAQ on owl's support pages!
The owl does not like diverters :(
They cannot cope with the system using generated leccy rather than chucking it out to the grid.
Something else to sell on Fleabay methinks!
So, looking at openenergymonitor am I right in believing that it doesn't care about diverted loads? If so then the following applies!
I have 2 Pi's not doing a lot at the moment (one original B and a v2 B), and looking at the shop I've got the following as my list of things to buy:
emonTx v3 assembled
Programmer usb to serial
AC-AC Power supply, UK plug
2 x CT Clamps
I also have a variety of hard disks available, broadband and network point..
RFM12Pi (433 or 868MHz? Is one better than the other?)
In an ideal world, I'd like to forego the RFM12Pi and connect the emonTx and Pi directly - is there anything else that I would need the wireless for? My house is a bit hit and miss with wireless hence the preference to go wired.
Can anyone recommend the necessary software/sketches I'd need?
I'm not a novice to Linux and Pi's, but I can mostly follow clear instructions best! As to the firmware for the emonTx, not a clue!
The emoncms I'll tackle but again, used to copy/paste from very helpful instructions across the net!
Thank you all for reading what has probably been written loads of times, but I'd rather get it right first time!
Re: New user alert!
"looking at openenergymonitor am I right in believing that it doesn't care about diverted loads?"
That's correct, if it goes past, it gets measured, direction and all! But one caveat: you need to use one of the continuous monitoring sketches. There's one on Github. The optimised-for-battery-operation sketches ("Discrete Sample") do exactly what they say - sample the power at intervals - so with a diverter switching fairly rapidly, you don't get a true picture of the energy flow.
"RFM12Pi (433 or 868MHz? Is one better than the other?)"
Nobody has proved a consistent performance advantage of one over the other. But if you have radio car keys, find out what band those work on and avoid it like the plague.
"In an ideal world, I'd like to forego the RFM12Pi and connect the emonTx and Pi directly..."
You can do that. http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/node/3872
"I also have a variety of hard disks available..."
Don't try to run emonCMS on an SD card, it will die after a few weeks/months. See Creating a local EmonCMS installation on a Raspberry Pi
"As to the firmware for the emonTx, not a clue!"
Read up on that in Building Blocks. That's where the theory and basic applications info is.
"The emoncms I'll tackle but..."
That's a bit harder. It's in the throes of rapid development and documentation tends to lag behind. The best way is to get stuck in and try, you can always ask here.