I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in monitoring
and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
connection, but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
meter/breaker box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter
when that gets installed?
I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi to log
the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something at the
other end to monitor it.
The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor, which
runs on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to
the free service at pvoutput.org.
So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is monitoring
the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the
grid. I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
since it's apparently digital.
There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has wifi
and does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler
to do it all in once device.
You could have a look at the Open Energy Monitor project. An entirely open
source, wireless based energy monitor. It has been used to monitor utility
power within the home, PV and also heat pump performance.
They have attracted quite a large international community, and all of their
hardware, firmware and server code is open source.
Most of the modules are Arduino compatible, but they have a new development
running the server application on a Raspberry Pi.
Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
pricy.
And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
Clamp meters work anyway.
<fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
> I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in monitoring
> and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
> usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
> I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485 connection,
> but for some reason that has been run into the back of the meter/breaker
> box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that gets
> installed?
> I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi to log
> the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
> monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something at the
> other end to monitor it.
> The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor, which runs
> on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to the
> free service at pvoutput.org.
> So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is monitoring
> the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the grid.
> I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor since
> it's apparently digital.
> There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
> Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has wifi and
> does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler to do
> it all in once device.
> Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
> Thanks
> Joel
> --
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I see no reason why you can't use the rs485, as far as I know it's just one
way rs232 so all you have to do is open the connection and just read the
output. (plugging it directly into the rPie, without adapter)
On Friday, November 2, 2012, buzz wrote:
> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
> pricy.
> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
> two examples:
> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
> hassle )
> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
> Clamp meters work anyway.
> Buzz.
> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
> monitoring
> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
> connection,
> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the meter/breaker
> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that gets
> > installed?
> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi to
> log
> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something at
> the
> > other end to monitor it.
> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor, which
> runs
> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to the
> > free service at pvoutput.org.
> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
> cases
> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
> monitoring
> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the
> grid.
> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
> since
> > it's apparently digital.
> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
> wifi and
> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler to
> do
> > it all in once device.
> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
> > Thanks
> > Joel
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to
> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com <javascript:;>.
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com <javascript:;>.
> > For more options, visit this group at
> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
> To post to this group, send email to hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com<javascript:;>
> .
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com <javascript:;>.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
On Friday, November 2, 2012, Luke Hovington wrote:
> I see no reason why you can't use the rs485, as far as I know it's just
> one way rs232 so all you have to do is open the connection and just read
> the output. (plugging it directly into the rPie, without adapter)
> If this is the case, rPie would be ideal.
> On Friday, November 2, 2012, buzz wrote:
> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
> pricy.
> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
> two examples:
> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
> hassle )
> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
> Clamp meters work anyway.
> Buzz.
> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
> monitoring
> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
> connection,
> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the meter/breaker
> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that gets
> > installed?
> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi to
> log
> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something at
> the
> > other end to monitor it.
> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor, which
> runs
> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to the
> > free service at pvoutput.org.
> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
> cases
> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
> I see no reason why you can't use the rs485, as far as I know it's just
> one way rs232 so all you have to do is open the connection and just read
> the output. (plugging it directly into the rPie, without adapter)
> If this is the case, rPie would be ideal.
> On Friday, November 2, 2012, buzz wrote:
>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>> pricy.
>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>> two examples:
>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>> hassle )
>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>> Buzz.
>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Hi all,
>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>> monitoring
>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>> connection,
>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the meter/breaker
>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that gets
>> > installed?
>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi to
>> log
>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something at
>> the
>> > other end to monitor it.
>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor, which
>> runs
>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to
>> the
>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
>> cases
>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>> monitoring
>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the
>> grid.
>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
>> since
>> > it's apparently digital.
>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
>> wifi and
>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler
>> to do
>> > it all in once device.
>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>> > Thanks
>> > Joel
>> > --
>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>> Groups
>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>> > To post to this group, send email to
>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>> > For more options, visit this group at
>> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>> --
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>> "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
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>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
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>> For more options, visit this group at
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>> --
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> .
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
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If you want to go the clamp meter route, check out the currentcost meter -
I bought mine from smartnow.com.au and I'm happy as with it. Puts out XML
over serial and can take one "main" transmitter with three clamps and up to
9 other inputs, either inline power meters (which they sell on that site)
or more clamp meters.
James
On 2 November 2012 21:09, James Churchill <pel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Nooooooo. Firstly, don't confuse RS232 with TTL/3v3 serial - one has up to
> 25V signalling, the other is 5/3v.
> Also, RS485 uses differential signalling as opposed to the single ended
> RS232 - you might be confusing it with RS-422.
> - James
> On 2 November 2012 20:26, Luke Hovington <lu...@hovo.id.au> wrote:
>> I see no reason why you can't use the rs485, as far as I know it's just
>> one way rs232 so all you have to do is open the connection and just read
>> the output. (plugging it directly into the rPie, without adapter)
>> If this is the case, rPie would be ideal.
>> On Friday, November 2, 2012, buzz wrote:
>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>> pricy.
>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>> two examples:
>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>> hassle )
>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>> Buzz.
>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > Hi all,
>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>> monitoring
>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>> connection,
>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>> meter/breaker
>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that
>>> gets
>>> > installed?
>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi
>>> to log
>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something
>>> at the
>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor,
>>> which runs
>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to
>>> the
>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
>>> cases
>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>>> monitoring
>>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the
>>> grid.
>>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
>>> since
>>> > it's apparently digital.
>>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
>>> wifi and
>>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler
>>> to do
>>> > it all in once device.
>>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>>> > Thanks
>>> > Joel
>>> > --
>>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>> Groups
>>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>> > To post to this group, send email to
>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>> > For more options, visit this group at
>>> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>> Groups "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
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>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
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>>> --
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Thanks Ken, and I didn't realise we had people from the UK on our mailing
list!
This project looks good. I have arduinos and experience with them too, it
just seems that a R.Pi with wifi is simpler all-in-one solution, and
probably cheaper considering the cost of wifi shields, etc.
My problem is that there seems to be a number of these energy monitoring
projects or products, both proprietary and open source, and I can't tell
which is best or if they're all basically equivalent. After that it just
comes down to cost and effort involved in implementing it.
On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 7:37 PM, Ken Boak <ken.b...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Joel,
> Firstly, Hi from UK.
> You could have a look at the Open Energy Monitor project. An entirely
> open source, wireless based energy monitor. It has been used to monitor
> utility power within the home, PV and also heat pump performance.
> They have attracted quite a large international community, and all of
> their hardware, firmware and server code is open source.
> Most of the modules are Arduino compatible, but they have a new
> development running the server application on a Raspberry Pi.
> They have just released an Arduino shield to convet an Arduino into a 4
> channel power monitor.
> I hope that this may be of interest
> Ken
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
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I would probably use a USB adapter like the one I linked for the RS485
rather than try to connect directly to the R.Pi, besides making it plug and
play, it might save the Pi if there is some kind of surge.
On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 9:09 PM, James Churchill <pel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Nooooooo. Firstly, don't confuse RS232 with TTL/3v3 serial - one has up to
> 25V signalling, the other is 5/3v.
> Also, RS485 uses differential signalling as opposed to the single ended
> RS232 - you might be confusing it with RS-422.
> - James
> On 2 November 2012 20:26, Luke Hovington <lu...@hovo.id.au> wrote:
>> I see no reason why you can't use the rs485, as far as I know it's just
>> one way rs232 so all you have to do is open the connection and just read
>> the output. (plugging it directly into the rPie, without adapter)
>> If this is the case, rPie would be ideal.
>> On Friday, November 2, 2012, buzz wrote:
>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>> pricy.
>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>> two examples:
>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>> hassle )
>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>> Buzz.
>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > Hi all,
>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>> monitoring
>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>> connection,
>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>> meter/breaker
>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that
>>> gets
>>> > installed?
>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi
>>> to log
>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something
>>> at the
>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor,
>>> which runs
>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to
>>> the
>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
>>> cases
>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>>> monitoring
>>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the
>>> grid.
>>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
>>> since
>>> > it's apparently digital.
>>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
>>> wifi and
>>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler
>>> to do
>>> > it all in once device.
>>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>>> > Thanks
>>> > Joel
>>> > --
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>>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>> > To post to this group, send email to
>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
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On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 9:15 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
> If you want to go the clamp meter route, check out the currentcost meter -
> I bought mine from smartnow.com.au and I'm happy as with it. Puts out XML
> over serial and can take one "main" transmitter with three clamps and up to
> 9 other inputs, either inline power meters (which they sell on that site)
> or more clamp meters.
I don't really fancy locking up my data in a device, in fact I don't really
see the need for the screen thing at all. I'm happy with logging to a local
or online service and viewing the data in a browser, in fact that is likely
to be much more useful and flexible. Can you do that?
> On 2 November 2012 21:09, James Churchill <pel...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Nooooooo. Firstly, don't confuse RS232 with TTL/3v3 serial - one has up
>> to 25V signalling, the other is 5/3v.
>> Also, RS485 uses differential signalling as opposed to the single ended
>> RS232 - you might be confusing it with RS-422.
>> - James
>> On 2 November 2012 20:26, Luke Hovington <lu...@hovo.id.au> wrote:
>>> I see no reason why you can't use the rs485, as far as I know it's just
>>> one way rs232 so all you have to do is open the connection and just read
>>> the output. (plugging it directly into the rPie, without adapter)
>>> If this is the case, rPie would be ideal.
>>> On Friday, November 2, 2012, buzz wrote:
>>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>>> pricy.
>>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>>> two examples:
>>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>>> hassle )
>>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>>> Buzz.
>>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> > Hi all,
>>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>>> monitoring
>>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
>>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>>> connection,
>>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>>> meter/breaker
>>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that
>>>> gets
>>>> > installed?
>>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi
>>>> to log
>>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee
>>>> to
>>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something
>>>> at the
>>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor,
>>>> which runs
>>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to
>>>> the
>>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
>>>> cases
>>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>>>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>>>> monitoring
>>>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to
>>>> the grid.
>>>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
>>>> since
>>>> > it's apparently digital.
>>>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>>>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
>>>> wifi and
>>>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler
>>>> to do
>>>> > it all in once device.
>>>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>>>> > Thanks
>>>> > Joel
>>>> > --
>>>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>> Groups
>>>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>>> > To post to this group, send email to
>>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>>> > For more options, visit this group at
>>>> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>>>> --
>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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>>>> --
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> Thanks Ken, and I didn't realise we had people from the UK on our mailing
> list!
> This project looks good. I have arduinos and experience with them too, it
> just seems that a R.Pi with wifi is simpler all-in-one solution, and
> probably cheaper considering the cost of wifi shields, etc.
> My problem is that there seems to be a number of these energy monitoring
> projects or products, both proprietary and open source, and I can't tell
> which is best or if they're all basically equivalent. After that it just
> comes down to cost and effort involved in implementing it.
> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 7:37 PM, Ken Boak <ken.b...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Joel,
>> Firstly, Hi from UK.
>> You could have a look at the Open Energy Monitor project. An entirely
>> open source, wireless based energy monitor. It has been used to monitor
>> utility power within the home, PV and also heat pump performance.
>> They have attracted quite a large international community, and all of
>> their hardware, firmware and server code is open source.
>> Most of the modules are Arduino compatible, but they have a new
>> development running the server application on a Raspberry Pi.
>> They have just released an Arduino shield to convet an Arduino into a 4
>> channel power monitor.
>> I hope that this may be of interest
>> Ken
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Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the trouble
is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with the
data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not one
that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
> pricy.
> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
> two examples:
> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
> hassle )
> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
> Clamp meters work anyway.
> Buzz.
> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
> monitoring
> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
> connection,
> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the meter/breaker
> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that gets
> > installed?
> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi to
> log
> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something at
> the
> > other end to monitor it.
> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor, which
> runs
> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to the
> > free service at pvoutput.org.
> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
> cases
> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
> monitoring
> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the
> grid.
> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
> since
> > it's apparently digital.
> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
> wifi and
> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler to
> do
> > it all in once device.
> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
> > Thanks
> > Joel
> > --
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> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to
> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
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Clamp meters just give an analogue signal... volts I think based on amps
running through the line they're clamped on... mental blank.
As for the data, it's up to you how you do it - there's been a whole load
of different solutions offered in this thread. I think pachube was
mentioned - it's a good place to send stats to if you want a simple
solution as a start.
James
On 3 November 2012 12:53, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the trouble
> is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with the
> data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not one
> that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>> pricy.
>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>> two examples:
>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>> hassle )
>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>> Buzz.
>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Hi all,
>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>> monitoring
>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>> connection,
>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the meter/breaker
>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that gets
>> > installed?
>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi to
>> log
>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something at
>> the
>> > other end to monitor it.
>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor, which
>> runs
>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to
>> the
>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
>> cases
>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>> monitoring
>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the
>> grid.
>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
>> since
>> > it's apparently digital.
>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
>> wifi and
>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler
>> to do
>> > it all in once device.
>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>> > Thanks
>> > Joel
>> > --
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>> Groups
>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>> > To post to this group, send email to
>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
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Somewhat relatedly, years ago I saw an article where an electrician had
wired up current sensors to *every single power point and light* in his
house, and collected that data into some monitoring solution. So obviously
he had very good info on what used power and how to minimise it. But it
would have been a huge effort and expense.
A smarter system was one where a guy monitored just the whole power for the
house, or may it was per-circuit, and although multiple devices were using
power at once, he applied signal analysis and could readily identify the
usage of typical devices as they powered on; lights were constant, the
fridge comes on suddenly for short periods, the air con has a bit of a wave
to it. From that he could tell how much power the majority of typical
devices used, and how much they cost over time, without having to monitor
every point.
I just went to check now, and we're putting power into the grid (but not
getting paid for it yet until Energex installs the new meter). A cloud went
over and it slowed down and nearly stopped at power-neutral. So right now
during the day we're using less than 900W, which is good for our future
power bills.
fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the trouble
> is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with the
> data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not one
> that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>> pricy.
>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>> two examples:
>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>> hassle )
>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>> Buzz.
>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Hi all,
>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>> monitoring
>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>> connection,
>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the meter/breaker
>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that gets
>> > installed?
>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi to
>> log
>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something at
>> the
>> > other end to monitor it.
>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor, which
>> runs
>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to
>> the
>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
>> cases
>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>> monitoring
>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the
>> grid.
>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
>> since
>> > it's apparently digital.
>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
>> wifi and
>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler
>> to do
>> > it all in once device.
>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>> > Thanks
>> > Joel
>> > --
>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>> Groups
>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>> > To post to this group, send email to
>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>> > For more options, visit this group at
>> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
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>> To post to this group, send email to
>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>> For more options, visit this group at
>> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
I'm closer to the second guy, but once I've added a few more per-circuit
sensors I'll be at a middle ground. An example of what I graph constantly
is here: http://yaleman.org/power.html and I can tell when someone's
cooking, the hot water system's on or one of our fridges is running. The
bottom graph shows my bedroom, with the laptop/fan overnight being the only
load.
Most of the time we sit at 4-600w depending on whether computers and or
fridges are running.
James
On 3 November 2012 13:03, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Somewhat relatedly, years ago I saw an article where an electrician had
> wired up current sensors to *every single power point and light* in his
> house, and collected that data into some monitoring solution. So obviously
> he had very good info on what used power and how to minimise it. But it
> would have been a huge effort and expense.
> A smarter system was one where a guy monitored just the whole power for
> the house, or may it was per-circuit, and although multiple devices were
> using power at once, he applied signal analysis and could readily identify
> the usage of typical devices as they powered on; lights were constant, the
> fridge comes on suddenly for short periods, the air con has a bit of a wave
> to it. From that he could tell how much power the majority of typical
> devices used, and how much they cost over time, without having to monitor
> every point.
> I just went to check now, and we're putting power into the grid (but not
> getting paid for it yet until Energex installs the new meter). A cloud went
> over and it slowed down and nearly stopped at power-neutral. So right now
> during the day we're using less than 900W, which is good for our future
> power bills.
> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Joel Byrnes <
> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the trouble
>> is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with the
>> data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not one
>> that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
>> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>> pricy.
>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>> two examples:
>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>> hassle )
>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>> Buzz.
>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > Hi all,
>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>> monitoring
>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>> connection,
>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>> meter/breaker
>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that
>>> gets
>>> > installed?
>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi
>>> to log
>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee to
>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something
>>> at the
>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor,
>>> which runs
>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to
>>> the
>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
>>> cases
>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>>> monitoring
>>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to the
>>> grid.
>>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
>>> since
>>> > it's apparently digital.
>>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
>>> wifi and
>>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler
>>> to do
>>> > it all in once device.
>>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>>> > Thanks
>>> > Joel
>>> > --
>>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>> Groups
>>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>> > To post to this group, send email to
>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>> > For more options, visit this group at
>>> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>> Groups "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>> To post to this group, send email to
>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>> For more options, visit this group at
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
> To post to this group, send email to hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com
> .
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
Cool :) so you're monitoring the power point circuit going to your bedroom
specifically?
So you have that little screen that shows usage, but instead use the XML
feed for more data? That might work. I just thought it was a bit expensive
for the base unit, but I need do a a full costing of different solutions.
On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 1:07 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
> I'm closer to the second guy, but once I've added a few more per-circuit
> sensors I'll be at a middle ground. An example of what I graph constantly
> is here: http://yaleman.org/power.html and I can tell when someone's
> cooking, the hot water system's on or one of our fridges is running. The
> bottom graph shows my bedroom, with the laptop/fan overnight being the only
> load.
> Most of the time we sit at 4-600w depending on whether computers and or
> fridges are running.
> James
> On 3 November 2012 13:03, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com>wrote:
>> Somewhat relatedly, years ago I saw an article where an electrician had
>> wired up current sensors to *every single power point and light* in his
>> house, and collected that data into some monitoring solution. So obviously
>> he had very good info on what used power and how to minimise it. But it
>> would have been a huge effort and expense.
>> A smarter system was one where a guy monitored just the whole power for
>> the house, or may it was per-circuit, and although multiple devices were
>> using power at once, he applied signal analysis and could readily identify
>> the usage of typical devices as they powered on; lights were constant, the
>> fridge comes on suddenly for short periods, the air con has a bit of a wave
>> to it. From that he could tell how much power the majority of typical
>> devices used, and how much they cost over time, without having to monitor
>> every point.
>> I just went to check now, and we're putting power into the grid (but not
>> getting paid for it yet until Energex installs the new meter). A cloud went
>> over and it slowed down and nearly stopped at power-neutral. So right now
>> during the day we're using less than 900W, which is good for our future
>> power bills.
>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Joel Byrnes <
>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the
>>> trouble is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with
>>> the data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not
>>> one that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
>>> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>>> pricy.
>>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>>> two examples:
>>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>>> hassle )
>>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>>> Buzz.
>>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> > Hi all,
>>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>>> monitoring
>>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house power
>>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>>> connection,
>>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>>> meter/breaker
>>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that
>>>> gets
>>>> > installed?
>>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi
>>>> to log
>>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee
>>>> to
>>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something
>>>> at the
>>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor,
>>>> which runs
>>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging to
>>>> the
>>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in some
>>>> cases
>>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>>>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>>>> monitoring
>>>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to
>>>> the grid.
>>>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
>>>> since
>>>> > it's apparently digital.
>>>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>>>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
>>>> wifi and
>>>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems simpler
>>>> to do
>>>> > it all in once device.
>>>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>>>> > Thanks
>>>> > Joel
>>>> > --
>>>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>> Groups
>>>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>>> > To post to this group, send email to
>>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>>> > For more options, visit this group at
>>>> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>>>> --
>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>> Groups "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>>> To post to this group, send email to
>>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>>> For more options, visit this group at
>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>> To post to this group, send email to
>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>> For more options, visit this group at
>> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
> To post to this group, send email to hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com
> .
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
Yeah, it's connected to a machine that's always on for various reasons, so
I have a perl script which takes the XML and parses it into something I can
feed into RRDtool.
The person I got the script off has a cacti monitor which imports the data
and allows analysis. I haven't decided which way I'm going, because I've
got other plans for the data as well.
I looked at emoncms and the various open-source solutions but for the price
this one seems to be the least effort.
James
On 3 November 2012 13:40, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Cool :) so you're monitoring the power point circuit going to your bedroom
> specifically?
> So you have that little screen that shows usage, but instead use the XML
> feed for more data? That might work. I just thought it was a bit expensive
> for the base unit, but I need do a a full costing of different solutions.
> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 1:07 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
>> I'm closer to the second guy, but once I've added a few more per-circuit
>> sensors I'll be at a middle ground. An example of what I graph constantly
>> is here: http://yaleman.org/power.html and I can tell when someone's
>> cooking, the hot water system's on or one of our fridges is running. The
>> bottom graph shows my bedroom, with the laptop/fan overnight being the only
>> load.
>> Most of the time we sit at 4-600w depending on whether computers and or
>> fridges are running.
>> James
>> On 3 November 2012 13:03, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>>> Somewhat relatedly, years ago I saw an article where an electrician had
>>> wired up current sensors to *every single power point and light* in his
>>> house, and collected that data into some monitoring solution. So obviously
>>> he had very good info on what used power and how to minimise it. But it
>>> would have been a huge effort and expense.
>>> A smarter system was one where a guy monitored just the whole power for
>>> the house, or may it was per-circuit, and although multiple devices were
>>> using power at once, he applied signal analysis and could readily identify
>>> the usage of typical devices as they powered on; lights were constant, the
>>> fridge comes on suddenly for short periods, the air con has a bit of a wave
>>> to it. From that he could tell how much power the majority of typical
>>> devices used, and how much they cost over time, without having to monitor
>>> every point.
>>> I just went to check now, and we're putting power into the grid (but not
>>> getting paid for it yet until Energex installs the new meter). A cloud went
>>> over and it slowed down and nearly stopped at power-neutral. So right now
>>> during the day we're using less than 900W, which is good for our future
>>> power bills.
>>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Joel Byrnes <
>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the
>>>> trouble is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with
>>>> the data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not
>>>> one that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
>>>> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>>>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>>>> pricy.
>>>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>>>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>>>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>>>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>>>> two examples:
>>>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>>>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>>>> hassle )
>>>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>>>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>>>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>>>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>>>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>>>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>>>> Buzz.
>>>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> > Hi all,
>>>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>>>> monitoring
>>>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house
>>>>> power
>>>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>>>> connection,
>>>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>>>> meter/breaker
>>>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that
>>>>> gets
>>>>> > installed?
>>>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and wifi
>>>>> to log
>>>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered XBee
>>>>> to
>>>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires something
>>>>> at the
>>>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor,
>>>>> which runs
>>>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging
>>>>> to the
>>>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in
>>>>> some cases
>>>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>>>>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>>>>> monitoring
>>>>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to
>>>>> the grid.
>>>>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty poor
>>>>> since
>>>>> > it's apparently digital.
>>>>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>>>>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also has
>>>>> wifi and
>>>>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems
>>>>> simpler to do
>>>>> > it all in once device.
>>>>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>>>>> > Thanks
>>>>> > Joel
>>>>> > --
>>>>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>>> Groups
>>>>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>>>> > To post to this group, send email to
>>>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>>>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>>>> > For more options, visit this group at
>>>>> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>>>>> --
>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>>> Groups "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>>>> To post to this group, send email to
>>>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>>> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>>>> For more options, visit this group at
>>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>> Groups "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>> To post to this group, send email to
>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>> For more options, visit this group at
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> Yeah, it's connected to a machine that's always on for various reasons, so
> I have a perl script which takes the XML and parses it into something I can
> feed into RRDtool.
> The person I got the script off has a cacti monitor which imports the data
> and allows analysis. I haven't decided which way I'm going, because I've
> got other plans for the data as well.
> I looked at emoncms and the various open-source solutions but for the
> price this one seems to be the least effort.
> James
> On 3 November 2012 13:40, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com>wrote:
>> Cool :) so you're monitoring the power point circuit going to your
>> bedroom specifically?
>> So you have that little screen that shows usage, but instead use the XML
>> feed for more data? That might work. I just thought it was a bit expensive
>> for the base unit, but I need do a a full costing of different solutions.
>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 1:07 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
>>> I'm closer to the second guy, but once I've added a few more per-circuit
>>> sensors I'll be at a middle ground. An example of what I graph constantly
>>> is here: http://yaleman.org/power.html and I can tell when someone's
>>> cooking, the hot water system's on or one of our fridges is running. The
>>> bottom graph shows my bedroom, with the laptop/fan overnight being the only
>>> load.
>>> Most of the time we sit at 4-600w depending on whether computers and or
>>> fridges are running.
>>> James
>>> On 3 November 2012 13:03, Joel Byrnes <
>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Somewhat relatedly, years ago I saw an article where an electrician had
>>>> wired up current sensors to *every single power point and light* in his
>>>> house, and collected that data into some monitoring solution. So obviously
>>>> he had very good info on what used power and how to minimise it. But it
>>>> would have been a huge effort and expense.
>>>> A smarter system was one where a guy monitored just the whole power for
>>>> the house, or may it was per-circuit, and although multiple devices were
>>>> using power at once, he applied signal analysis and could readily identify
>>>> the usage of typical devices as they powered on; lights were constant, the
>>>> fridge comes on suddenly for short periods, the air con has a bit of a wave
>>>> to it. From that he could tell how much power the majority of typical
>>>> devices used, and how much they cost over time, without having to monitor
>>>> every point.
>>>> I just went to check now, and we're putting power into the grid (but
>>>> not getting paid for it yet until Energex installs the new meter). A cloud
>>>> went over and it slowed down and nearly stopped at power-neutral. So right
>>>> now during the day we're using less than 900W, which is good for our future
>>>> power bills.
>>>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Joel Byrnes <
>>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the
>>>>> trouble is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with
>>>>> the data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not
>>>>> one that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
>>>>> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>>>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>>>>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>>>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>>>>> pricy.
>>>>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not heard
>>>>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>>>>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>>>>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>>>>> two examples:
>>>>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>>>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>>>>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>>>>> hassle )
>>>>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>>>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>>>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the Active
>>>>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>>>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>>>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>>>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>>>>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>>>>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>>>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>>>>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>>>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT and
>>>>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>>>>> Buzz.
>>>>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>>>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> > Hi all,
>>>>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>>>>> monitoring
>>>>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house
>>>>>> power
>>>>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>>>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>>>>> connection,
>>>>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>>>>> meter/breaker
>>>>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when that
>>>>>> gets
>>>>>> > installed?
>>>>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and
>>>>>> wifi to log
>>>>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered
>>>>>> XBee to
>>>>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires
>>>>>> something at the
>>>>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>>>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor,
>>>>>> which runs
>>>>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging
>>>>>> to the
>>>>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>>>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in
>>>>>> some cases
>>>>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>>>>>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>>>>>> monitoring
>>>>>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to
>>>>>> the grid.
>>>>>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty
>>>>>> poor since
>>>>>> > it's apparently digital.
>>>>>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>>>>>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also
>>>>>> has wifi and
>>>>>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems
>>>>>> simpler to do
>>>>>> > it all in once device.
>>>>>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>>>>>> > Thanks
>>>>>> > Joel
>>>>>> > --
>>>>>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>>>> Groups
>>>>>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>>>>> > To post to this group, send email to
>>>>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>>>>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>>>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>>>>> > For more options, visit this group at
>>>>>> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>>>> Groups "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to
>>>>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>>>> hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>>>>> For more options, visit this group at
>>>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
>>>> --
>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>> Groups
That's why it's going into rrdtool for now, and once I've finished
something else I'm working on I'll set it up to cram it into a compressed
but lossless data format straight from XML instead of xml -> csv -> rrdtool
:)
James
On 3 November 2012 19:12, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com>wrote:
> As long as you can get the data out, you can do whatever with it,
> including sending to multiple services until you choose one :)
> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 3:17 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
>> Yeah, it's connected to a machine that's always on for various reasons,
>> so I have a perl script which takes the XML and parses it into something I
>> can feed into RRDtool.
>> The person I got the script off has a cacti monitor which imports the
>> data and allows analysis. I haven't decided which way I'm going, because
>> I've got other plans for the data as well.
>> I looked at emoncms and the various open-source solutions but for the
>> price this one seems to be the least effort.
>> James
>> On 3 November 2012 13:40, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>>> Cool :) so you're monitoring the power point circuit going to your
>>> bedroom specifically?
>>> So you have that little screen that shows usage, but instead use the XML
>>> feed for more data? That might work. I just thought it was a bit expensive
>>> for the base unit, but I need do a a full costing of different solutions.
>>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 1:07 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
>>>> I'm closer to the second guy, but once I've added a few more
>>>> per-circuit sensors I'll be at a middle ground. An example of what I graph
>>>> constantly is here: http://yaleman.org/power.html and I can tell when
>>>> someone's cooking, the hot water system's on or one of our fridges is
>>>> running. The bottom graph shows my bedroom, with the laptop/fan overnight
>>>> being the only load.
>>>> Most of the time we sit at 4-600w depending on whether computers and or
>>>> fridges are running.
>>>> James
>>>> On 3 November 2012 13:03, Joel Byrnes <
>>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Somewhat relatedly, years ago I saw an article where an electrician
>>>>> had wired up current sensors to *every single power point and light* in his
>>>>> house, and collected that data into some monitoring solution. So obviously
>>>>> he had very good info on what used power and how to minimise it. But it
>>>>> would have been a huge effort and expense.
>>>>> A smarter system was one where a guy monitored just the whole power
>>>>> for the house, or may it was per-circuit, and although multiple devices
>>>>> were using power at once, he applied signal analysis and could readily
>>>>> identify the usage of typical devices as they powered on; lights were
>>>>> constant, the fridge comes on suddenly for short periods, the air con has a
>>>>> bit of a wave to it. From that he could tell how much power the majority of
>>>>> typical devices used, and how much they cost over time, without having to
>>>>> monitor every point.
>>>>> I just went to check now, and we're putting power into the grid (but
>>>>> not getting paid for it yet until Energex installs the new meter). A cloud
>>>>> went over and it slowed down and nearly stopped at power-neutral. So right
>>>>> now during the day we're using less than 900W, which is good for our future
>>>>> power bills.
>>>>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Joel Byrnes <
>>>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the
>>>>>> trouble is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with
>>>>>> the data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not
>>>>>> one that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
>>>>>> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>>>>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>>>>>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>>>>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>>>>>> pricy.
>>>>>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not
>>>>>>> heard
>>>>>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part of
>>>>>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>>>>>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>>>>>> two examples:
>>>>>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>>>>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>>>>>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>>>>>> hassle )
>>>>>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>>>>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>>>>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the
>>>>>>> Active
>>>>>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>>>>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>>>>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>>>>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back across
>>>>>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>>>>>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>>>>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>>>>>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>>>>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT
>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>>>>>> Buzz.
>>>>>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>>>>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> > Hi all,
>>>>>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>>>>>> monitoring
>>>>>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house
>>>>>>> power
>>>>>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>>>>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>>>>>> connection,
>>>>>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>>>>>> meter/breaker
>>>>>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when
>>>>>>> that gets
>>>>>>> > installed?
>>>>>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and
>>>>>>> wifi to log
>>>>>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered
>>>>>>> XBee to
>>>>>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires
>>>>>>> something at the
>>>>>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>>>>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor,
>>>>>>> which runs
>>>>>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/ logging
>>>>>>> to the
>>>>>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>>>>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in
>>>>>>> some cases
>>>>>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>>>>>>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>>>>>>> monitoring
>>>>>>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output from/to
>>>>>>> the grid.
>>>>>>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty
>>>>>>> poor since
>>>>>>> > it's apparently digital.
>>>>>>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps, like
>>>>>>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also
>>>>>>> has wifi and
>>>>>>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems
>>>>>>> simpler to do
>>>>>>> > it all in once device.
>>>>>>> > Does anyone have proven solutions for this?
>>>>>>> > Thanks
>>>>>>> > Joel
>>>>>>> > --
>>>>>>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>>>>> Groups
>>>>>>> > "hackerspace_brisbane" group.
>>>>>>> > To post to this group, send email to
>>>>>>> hackerspace_brisbane@googlegroups.com.
>>>>>>> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>>>>>>> > hackerspace_brisbane+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
>>>>>>> > For more options, visit this group at
>>>>>>> > http://groups.google.com/group/hackerspace_brisbane?hl=en.
If it is RS485, converting that to RS232 is pretty trivial, there are chips
that do it for a dollar or two.
There are also plenty of cheap prebuilt RS485 to RS232/TTL serial or USB
converters, heck you can even get ethernet and wifi ones fairly cheap these
days.
On 3 November 2012 20:30, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net> wrote:
> That's why it's going into rrdtool for now, and once I've finished
> something else I'm working on I'll set it up to cram it into a compressed
> but lossless data format straight from XML instead of xml -> csv -> rrdtool
> :)
> James
> On 3 November 2012 19:12, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com>wrote:
>> As long as you can get the data out, you can do whatever with it,
>> including sending to multiple services until you choose one :)
>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 3:17 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
>>> Yeah, it's connected to a machine that's always on for various reasons,
>>> so I have a perl script which takes the XML and parses it into something I
>>> can feed into RRDtool.
>>> The person I got the script off has a cacti monitor which imports the
>>> data and allows analysis. I haven't decided which way I'm going, because
>>> I've got other plans for the data as well.
>>> I looked at emoncms and the various open-source solutions but for the
>>> price this one seems to be the least effort.
>>> James
>>> On 3 November 2012 13:40, Joel Byrnes <
>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Cool :) so you're monitoring the power point circuit going to your
>>>> bedroom specifically?
>>>> So you have that little screen that shows usage, but instead use the
>>>> XML feed for more data? That might work. I just thought it was a bit
>>>> expensive for the base unit, but I need do a a full costing of different
>>>> solutions.
>>>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 1:07 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
>>>>> I'm closer to the second guy, but once I've added a few more
>>>>> per-circuit sensors I'll be at a middle ground. An example of what I graph
>>>>> constantly is here: http://yaleman.org/power.html and I can tell when
>>>>> someone's cooking, the hot water system's on or one of our fridges is
>>>>> running. The bottom graph shows my bedroom, with the laptop/fan overnight
>>>>> being the only load.
>>>>> Most of the time we sit at 4-600w depending on whether computers and
>>>>> or fridges are running.
>>>>> James
>>>>> On 3 November 2012 13:03, Joel Byrnes <
>>>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Somewhat relatedly, years ago I saw an article where an electrician
>>>>>> had wired up current sensors to *every single power point and light* in his
>>>>>> house, and collected that data into some monitoring solution. So obviously
>>>>>> he had very good info on what used power and how to minimise it. But it
>>>>>> would have been a huge effort and expense.
>>>>>> A smarter system was one where a guy monitored just the whole power
>>>>>> for the house, or may it was per-circuit, and although multiple devices
>>>>>> were using power at once, he applied signal analysis and could readily
>>>>>> identify the usage of typical devices as they powered on; lights were
>>>>>> constant, the fridge comes on suddenly for short periods, the air con has a
>>>>>> bit of a wave to it. From that he could tell how much power the majority of
>>>>>> typical devices used, and how much they cost over time, without having to
>>>>>> monitor every point.
>>>>>> I just went to check now, and we're putting power into the grid (but
>>>>>> not getting paid for it yet until Energex installs the new meter). A cloud
>>>>>> went over and it slowed down and nearly stopped at power-neutral. So right
>>>>>> now during the day we're using less than 900W, which is good for our future
>>>>>> power bills.
>>>>>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Joel Byrnes <
>>>>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the
>>>>>>> trouble is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with
>>>>>>> the data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not
>>>>>>> one that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
>>>>>>> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>>>>>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log. there
>>>>>>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>>>>>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>>>>>>> pricy.
>>>>>>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not
>>>>>>>> heard
>>>>>>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part
>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap too,
>>>>>>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>>>>>>> two examples:
>>>>>>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>>>>>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use one
>>>>>>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>>>>>>> hassle )
>>>>>>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>>>>>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>>>>>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the
>>>>>>>> Active
>>>>>>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>>>>>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>>>>>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>>>>>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back
>>>>>>>> across
>>>>>>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them, as
>>>>>>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>>>>>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you are
>>>>>>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>>>>>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT
>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>>>>>>> Buzz.
>>>>>>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>>>>>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> > Hi all,
>>>>>>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>>>>>>> monitoring
>>>>>>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house
>>>>>>>> power
>>>>>>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>>>>>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>>>>>>> connection,
>>>>>>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>>>>>>> meter/breaker
>>>>>>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when
>>>>>>>> that gets
>>>>>>>> > installed?
>>>>>>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and
>>>>>>>> wifi to log
>>>>>>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered
>>>>>>>> XBee to
>>>>>>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires
>>>>>>>> something at the
>>>>>>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>>>>>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora Monitor,
>>>>>>>> which runs
>>>>>>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/logging to the
>>>>>>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>>>>>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in
>>>>>>>> some cases
>>>>>>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
>>>>>>>> > So all that seems pretty straightforward, next, the hard part is
>>>>>>>> monitoring
>>>>>>>> > the total house power usage, and/or the power input/output
>>>>>>>> from/to the grid.
>>>>>>>> > I am told the Energex meter has no data output, which is pretty
>>>>>>>> poor since
>>>>>>>> > it's apparently digital.
>>>>>>>> > There are options for current-sensing with non-contact clamps,
>>>>>>>> like
>>>>>>>> > Fluksometer http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=312 which also
>>>>>>>> has wifi and
>>>>>>>> > does logging itself. But if I'm using a Raspberry Pi it seems
>>>>>>>> simpler to do
>>>>>>>> > it all in once device.
Buzz Clamp meter's are "CT" and I have installed hundreds of them [?]
Joel I think you would be better off putting ct's on the power going into
your house after your solar setup not at the mains. This data would be more
useful data and would show how much power you actually use not total power
- what is being generated.
This way you can see if you turn your fridge off during the day you can
make more money because essentially you have to pay yourself 50c kwh for
the power that you use during the day and your fridge will stay cold during
the 6 hr period. Old people do this with a simple timer you buy from
bunnings.
Just remember making your own power meter is not trivial as you are dealing
with mains voltage and if not done buy a licensed individual your insurance
will be void in case of fire. V*I*T = KWH
On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 8:33 PM, Lemming . <inert...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If it is RS485, converting that to RS232 is pretty trivial, there are
> chips that do it for a dollar or two.
> There are also plenty of cheap prebuilt RS485 to RS232/TTL serial or USB
> converters, heck you can even get ethernet and wifi ones fairly cheap these
> days.
> On 3 November 2012 20:30, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net> wrote:
>> That's why it's going into rrdtool for now, and once I've finished
>> something else I'm working on I'll set it up to cram it into a compressed
>> but lossless data format straight from XML instead of xml -> csv -> rrdtool
>> :)
>> James
>> On 3 November 2012 19:12, Joel Byrnes <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>>> As long as you can get the data out, you can do whatever with it,
>>> including sending to multiple services until you choose one :)
>>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 3:17 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
>>>> Yeah, it's connected to a machine that's always on for various reasons,
>>>> so I have a perl script which takes the XML and parses it into something I
>>>> can feed into RRDtool.
>>>> The person I got the script off has a cacti monitor which imports the
>>>> data and allows analysis. I haven't decided which way I'm going, because
>>>> I've got other plans for the data as well.
>>>> I looked at emoncms and the various open-source solutions but for the
>>>> price this one seems to be the least effort.
>>>> James
>>>> On 3 November 2012 13:40, Joel Byrnes <
>>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Cool :) so you're monitoring the power point circuit going to your
>>>>> bedroom specifically?
>>>>> So you have that little screen that shows usage, but instead use the
>>>>> XML feed for more data? That might work. I just thought it was a bit
>>>>> expensive for the base unit, but I need do a a full costing of different
>>>>> solutions.
>>>>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 1:07 PM, James Hodgkinson <yale...@ricetek.net>wrote:
>>>>>> I'm closer to the second guy, but once I've added a few more
>>>>>> per-circuit sensors I'll be at a middle ground. An example of what I graph
>>>>>> constantly is here: http://yaleman.org/power.html and I can tell
>>>>>> when someone's cooking, the hot water system's on or one of our fridges is
>>>>>> running. The bottom graph shows my bedroom, with the laptop/fan overnight
>>>>>> being the only load.
>>>>>> Most of the time we sit at 4-600w depending on whether computers and
>>>>>> or fridges are running.
>>>>>> James
>>>>>> On 3 November 2012 13:03, Joel Byrnes <
>>>>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> Somewhat relatedly, years ago I saw an article where an electrician
>>>>>>> had wired up current sensors to *every single power point and light* in his
>>>>>>> house, and collected that data into some monitoring solution. So obviously
>>>>>>> he had very good info on what used power and how to minimise it. But it
>>>>>>> would have been a huge effort and expense.
>>>>>>> A smarter system was one where a guy monitored just the whole power
>>>>>>> for the house, or may it was per-circuit, and although multiple devices
>>>>>>> were using power at once, he applied signal analysis and could readily
>>>>>>> identify the usage of typical devices as they powered on; lights were
>>>>>>> constant, the fridge comes on suddenly for short periods, the air con has a
>>>>>>> bit of a wave to it. From that he could tell how much power the majority of
>>>>>>> typical devices used, and how much they cost over time, without having to
>>>>>>> monitor every point.
>>>>>>> I just went to check now, and we're putting power into the grid (but
>>>>>>> not getting paid for it yet until Energex installs the new meter). A cloud
>>>>>>> went over and it slowed down and nearly stopped at power-neutral. So right
>>>>>>> now during the day we're using less than 900W, which is good for our future
>>>>>>> power bills.
>>>>>>> On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Joel Byrnes <
>>>>>>> fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> Thanks for the analysis Buzz. I'm aware of the clamp concept, the
>>>>>>>> trouble is then how do you read them? And then what can/should you do with
>>>>>>>> the data? I'm looking for experiences with a whole solution, and yet not
>>>>>>>> one that condenses all the data and and processing into a device.
>>>>>>>> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:19 PM, buzz <davidb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Clamp meter/s are the easiest and least intrusive way of measuring
>>>>>>>>> your current usage, but probably hard to "integrate" or log.
>>>>>>>>> there
>>>>>>>>> are some clamp meters that you can get that will have the built-in
>>>>>>>>> ability to log to a RS232 or similar output, but they are usually
>>>>>>>>> pricy.
>>>>>>>>> The open energy monitor system uses a "CT Sensor" which I've not
>>>>>>>>> heard
>>>>>>>>> of till today, but as far as I can tell it's just the "clamp" part
>>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>> a clamp meter, which sounds promising. they are pretty cheap
>>>>>>>>> too,
>>>>>>>>> between $20-$30 ( including shipping ) each unit.
>>>>>>>>> two examples:
>>>>>>>>> Another option may include hacking a el-cheapo $9 clamp meter (
>>>>>>>>> including shipping!) like the one below, but personally I'd use
>>>>>>>>> one
>>>>>>>>> of the above ones: ( twice the price , but way less than 1/2 the
>>>>>>>>> hassle )
>>>>>>>>> And the last , and most "ghetto" option is to find the smallest
>>>>>>>>> transformer you can that has approx 2000 turns or more on its
>>>>>>>>> secondary , and a "core" that is removable, and disconnect the
>>>>>>>>> Active
>>>>>>>>> wire from the circuit that you want to measure, and feed it through
>>>>>>>>> the core of the transformer, and then connect the secondary coil to
>>>>>>>>> something that can measure it's output. ( the primary coil is
>>>>>>>>> unused ). it's very smart to use two 20V zeners back-to-back
>>>>>>>>> across
>>>>>>>>> the secondary, as well as a shunt resistor in parallel with them,
>>>>>>>>> as
>>>>>>>>> it's easy for large AC voltages ( with tiny amounts of current) to
>>>>>>>>> build-up in the transformer otherwise. Essentially you
>>>>>>>>> are
>>>>>>>>> making a new "primary" for the transformer that is just 1 turn, or
>>>>>>>>> pass-through, so the current is miniscule. THis is exactly how CT
>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>> Clamp meters work anyway.
>>>>>>>>> Buzz.
>>>>>>>>> On 2 November 2012 14:49, Joel Byrnes
>>>>>>>>> <fatal.exception.occur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> > Hi all,
>>>>>>>>> > I just got a solar panel system installed, and am interested in
>>>>>>>>> monitoring
>>>>>>>>> > and logging both the output from the panels, and the total house
>>>>>>>>> power
>>>>>>>>> > usage. Does anyone here have experience with that?
>>>>>>>>> > I have an Aurora 2kW inverter, PVI-2000-OUTD-AU. It has a RS-485
>>>>>>>>> connection,
>>>>>>>>> > but for some reason that has been run into the back of the
>>>>>>>>> meter/breaker
>>>>>>>>> > box, maybe it gets plugged into the Energex updated meter when
>>>>>>>>> that gets
>>>>>>>>> > installed?
>>>>>>>>> > I will probably use a Raspberry Pi, a USB to RS485 adapter, and
>>>>>>>>> wifi to log
>>>>>>>>> > the data, unless there are better/cheaper options? I considered
>>>>>>>>> XBee to
>>>>>>>>> > monitor the RS485 but that's expensive, and still requires
>>>>>>>>> something at the
>>>>>>>>> > other end to monitor it.
>>>>>>>>> > The best solution appears to be the free software Aurora
>>>>>>>>> Monitor, which runs
>>>>>>>>> > on linux and windowshttp://auroramonitor.sourceforge.net/logging to the
>>>>>>>>> > free service at pvoutput.org.
>>>>>>>>> > I found some articles on connecting to the inverter, although in
>>>>>>>>> some cases
>>>>>>>>> > they open the inverter itself which seems unnecessary.
> This way you can see if you turn your fridge off during the day you can make
> more money because essentially you have to pay yourself 50c kwh for the power
> that you use during the day and your fridge will stay cold during the 6 hr
> period. Old people do this with a simple timer you buy from bunnings.
Does it really work like that? I was told the way it works is that at the end of the quarter, the amount of power you generated is subtracted from what you used, and you pay the remaining about.
This way it doesn't matter when you use the power, i.e. turning your fridge off during the day would reduce your bill by the same amount as turning it off overnight, or turning the thermostat up so it's warmer all the time.
It also means that the utility would never pay you any money unless you generated more electricity than you used 24/7 throughout the entire quarter, which I thought was the 'catch' - you only get paid the premium rate once you generate more than you use in total.
If this is wrong, it would mean that you could set up a large UPS system and run your whole house off batteries during the day, pumping all the solar power into the grid, then charge the batteries overnight (or via one of the cheap rate tariffs like hot water) so you get paid the premium rate for every last watt of solar power.
On Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 10:43 AM, Adam Nielsen <a.niel...@shikadi.net> wrote:
> If this is wrong, it would mean that you could set up a large UPS system
> and run your whole house off batteries during the day, pumping all the
> solar power into the grid, then charge the batteries overnight (or via one
> of the cheap rate tariffs like hot water) so you get paid the premium rate
> for every last watt of solar power.
I've heard it said that there are people that do just that.
Technically simple but two questions, one regarding economics of deep cycle
batteries, and another regarding grid connection contract and
permissability of the whole scheme.
Even simpler charge batteries offpeak for 12c/kwh and resell at 54c if you
got in early on reasonable feedin tariffs
John
On Nov 4, 2012 10:09 AM, "David Lyon" <david.lyon.preissh...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> On Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 10:43 AM, Adam Nielsen <a.niel...@shikadi.net>wrote:
>> If this is wrong, it would mean that you could set up a large UPS system
>> and run your whole house off batteries during the day, pumping all the
>> solar power into the grid, then charge the batteries overnight (or via one
>> of the cheap rate tariffs like hot water) so you get paid the premium rate
>> for every last watt of solar power.
> I've heard it said that there are people that do just that.
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1) you have one meter which reverses when you are generating more then you use.
2) you have two meters. (one for each direction.) (net metering)
3)you have a meter for your solar and another for all your house
(gross metering.)
On 4 November 2012 09:43, Adam Nielsen <a.niel...@shikadi.net> wrote:
>> This way you can see if you turn your fridge off during the day you can
>> make
>> more money because essentially you have to pay yourself 50c kwh for the
>> power
>> that you use during the day and your fridge will stay cold during the 6 hr
>> period. Old people do this with a simple timer you buy from bunnings.
> Does it really work like that? I was told the way it works is that at the
> end of the quarter, the amount of power you generated is subtracted from
> what you used, and you pay the remaining about.
> This way it doesn't matter when you use the power, i.e. turning your fridge
> off during the day would reduce your bill by the same amount as turning it
> off overnight, or turning the thermostat up so it's warmer all the time.
> It also means that the utility would never pay you any money unless you
> generated more electricity than you used 24/7 throughout the entire quarter,
> which I thought was the 'catch' - you only get paid the premium rate once
> you generate more than you use in total.
> If this is wrong, it would mean that you could set up a large UPS system and
> run your whole house off batteries during the day, pumping all the solar
> power into the grid, then charge the batteries overnight (or via one of the
> cheap rate tariffs like hot water) so you get paid the premium rate for
> every last watt of solar power.
> Cheers,
> Adam.
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