Enphase Envoy with Zigbee adapter

[SunStalker]

I just had my 7.4kW Enphase system installed in SoCal. The system included the Envoy to do the monitoring through myEnlighten. I was surprised to see that you can't see your electricity usage to compare it to your solar generation. It appears my SCE smart meter has the option to use Zigbee to communicate with a monitoring device. Has anyone used the Enphase Zigbee USB adapter with the Envoy to monitor energy usage?

The only other option I have seen is to buy the Rainforest devices and ultimately aggregate the data over to pvoutput.org.

Any help is appreciated.

[sensij]

I think that USB stick is intended to talk specifically to the re-branded meter that Enphase sells. It isn't on the list of compatible devices maintained by SCE, but it might be worth contacting their HAN group to be sure. See this page for more info.

The RFA Eagle will definitely work, and PVOutput does an decent job at backing out the gross consumption from the generation and net consumption data it receives.

[DanKegel]

This may be neither here nor there, but I think newer cellphones have "low power bluetooth", which is rebranded Zigbee. (EDIT: I was wrong, don't believe it ) That opens the door to somebody writing an app that can talk to zigbee solar equipment, which might be useful for logging or troubleshooting. I haven't seen any such apps yet, and connection via internet is always going to be more popular, but it's worth remembering as a possibility.

[tehan]

This may be neither here nor there, but I think newer cellphones have "low power bluetooth", which is rebranded Zigbee. That opens the door to somebody writing an app that can talk to zigbee solar equipment, which might be useful for logging or troubleshooting. I haven't seen any such apps yet, and connection via internet is always going to be more popular, but it's worth remembering as a possibility.

Bluetooth Low Energy, or Bluetooth 4.0, is not rebranded Zigbee: it's a completely different air interface. I haven't seen any monitoring devices that work with the Zigbee that is available in most new meters. There are devices available that attach to the meter using its optical output (which most new meters also have). See for example http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Line-Inno.../dp/B0028LS5GA

[DanKegel]

I stand corrected. That's what I get for trusting rumors I heard seven years ago.
( A quick search finds several pages that mention Zigbee being different from bluetooth 4, e.g.
https://gigaom.com/2013/08/30/zigbee...yone-hates-it/ )

[SunEagle]

Bluetooth Low Energy, or Bluetooth 4.0, is not rebranded Zigbee: it's a completely different air interface. I haven't seen any monitoring devices that work with the Zigbee that is available in most new meters. There are devices available that attach to the meter using its optical output (which most new meters also have). See for example http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Line-Inno.../dp/B0028LS5GA

I have the Blue Line equipment installed on my meter along with their WiFi transmitter. I collect my usage (almost real time graphs) and it gets sent to a website called Plotwatt. Not as accurate as the TED or some of the Zigbee equipment but it provides me enough data to know when my AC or pool pump is on as well as it compares my usage to others in my Zip code.

[jimqpublic]

I would wait until SCE rolls out their new & improved "green button" interface, supposedly this month. That will give you net use/production.

In theory you will be able to link it with your Enlighten data to see gross use and gross production through a site like PVOUTPUT.org. Currently you can separately download SCE and Enlighten hourly data and dump them into a spreadsheet, but it's a rather manual and not real-time process.

No extra hardware needed.

I corresponded with someone who is using a "Rainforest Eagle" to read his SCE smartmeter via Zigbee, then uploading to wattvision.com, from which pvoutput.org can grab the data. Sounded way too complicated to bother with for my idle curiousity.

[rwb1921]

I would wait until SCE rolls out their new & improved "green button" interface, supposedly this month. That will give you net use/production.

In theory you will be able to link it with your Enlighten data to see gross use and gross production through a site like PVOUTPUT.org. Currently you can separately download SCE and Enlighten hourly data and dump them into a spreadsheet, but it's a rather manual and not real-time process.

No extra hardware needed.

I corresponded with someone who is using a "Rainforest Eagle" to read his SCE smartmeter via Zigbee, then uploading to wattvision.com, from which pvoutput.org can grab the data. Sounded way too complicated to bother with for my idle curiousity.

So I guess it is not real easy to get our daily energy usage once switching to solar? I am with SDGE and they said they only track the net amount with people on solar, not usage anymore.

[tehan]

So I guess it is not real easy to get our daily energy usage once switching to solar? I am with SDGE and they said they only track the net amount with people on solar, not usage anymore.

Smart meters measure both grid usage and grid export. Once you have a smart meter, you should be able to get this data in 15 minute intervals from an online API; we can already do this in Texas. You will then need to combine the smart meter data and your PV system data to profile your usage. Something like:

my usage = pv production + grid usage - grid export

I'm sure in the near future there will be nice websites that will do this for you. In the interim, you can probably do it yourself but it may require some effort.

[sensij]

Using the Rainforest Automation Eagle in SCE or SDG&E territory is not really complicated. A couple months ago, PVOutput even built in an uploader that talks directly to Rainforest Automation's servers, so the pass through Wattvision is no longer required. For $100, if you are interested in the data, it is a nice way to get it while we wait to see what the poco's do with green button, and whether their solution is compatible with aggregating sites like PVOutput that can calculate gross consumption from generation and net consumption. If you want to see gross consumption (not net), I don't think there is a better solution on the market today.

[rwb1921]

Using the Rainforest Automation Eagle in SCE or SDG&E territory is not really complicated. A couple months ago, PVOutput even built in an uploader that talks directly to Rainforest Automation's servers, so the pass through Wattvision is no longer required. For $100, if you are interested in the data, it is a nice way to get it while we wait to see what the poco's do with green button, and whether their solution is compatible with aggregating sites like PVOutput that can calculate gross consumption from generation and net consumption. If you want to see gross consumption (not net), I don't think there is a better solution on the market today.

Thanks for the info. Need to get familiar with PVOutput first. All new to me. I will check that out then the Rainforest device, which I see on Amazon for $100 or they have $69 model. But looks like $100 model is what you are talking about I am guessing. It is a white unit.

[sensij]

One less expensive device is the Raven, which is usb and would require another layer of hardware and software (Windows, or raspberry pi, for example) to upload to PVoutput. The Eagle is standalone.

What are you using for the source of your generation data?

[rwb1921]

One less expensive device is the Raven, which is usb and would require another layer of hardware and software (Windows, or raspberry pi, for example) to upload to PVoutput. The Eagle is standalone.

What are you using for the source of your generation data?

Not sure what you mean by source?

[sensij]

Not sure what you mean by source?

Are you getting data from the inverter? If so, what kind?

[rwb1921]

Are you getting data from the inverter? If so, what kind?

I have Enphase inverters. Can they work with this type of setup?