Derek Jacobs

My #smappee #energy #monitor (circa 2014/2015) recently died. It kept falling off wifi, and now I can't get it to broadcast its internal hotspot at all even when the blinking lights say it should be in pairing mode.

Cracked it open, can't see anything obviously burnt or otherwise, so I'll probably send it off to recycling and look into a more modern solution. Maybe #esphome and that six-channel expandable monitor to log individual circuits?

Have some #circuitboard photos. Looks ARM based?

Jan 2, 2023 at 8:59pmWeb
Show threadDerek JacobsJan 2, 2023
What I'd really like to replace the #smappee with is something that would nicely integrate with the #solar inverters. Unfortunately, the inverters are ~250 feet away from the import/export meter, and about the same from the house's load center. I do have an #RS485 energy monitor on order which is allegedly compatible with the inverters - I'm just not sure how best to connect the two. I've been trying to research if there's a way to wirelessly bridge rs485 with #wifi or #lora but no luck yet.
Show threadDerek JacobsJan 2, 2023
For example, #rs485 to an #esp32 to #mqtt to enable bidirectional comms to another rs485 device... I figured there would be some project that already does a wireless rs485, but have been surprisingly unfruitful in searching. There do appear to be things to get the data into Mqtt, so maybe with some tinkering I can get something to work. #solaredge does support modbus over ip but I don't yet understand if that allows sending data to the inverter or just reading.
Show threadSteven ReedJan 4, 2023
@bluevulpine
Is it actually modbus? If so that should be easily bridgable over IP. Should be premade gadgets out there for a price, or knock one up with a pi zero..?
Show threadSteven ReedJan 4, 2023
@bluevulpine
Ah, nm, just seen your next post!
Show threadDerek JacobsJan 4, 2023

@srtcd424 no worries! The meter I have on order is modbus, but not IP capable.

https://ctlsys.com/support/wattnode-modbus/

And the inverter does appear to expect this device in its documentation for setting up a meter.

https://knowledge-center.solaredge.com/sites/kc/files/connecting-revenue-grade-meter-to-solaredge-devices-na.pdf

Inverter also allows for modbus over IP for monitoring itself.

I'm not yet familiar enough with modbus to know what I can get away with, IP vs RS485.

WNC Power Meters for Modbus - Info - Continental Control Systems, LLC

WattNode® power meters for Modbus measure kW power and kWh energy in 120 to 600 Vac services with currents from 5 to 6,000 amp. Works on 1, 2, or 3 phase wye (phase to neutral) or delta (phase to phase) electrical services. Revenue grade ANSI C12.20 / ANSI C12.1 models available. Learn more...

Continental Control Systems, LLC
Show threadDerek JacobsJan 4, 2023

@srtcd424 I did see some cheap (compared to a spool of shielded direct burial FTP cat6) LORA based relays which would be plug and play; the tinkerer in me wants to try to DIY something with a pair of M5 Atoms: https://docs.m5stack.com/en/atom/atomic485

I suspect the tinkerer might lose this one for the fact it's cold outside and something I can just "plug in" will get the project done vs half-done. 😅

m5-docs

The reference docs for M5Stack products. Quick start, get the detailed information or instructions such as IDE,UIFLOW,Arduino. The tutorials for M5Burner, Firmware, Burning, programming. ESP32,M5StickC,StickV, StickT,M5ATOM.

Show threadJon SJan 3, 2023
@bluevulpine I'm not sure of your use case, but if all you need is an automated meter reading I've had good success with rtlamr and an SDR dongle.
Show threadDerek JacobsJan 3, 2023
@sirbrialliance have a Landis+Gyr meter; from what I've seen, pulling readings from it with SDR isn't trivial due to encoding (but it's been months since I checked on that, I should look again). It does also have Zigbee Smart Energy Profile device support but the utility doesn't support SEP display devices yet.