Patrick OReilly

Interesting feedback from @Kalahari Cruiser
 
Up in Gauteng we’re having a cool clear winter (the norm for us) so we are benefiting from the solar generation throughout the day. My plant generated 22.2 KWh on 22 June - I kept the load up just to see what I could get from it on the shortest day of the year. But, my sister in the Cape shares your experience (her system is listed in my signature too since I monitor and advise her), so I feel your pain… 😔
Since the manufacturers seem to find it difficult to speak down to us mere mortals, it seems a well-written “Sunsynk/Deye Inverters for Dummies” would be a valuable reference.
Should I try do that…? 🤔 With my schedule it may take a while…

Hi all.

I have scanned all the conversations I could find about the CBI Astute (ASC and ASI) switches, and how to integrate them to Home Assistant. I've managed to get to the point where I have 3 of them working. Somewhat. But I'm hoping someone here knows a bit more than I've been able to figure out so far.

What I have done:
Instead of using the "CBI Home" App, I used the "Tuya Smart" App to sync each device to my home Wifi. I have the Tuya accounts set up (both Dev and App accounts), and so I can control the devices via the Tuya Cloud and App. I have the standard Tuya Integration for HA, installed and working, able to control the switches, and see their power, current and voltage sensors. I have a couple of automations that are able to interact with these as I please. What I'd still like to do...
First:
The CBI switches seem to offer more entities than just the switch, power, current and voltage. But I can't see the other sensors. Does anyone know which is the best "Tuya Switch" to use to correspond with the hardware used by CBI in the Astute switches? I don't remember which Tuya Device I selected for the first one, but for the other two I used "Breaker (Wi-Fi)" under the device options when adding them. This shows 5 entities: switch, voltage, current, power, device restart status. Are there additional sensors? (Perhaps I'm expecting too much?) The App has scheduling capabilities, which must surely be local to the device. But I cannot see any entities that match that capability. Is the scheduling entirely dependent on the Tuya Cloud? The App shows history of consumption over time (per day, month, etc.) But I'm not sure if that data is aggregated in the Tuya Cloud, or on the local device... ? Second:
Use the Local Tuya integration so that I'm not dependent on the Tuya Cloud (and hence my Fibre connection) 24/7. I did install Local Tuya, but I had endless trouble with the first switch. Just could not get HA and the switch to talk. I did not keep notes of the errors, so I'll have to retry this before expecting any more help here. I've parked it for now. I'd like to resolve the above item first. I figure I'll try again soon starting with a fresh install of Local Tuya. Thank you all for so much I've learned from this community already. One day I might be able to be the helper rather than the helpee.   
PS: The three switches I'm using are two of the ASI (Isolators for Geyser and Air Conditioning), and one ASC (Controller for Pool Pump).

@hilt_ctn I finally got around to installing Tuya Local. Much happier!!!! Thank you for the pointer.

The integration found a device config that seems to work well for the CBI switches, and this integration enables you to edit the device configs, so I'm working on those to see if I can fine-tune it any further.

Two thumbs-up.

Thank you @Ronnie1102 I’ll check this out.

Mr @slipx - I'm loving this new feature - very nifty.  And it adopted my personal colour selections automagically!  

I'm very new to HA, and the weirdness of YAML etc., and I've never worked with Python..., but I've been in software all my career (30+ years), and I admire the way you approach your work!  Your methodical thinking shows in the results!

Good work man!

Here's my sunny yellow house running on solar power...

Mr @slipx - I'm loving this new feature - very nifty.  And it adopted my personal colour selections automagically!  

I'm very new to HA, and the weirdness of YAML etc., and I've never worked with Python..., but I've been in software all my career (30+ years), and I admire the way you approach your work!  Your methodical thinking shows in the results!

Good work man!

Here's my sunny yellow house running on solar power...

Hi all.

Thank you @slipx for your awesome work on this flow card. And thanks for the constant updates!!!
I've been snooping here a while and learning a lot from all you guys. I thought I'd share how my card is looking just to add to the "library" of images.

 
As you can tell, I like brighter colors, and @slipx makes that dead easy to configure.

Also, since I prefer the "lite" layout, but it lacks the non_essential load display, you'll notice I've done a 'jippo' and used two essential loads, but I mapped the non-essential and essential to the spots above and below the home, and made sure I have total load on that branch of output from the inverter.  #worksforme. I know this layout is technically 'wrong', but I think it works just fine for a simple logical view of what's happening. 

Thank again for an awesome job @slipx .

Right now, I'm only getting updates every 5 minutes using the integration from @Gary Waterworth. This is fine for monitoring and supporting some automations about when to run my geyser. But I'll be looking into the local direct integration from @kellerza using the RS485 as soon as I get a chance.

Hi all.

Thank you @slipx for your awesome work on this flow card. And thanks for the constant updates!!!
I've been snooping here a while and learning a lot from all you guys. I thought I'd share how my card is looking just to add to the "library" of images.

 
As you can tell, I like brighter colors, and @slipx makes that dead easy to configure.

Also, since I prefer the "lite" layout, but it lacks the non_essential load display, you'll notice I've done a 'jippo' and used two essential loads, but I mapped the non-essential and essential to the spots above and below the home, and made sure I have total load on that branch of output from the inverter.  #worksforme. I know this layout is technically 'wrong', but I think it works just fine for a simple logical view of what's happening. 

Thank again for an awesome job @slipx .

Right now, I'm only getting updates every 5 minutes using the integration from @Gary Waterworth. This is fine for monitoring and supporting some automations about when to run my geyser. But I'll be looking into the local direct integration from @kellerza using the RS485 as soon as I get a chance.

Perhaps it is already hot so the thermostat has switched off the element?
 You’ll only see current when the water cools down and needs to be heated.

Thanks for the info @BritishRacingGreen .
When I get to this I’ll dig deeper to make sure I do it right. I might be reaching out to you… 😊👍

Thanks @kellerza and @Sc00bs for your work on this!

Like @Dunc, I'd be interested in the Sunsynk Dongle option...

Is there any work being done on this? Or is there a fundamental reason why it can't work?

Hi all.

So the "Load" figure on the graphs shows all the load that your Inverter is configured to support. When you set "Limit to Load" then "Load" only shows essential load - because that's what you asked for. When you set "Limit to Home" then "Load" includes non-essential load - again because that's what you asked for.

But I understand your frustration - It would be great to be able to see the essential AND non-essential load shown separately, rather than just lumped together.

Look at this post where I explained my solution using a custom graph inthe Sunsynk monitoring system.  

TLDR: look at the values for P-L1. That is the power flowing across the Inverter's "GRID" port.  Positive means power from grid entering the inverter. Negative means the Inverter is pushing power out to the non-essential loads.

OK, I logged on the service-desk, and it was actioned today - roughly 3 weeks later.

And I got these versions on the Sunsynk 5KW...
SW Ver.  M 3.3.8.4 / S  1.5.1.5 / C E.4.3.0

That’s very doubtful! 😊
(best stay on topic before we are moderated out! 😉)

Thank you.
It does mean that me experience is limited to Sunsynk - but I try to keep life simple where I can. 😊
I’ve also learned that the Dyness batteries’ BMS has a very obvious cell-balancing phase when they charge. When they hit 90% charge they throttle the rate of charge down to about 1KW. This is 0.2C of a single battery. When I later added a second battery in parallel, the limiting was still at 1KW in this phase. Only time will tell whether this makes a real difference to battery life.
 
The other batteries also seem to do a bit of throttling, but only at >98%. That is hardly noticeable in the graphs.

My system updated on 19 June to this same version - so it seems to be the latest - at least as-at 19 June.

You are quite right - while the battery SoC is below your configured minimum. In this case PV goes first to battery, then essential load, then non-essential.
The sequence I mentioned previously is when battery SoC is above the configured minimum.
In my case my minimum SoC is usually at 40% (for load shedding protection), so most of the time the inverter is operating with the battery level above what is required, and so it will feed load before it charges battery.

Hi @VinceG
I’m no expert, just willing to poke my nose around. Looks like you are too… 😊 So - take this from whence it comes!
I presume P-Load is clear to you - power out from the inverter to the essential load, entirely under the inverter’s control.
I find P-L1 and P-External-CT-Total very useful.
P-External-CT-Total Reports power through the CT, so import (+) from, and export (-) to, the grid.
P-L1 seems to report power passing through the inverter’s GRID port. This is essentially the gateway between the inverter and the non-essential load. Positive is power into the inverter (import from non-ess), and negative is power out (export to non-ess).
So when these two show a similar positive value, that’s AC from the grid right into your inverter. When they differ, the difference is what is being consumed by non-essential load circuits. A negative P-L1 means your inverter Is actually sending power out to the non-essential load.
Long story, but I think there’s two answer your question.
Oh - about inverter Max load at 5.5 kw. I think P-inv is your friend for  that one. I’m not sure how to measure pass-through… that would be handy to know.
 

No. I found a way.

First, when you are allowing the inverter to send power out to non-essential load, then the GRID reading is equal to what the CT reads. In other words it should match what your GRID meter is reading.
Second, when you are allowing the inverter to send power out to non-essential load, then the LOAD reading INCLUDES all consumption (LOAD and export through the GRID port).

Now, since all load is in one number, the frustrating part is to answer: "How much load is essential load, and how much is non-essential?". 

So I found after much experimentation that in the custom graph for the Inverter there is a value called "P-L1" which reveals the "Load" (kw) passing through the Inverter's grid port. This will show positive values when grid power is flowing INTO the inverter, and will show negative values when the inverter is exporting power to the non-essential load.

Here's my graph for this morning - look carefully at the period 10-11am. My geyser kicked in (non-essential), and you can see that PV and Battery power were blended by the inverter to EXPORT to the geyser during that period (P-L1 goes negative). Apart from a short spike in load about 10:35am, the GRID (at the CT) stayed on zero while the inverter supplied the geyser. During that spike you can see that the export also reduced, indicating that the load spike was caused by something inside (essential load), maybe a kettle or something.



Also note the small spike about 5am. Battery was on minimum SoC, so the load, grid and P-L1 were all tracking together. When the battery needed a little charge from grid, you can see battery goes negative, but this time P-L1 is positive (with grid), indicating IMPORT through the CT and through the inverter grid port.

For those running "Limit to load", and you want to know how much the nomn-essentials are taking from the Grid - look at the "P-External-CT-Total" setting (disabled in my image above). this will show import from the grid through the CT, while the "P-grid" in that mode will only show what passes through the Inverter's grid port.
 
I hope this helps...
 

No. I found a way.

First, when you are allowing the inverter to send power out to non-essential load, then the GRID reading is equal to what the CT reads. In other words it should match what your GRID meter is reading.
Second, when you are allowing the inverter to send power out to non-essential load, then the LOAD reading INCLUDES all consumption (LOAD and export through the GRID port).

Now, since all load is in one number, the frustrating part is to answer: "How much load is essential load, and how much is non-essential?". 

So I found after much experimentation that in the custom graph for the Inverter there is a value called "P-L1" which reveals the "Load" (kw) passing through the Inverter's grid port. This will show positive values when grid power is flowing INTO the inverter, and will show negative values when the inverter is exporting power to the non-essential load.

Here's my graph for this morning - look carefully at the period 10-11am. My geyser kicked in (non-essential), and you can see that PV and Battery power were blended by the inverter to EXPORT to the geyser during that period (P-L1 goes negative). Apart from a short spike in load about 10:35am, the GRID (at the CT) stayed on zero while the inverter supplied the geyser. During that spike you can see that the export also reduced, indicating that the load spike was caused by something inside (essential load), maybe a kettle or something.



Also note the small spike about 5am. Battery was on minimum SoC, so the load, grid and P-L1 were all tracking together. When the battery needed a little charge from grid, you can see battery goes negative, but this time P-L1 is positive (with grid), indicating IMPORT through the CT and through the inverter grid port.

For those running "Limit to load", and you want to know how much the nomn-essentials are taking from the Grid - look at the "P-External-CT-Total" setting (disabled in my image above). this will show import from the grid through the CT, while the "P-grid" in that mode will only show what passes through the Inverter's grid port.
 
I hope this helps...
 

Yup. I can do the same with timer settings on the Sunsynk.
 If you want to use battery for essential load only, you must set “zero export” and “limit to load”.
if you want to use battery for non-essential too, then set “zero export”, but do NOT set “limit to load”.
 And all of the above are subject to the minimum SoC that is set in your timer. So even when you allow battery to be used for non essential load, it will stop doing so when your minimum SoC is reached. This allows you to preserve capacity for load shedding.
Edit: these rules apply very similarly to the PV production when the Sun is shining. If the battery is above minimum SoC, PV production will be used first for essential load, then non-essential load, then to top up the battery. Often it is doing all three simultaneously.

Hi all.
I run a 5kw Sunsynk. Essentially the same as the Deye, but slightly different software. With Sunsynk I use their software management via the SunsynkConnect App, or their web site, so I’m not familiar with solarman.
Anyway, my reason for responding here is because my original installation was incorrect in that the CT was installed in the right place, but in the wrong direction. That messed with the behaviour when running “zero export”. By simply flipping the CT around the behaviour was corrected.
Lesson: The correct installation of the CT is vital if you Intend to support any loads in the non-essential load part of the system.
Definition: The non-essential load is all those appliances that are connected to the DB, between the CT and the inverter. Usually it would be your geyser(s), oven, and similar high-load items. This is why correct location of the CT matters - it defines the outer boundary of your system, and thus of the non-essential load portion of the system!
There are two important details for the correct installation of the CT:
1) Location: the CT should be reading the flow of power from the Grid into your overall system. So it should be installed on the main grid feed, at your grid meter, OR at your DB where the feed from the meter enters the DB. At this point the CT is able to measure any movement of power between the grid and your system. This data is needed for the inverter to operate correctly.
2) Direction: the CT measurement is directional, and the direction of flow is important information. 1kw import from the grid is NOT the same thing as 1kw export to the grid - obviously. For the CT to read this correctly it must be installed facing the correct way. In the case of the Sunsynk, the CT has an Arrow visibly displayed on its exterior, and when installed this arrow must point TOWARD THE INVERTER.
 
Notes about the settings:
Again, the software on the Sunsynk uses slightly different labels compared to the Deye, but I’m sure you will follow:
Limit to Load: this tells the inverter to support essential load ONLY. No power will be sent to the non-essential load. In this mode, the CT does not really serve any useful purpose.
Zero Export: this tells the inverter to support both essential and non-essential load, but NOT to export anything to the grid. In this mode you can see why we need the CT - the inverter uses the CT to measure flow “at the meter”, and attempts to keep this equal to zero. Nothing in, nothing out.
Selling First: this tells the inverter to export all excess power to the grid. Unless you have a selling agreement with your metro, you don’t want to do this, and you may land yourself in trouble if you do. So as far as I know: in South Africa, don’t use this setting.
 
A final note about how the inverter supports the non-essential load:
My installer tried to give me technical explanations about how the inverter “pushes back against the grid” to feed the non-essential load, manipulating frequency, or voltage, or whatever it does. That is beyond me, since I’m not an electrically trained person. But the way I picture it in my mind is like this:
There are two sources of power into the non-essential load : 1) the grid (in through the CT), 2) the inverter.
Let’s say your geyser kicks in to heat the water, and it pulls power - say 3kw. This will naturally come from the grid, because the inverter is not usually exporting power throughout its input connection. Now immediately the CT informs the inverter that there is 3kw being imported from the grid. The inverter assesses its situation, and since it is the middle of a sunny day it determines that it has excess power (PV production is greater than the load), so the inverter starts to export - let’s say 2kw of PV production to the non-essential load circuit. The CT now reports only 1kw import from grid. The inverter may then decided to also take stored power from the battery and use that. Since the CT is measuring a deficit of only 1kw, the inverter will draw from the battery at only 1kw, exporting that to non-essential load. So within milliseconds the geyser is actually being powered by some PV, some battery, and zero from the grid. Awesome!
Of course, the inverter assesses the situation and adjusts according to your rules about priority, the actual PV production at the time, the battery SoC, the essential load in the rest of the house, etc. Any shortfall will then be filed by the Grid.
I hope this helps!

Thanks for your responses, guys.

You have confirmed my suspicions - I'm not sending money into a black hole like that!

@Nicholas Strachan and @wolfandy and @Scorp007:   Thanks for the feedback and info on the aircon loads.

Regarding your experience with your aircons: Thank you! As with so many things, once someone talks you through it, it makes sense.  So, my "concern" would be with the peak loads that occur when the aircon tries to move the room from one temp to another - but if the room is at the desired temp, then maintaining that becomes a much lower load requirement. So, I might just want to do the big temperature moves using grid power, and then do the maintaining off the inverter.

I'm considering a central aircon system, rather than separate units in select rooms. I'm installing new windows with thicker low-e laminate glass (not double glazed), and I will put a decent layer of insulation in the ceiling.  So, I guess I can expect that if I let the house get warm, then it will take a lot of power to cool it down, (or vice-versa in winter) but if I maintain it at the desired temperature, it will (hopefully) smooth the load to a low enough value to be able to manage on the inverter. And this will no doubt give me more reason to increase battery capacity in due course.

FYI: Given my ambitions, you might wonder why I've not chosen to go with the 8KW Sunsynk. It is actually a strategic decision for two reasons: (1) I want to start with a system that will encourage me learn and to fine-tune my needs and behaviors. It may turn out that it is sufficient to my needs. And I'm a bit OCD, so efficiency is just intriguing to me. (2) But - should I prove that I can/need to use more - and that I can make it cost effective in the long term, I can add another 5 KW inverter in parallel, and then I have plenty capacity as well as redundancy. It looks to me like this is the route Andy has gone... 😉

@wolfandy - thanks for all the input!
I have been feeling the urge   I keep telling myself to optimize what I have before adding to it. But it's not easy!
 
Interesting. I don't have aircons on this site - but I am considering a central aircon installation on another project I'm working for my own future home. What I'm battling to find is meaningful data/guidance on how much power these things actually need - and when. But I suspect I'll be learning by trial and error soon enough.
I'm assuming all those heavy load items (geysers and aircons) are on your non-essential load DB?
With that careful management of load, it looks like you can run on a 5KW inverter - is that correct? or do you have a larger unit?