SolarEdge to PVoutput Setup Question

[Poway]

Question 1: Where do I get
API Key and
Site ID
for my system? Installer gave me a link to online monitoring but can't find info there.

Question 2: I came across discussion that I should set my Polling interval to 15 minutes (to stay within SolarEdge limits) but set PVoutput display interval to 5 minutes. Not sure how to do this as there is just a pull down for "Poll Interval" that allows either 5 or 15 minutes. What is the proper setting to allow display at 5 minute intervals?


Thanks

[ButchDeal]

Question 1: Where do I get
API Key and
Site ID
for my system? Installer gave me a link to online monitoring but can't find info there.

Question 2: I came across discussion that I should set my Polling interval to 15 minutes (to stay within SolarEdge limits) but set PVoutput display interval to 5 minutes. Not sure how to do this as there is just a pull down for "Poll Interval" that allows either 5 or 15 minutes. What is the proper setting to allow display at 5 minute intervals?


Thanks

#2 If you donate to pvoutput it supposedly will collect 5 minute data every 15 minutes.

for #1 i think you need to be owner but you probably can ask the installer to do these steps for you:

you generate a API key that we can put into our account.

https://monitoringapi.solaredge.com/

here are the instructions:
In the Site Admin > Site Details tab > API Access section:
1 Acknowledge reading and agreeing to the SolarEdge API Terms & Conditions.
2 Click Generate API key.
3 Copy the key.
4 Click Save.
5 Use the key in all API requests

[sensij]

Here are the settings I recommend with PVOutput, if you are using the Eagle device to monitor net consumption and are pushing it to Wattvision. There is a new option now in PVoutput to connect to the Eagle directly, but I've found so far that the Wattvision data series has fewer holes in it. I'll get back around to looking at the Eagle upload again in another week or two.

PVO Settings2.JPG

The net delay setting is something of a mystery... 15 min makes sense, but I don't see much difference at 5 min.

Note that you need to be a PVOutput donator to use the 5 min status interval. Otherwise, 15 min status interval needs to be selected. 10 or 15 min polling interval needs to be selected in all cases to comply with the API limit (max 200 requests per day).

Your daily energy reported by PVOutput will typically be around 3% lower than what shows on your SolarEdge portal. It is annoying, but you can trust that the PVOutput result is the more accurate one.

Also, on cloudy days, you should expect the calculated consumption chart to be pretty noisy / lots of weird spikes. This is mostly due to poor synchronization between the inverter and the Eagle, and mostly because SE uses a different averaging scheme than PVOutput does. Not much to do about it at this time.

As ButchDeal said, the API and Site ID should come from your installer. It is free and easy, hopefully they get back to you promptly with it.

[Poway]

... if you are using the Eagle device to monitor net consumption and are pushing it to Wattvision. There is a new option now in PVoutput to connect to the Eagle directly, but I've found so far that the Wattvision data series has fewer holes in it. I'll get back around to looking at the Eagle upload again in another week or two.

Thanks I am using Eagle->WattVision->PVoutput appears to work well over the last few weeks. And I kind of like the zoom features etc. in WattVision so I think will keep using this approach.

... Note that you need to be a PVOutput donator to use the 5 min status interval. Otherwise, 15 min status interval needs to be selected. 10 or 15 min polling interval needs to be selected in all cases to comply with the API limit (max 200 requests per day).

I am a donator... Thanks for sending image of settings (cleared up 5 min status vs 15 min polling). Brings up a couple of questions though.

1) Do you know why everyone (including you) selects 15 min polling vs. 10 min polling
2) I have had Wattvision/Weather as primary. Do I now make the Solaredge the primary? If so where does weather come in (tied to the Primary or Secondary)?



Thanks for the help... And all you're efforts (see your communications on PVoutput forum) trying to get monitoring working smoothly.

[sensij]

You're welcome!

The 15 min polling interval is mostly inertia from when 15 min status interval was required, which was the only configuration allowed up until a couple weeks ago. 10 min polling would result in 24 * 6 = 144 API requests, which still gives you some room for other requests if you are looking at other things occasionally (inverter temp, for instance). 10 min should be fine.

A month ago, SolarEdge needed to be primary, having it secondary was not supported. I have not done any testing with Wattvision primary and SolarEdge secondary, so I can't say how it would differ from the SolarEdge primary / Wattvision secondary configuration I posted.

The weather always ties to the Primary, and should not be affected by whether you choose to have SolarEdge or Wattvision in that slot. You can, if you'd like, create a 2nd "test" system with the alternate configuration, and compare them. If you do, the polling interval will need to be 15 min, so that 24* 4 = 96 API calls go to each system and you stay below the 200 max.

[pianogineer]

A question on this. I just received an API key from my installer, but it doesn't seem to be working.

Is the Site ID the "Id" value shown in the "site summary" box on the right of the dashboard when I log in on the SolarEdge monitoring portal? Mine is 6 digits. I'm testing the key using the URL provided by pvoutput, that site ID, and the API key provided by my installer (32 ASCII characters).

https://monitoringapi.solaredge.com/equipment/<Site Id>/list?api_key=<API Key>

I'm getting a 403 forbidden error when I test that, though. Does this test URL work for others?

Thanks!

[sensij]

Yes, it works for me. 403 error usually means the API key has a typo. If you have the API key correct but the wrong site id, you would get an "XML Parsing Error" - Not Authorized.

[pure3d2]

Sensij, do you know if it's possible to get weather temperature and inverter temperature to show up on the same system?

When I first set up my system, enabling both caused one to overwrite the other.

[sensij]

Sensij, do you know if it's possible to get weather temperature and inverter temperature to show up on the same system?

When I first set up my system, enabling both caused one to overwrite the other.

There is no built-in way to get both temperatures to show up for a single system. If you have an always-on computer or a Raspberry Pi, it isn't too hard to build your own uploader that could take one of the temperatures and upload it to an extended data field. An easier workaround is to just create a 2nd system, using Wunderground temp for one and inverter temp for the other. If you want to put the same SolarEdge data on both systems you'll need to have a 10 min poll interval to be sure that you don't violate the 300 API calls/day limit (you can still keep the status interval at 5 min).

[pianogineer]

Yes, it works for me. 403 error usually means the API key has a typo. If you have the API key correct but the wrong site id, you would get an "XML Parsing Error" - Not Authorized.

Thanks! Got a new API key from my installer and all is working now. Not sure what was up with the first one...

[BFW577]

I just set my system up on pvoutput. I donated to have the 5 minute update and inverter temperature data. I dont want to exceed the solaredge api request limit. I have the live settings set to 5 mins and the solar edge poll interval set to 15 mins. My data is showing up at 5 mins intervals even though I have the solaredge poll set to 15 mins. Does it take the data every 15 mins and then update it in 5 min intervals?

[JRqwertyui]

quick question if I may rabbit trail from the conversation; What features does PVOutput provide that Solar Edge monitoring doesn't provide ?

[sensij]

I just set my system up on pvoutput. I donated to have the 5 minute update and inverter temperature data. I dont want to exceed the solaredge api request limit. I have the live settings set to 5 mins and the solar edge poll interval set to 15 mins. My data is showing up at 5 mins intervals even though I have the solaredge poll set to 15 mins. Does it take the data every 15 mins and then update it in 5 min intervals?

You won't exceed the API limit if you are only running one system. At a 5 minute polling rate, 300 API calls would cover 25 hours... more than you need for one day of data.

But, yes, if you set the Solaredge polling interval to 15 min, and the status interval to 5 min, SolarEdge will be providing three data points each time it is polled, and PVOutput will display those points in 5 min increments.

I lot of what I wrote earlier in the thread is out of date, there have been changes in how PVOutput handles temp and voltage. Wunderground temp and Inverter temp are both supported now, if one of them is piped to the extended data fields (V7-V12).

[sensij]

quick question if I may rabbit trail from the conversation; What features does PVOutput provide that Solar Edge monitoring doesn't provide ?

PVOutput can integrate a variety of sources of consumption data, so that net consumption (as seen by the meter) and true consumption (including self-consumption from the PV system) can be recorded. SolarEdge can do this, but only if you use the Wattnode power meter wired in directly to the inverter.

PVOutput allows easy comparison to other systems in your area. Especially if there is one with similar azimuth and tilt, it can be a nice quick reference to verify your system is performing as it should. The ability to creates "Teams" is a nice extension of this... there are over 100 systems in San Diego part of the same team, so to the extent that nearby systems have the same weather (not a perfect assumption), you can see the differences in production due to the differences in array orientation, shade, equipment selection, etc.

[ButchDeal]

quick question if I may rabbit trail from the conversation; What features does PVOutput provide that Solar Edge monitoring doesn't provide ?

some nicer graphs and consolidation with third party consumption monitoring. as well as comparison with other sides and the predictive curve on daily graphs.