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Raspberry Pi Setup

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MattCordell edited this page Jan 20, 2016 · 8 revisions

Here's the process I used for setting up Logger for a Raspberry Pi. Though I expect it's largely the same for any Linux environment.

  1. Check your SolarMax inverter is accessible on your local network

I. Connect inverter via the (RS485/LAN) to your router.

II. Enable the ethernet interace on your inverter. (see section 6.4.2.6 of the SolarMax manual).

III. Check the Device Adress, IP Adress, netmask, and TCP Port. Also 6.4.2.6 (and 7.1) the defaults: IP:Port - 192.168.1.123:12345 and device number 1. Should be sufficient.

III. Ping your device. "ping 192.168.1.123". All well, you should get a response.

IV. Optional, but recomended. Instal the Official SolarMax Software. As an extra check things work.

Note! You can only communicate with your inverter during daylight hours. When the sun is down. It's offline.

  1. Make sure you've got a functioning Raspberry Pi Install. See NOOBS setup
  2. Clone the Project git clone https://github.com/MattCordell/SolarMax_PVoutputLogger.git
  3. If not using the default IP, Device, and Port values mentioned above. Change them in SolarMax_PVoutLiveLog.py
  4. Go to http://pvoutput.org/account.jsp and check your account settings. a) make sure API Access is enabled. b) Note the API Key, and System ID.
  5. The Logger, takes two arguments. Your API Key, and System ID. Don't share your API Key. Try calling the logger from the console as:

$ python /home/pi/SolarMax_PVoutputLogger/SolarMax_PVoutLiveLog.py <YourAPIKey> <YourSystemId> Replace & with your own values. If this works. You're good to go with scheduling the Cron job! Else. Sort yourself out.

Scheduling: Create a cron job with the following

*/5 5-19 * * * python /home/pi/SolarMax_PVoutputLogger/SolarMax_PVoutLiveLog.py <YourAPIKey> <YourSystemId> This will call the logging script every 5 minutes. Between 5am, and 7pm, Everyday. Change the start and end times, depending on what your local sunrise/sunset times are. You should be done! Sit back enjoy. Share your system ID with this project. If we get enough users, I'll start a team.

I found 5am and 7pm encompased the earliest and latest for Brisbane. Your geoloaction will differ. If you're keen, you can set a variety of jobs, with different times for different parts of year. It's possible to calculate or query online source for daily times... but why bother.

Clone this wiki locally