SolarEdge API Issue

[TAZ427]

I was planning on writing some python scripts to pull some information together that I want to view but isn't done conveniently on the SolarEdge Monitoring Page. I found the API, and decided to do a quick check with

https://monitoringapi.solaredge.com/sites/list?size=5&searchText=Lyon&sortProperty=name&sort Order=ASC&api_key=<MY_GEN_KEY>

I generated a key, clicked save, exited the account page and went back to the account page to verify it still retained the same KEY_ID, and based on the API documentation https://www.solaredge.com/sites/defa...toring_api.pdf, I did a simple request to provide my site information, and got the following, indicating count of 0, which I take to mean no site found for that key_id.

I assume I would have expected to see a count of 1, and a Site ID, but I'm not. So, am I misunderstanding something?

[library]

I can't help you solve that problem but I can tell you the solaredge api is kind of limited. I put together some pretty good metrics gathering using this perl script that polls the inverter over modbus-tcp every minute from my home server.

https://github.com/tjko/sunspec-monitor

It runs every minute and logs to a csv daily. I then use pandas (python data library) to crunch the stats like I want. The perl script will also query any modbus meters you have on the inverter. So my consumption and production meters also log every minute. I really like the minute granularity. I'm not a web designer but I put a little page together for my own use.


Screen Shot 2018-06-06 at 9.20.54 AM.png

And if it's the current day it shows the last minute of panel output. Not quite as nice as the solaredge dashboard which updates every 5-10 seconds.

Screen Shot 2018-06-06 at 9.21.26 AM.png

[TAZ427]

Thanks! I do have a consumption meter.

Looking at the Perl source, it looks like the Solar Edge Inverters and Node Meters support Modbus/TCP which is nice to know. So I can gather data from within the LAN w/o their API.

Do you keep a computer on 24/7 for this? I like the granularity, but not sure about keeping something on 24/7 for this. May get a low power Mini Computer and toss Linux on it if I go this route.

I was thinking of pulling the data stored at the end of each day and process it, not sure of the granularity of detail it stores (the default App/Web interfaces granularity isn't that great to be honest.) One of the reasons that I want this data is I'm on TOU plan w/ Peak/Off-Peak during weekdays, summer rates differ from winter rates, ... And I want to calculate my own Net Metered balance and compare to PG&E's at the end of the year.

I'll look into Pandas for Py as well for the data crunching.

[library]

I run about 200 watts of computer gear 24/7, I'm a Linux sysadmin and run lots of things. You could run the data gathering every minute on a raspberry pi if you wanted and that would only be about 2 watts load.

If you want to accurately calculate your own balances you'll want to buy a second wattnode meter and put it in as a production meter. The solaredge inverter is about 3-4% optimistic with production compared to reality. I have a POCO meter on the production side and after a month added a wattnode to the inverter to measure production. The wattnode is dead on with the POCO meter over a month period. I bought the wattnode meters off ebay like everyone else I imagine. Good prices, only $50 for a kit. It came with the cheaper non accu-ct current transformers but after consulting the spec sheets I simply took the 100 amp current transformer and ran my inverter output lines though it twice (ie loop it through). That makes it a 50 amp current transformer and more accurate.

The accu-ct's spec sheet indicates it's accurate from 1-100% of rated amperage. The standard ones are 10-100%. In practice with my baseload of 500 watts in my house, the looped 100 amp less accurate version is doing just fine.

[TAZ427]

I run about 200 watts of computer gear 24/7, I'm a Linux sysadmin and run lots of things. You could run the data gathering every minute on a raspberry pi if you wanted and that would only be about 2 watts load.

If you want to accurately calculate your own balances you'll want to buy a second wattnode meter and put it in as a production meter. The solaredge inverter is about 3-4% optimistic with production compared to reality. I have a POCO meter on the production side and after a month added a wattnode to the inverter to measure production. The wattnode is dead on with the POCO meter over a month period. I bought the wattnode meters off ebay like everyone else I imagine. Good prices, only $50 for a kit. It came with the cheaper non accu-ct current transformers but after consulting the spec sheets I simply took the 100 amp current transformer and ran my inverter output lines though it twice (ie loop it through). That makes it a 50 amp current transformer and more accurate.

The accu-ct's spec sheet indicates it's accurate from 1-100% of rated amperage. The standard ones are 10-100%. In practice with my baseload of 500 watts in my house, the looped 100 amp less accurate version is doing just fine.

Thanks! I was just looking into whether I could possibly do it with Arduino - Never ran Perl on Arduino, but looks like it's not a big deal to do so. I've got some cheap WiFi Arduino boards (NodeMCU ESP8266 boards) laying around (a bunch of different projects I've developed.) The biggest issue is limited storage on board. May see if I can dump it to a NAS, and toss an old drive on my router (I don't normally use NAS at home, but if someone can get through my 1st level firewall, they're more than welcome to my energy usage.)

[TAZ427]

Well, I figured out what was wrong. The API Key that the website provided was the wrong API Key. Why they have multiple points to get the API Key, and why one is valid and one isn't, is beyond me. And they place I got it wasn't described as the way to get either the User API key (which isn't the one that's needed) nor the Site API key (which is the one that is needed.)

I had click on my the 'Welcome Chad C....' drop down, went to My Accounts, and setup the API Key there. This is wrong.

Instead you need to go 'Admin -> Site Access' and generate and save the API Key on that page.