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Welcome to the Spotmarket-Switcher repository!

What is this software doing? Spotmarket-Switcher is an easy-to-use software tool that helps you save money on your energy bills. If you have a smart battery charger or devices like water heaters that can turn on and off automatically, this tool is perfect for you! It smartly switches on your devices when energy prices are low, especially useful if your energy costs change every hour.

This typical result showcases the Spotmarket-Switcher's ability to automate energy usage efficiently, not only saving costs but also optimizing the use of renewable energy sources. It's a great example of how smart technology can be used to manage energy consumption in a more sustainable and cost-effective manner. (blue = use of battery, red = grid, yellow = solar)

• Nighttime Usage: During the night, when energy prices were at their lowest, the Spotmarket-Switcher smartly activated a switchable socket to power up the hot water heat pump (spike indicated in red). This shows the system's ability to identify and utilize low-cost energy periods for energy-intensive tasks.
• Economic Efficiency in Battery Charging: The program strategically decided not to charge the battery storage during this time. This decision was based on an economic check that took into account charging losses and compared them against the average or highest energy prices of the day. This approach ensures that battery charging occurs only when it's most cost-effective.
• Optimal Use of Battery During Peak Hours: At this day, the most expensive energy hours were in the morning and evening. During these periods, the Spotmarket-Switcher used the stored battery-energy (shown in blue), thus avoiding high electricity costs.
• Battery Reservation for High-Cost Hours: Post the high-cost periods, the battery's Energy Storage System (ESS) was turned off. It was not empty in the evening around 20:00. This action was taken to reserve sufficient battery capacity for the upcoming expensive hours in the next morning. This anticipates future high-cost periods and ensures that stored energy is available to minimize costs.

Why Use Spotmarket-Switcher?

• Save Money: It turns on your devices when energy is cheaper, cutting down your bills.
• Save Money: Use your stored solar energy at highest prices.
• Energy Efficient: By using energy when it's in surplus (like windy nights), you contribute to a greener planet.
• Smart Usage: Automatically charge your battery storage or power up devices like water heaters at the best times.

Supported systems are currently:

• Shelly products (such as Shelly Plug S or Shelly Plus)
• AVMFritz!DECT200 and 210 switchable sockets
• Victron Venus OS Energy Storage Systems like the MultiPlus-II series

Getting Started:

• Download and Install: The setup process is straightforward. Download the script, adjust a few settings, and you're ready to go.
• Schedule and Relax: Set it up once, and it runs automatically. No daily hassle!

Interested?

• Check out our detailed instructions for different systems like Victron Venus OS, Windows, or Linux setups. We've made sure the steps are easy to follow.
• Join us in making energy use smarter and more cost-effective! For any questions, suggestions, or feedback, feel free to reach out.

The code is simple so that it can easily be adapted to other energy storage systems if you are able to control charging by Linux shell commands. Please have a look at the controller.sh and search for charger_command_turnon so that you can see how easy it can be adapted. Please create a github fork and share your customization so other users can benefit from it.

Data Source

The software currently utilizes EPEX Spot hourly prices provided by three free APIs (Tibber, aWATTar & Entso-E). The integrated free Entso-E API is providing energy-price-data of the folowing countrys: Albania (AL), Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bosnia and Herz. (BA), Bulgaria (BG), Croatia (HR), Cyprus (CY), Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Georgia (GE), Germany (DE), Greece (GR), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Kosovo (XK), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Malta (MT), Moldova (MD), Montenegro (ME), Netherlands (NL), North Macedonia (MK), Norway (NO), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Serbia (RS), Slovakia (SK), Slovenia (SI), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE), Switzerland (CH), Turkey (TR), Ukraine (UA), United Kingdom (UK) see Transparency Entso-E Platform.

Installation

Setting up the Spotmarket-Switcher is a straightforward process. If you are already running a UNIX-based machine, such as macOS, Linux, or Windows with the Linux subsystem, follow these steps to install the software:

1. Download the install script from the GitHub repository by using this hyperlink, or execute the following command in your terminal:

   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/christian1980nrw/Spotmarket-Switcher/main/victron-venus-os-install.sh
   

2. Run the installer script with additional options to prepare everything in a subdirectory for your inspection. For example:

   DESTDIR=/tmp/foo sh victron-venus-os-install.sh
   

   If you're using Victron Venus OS, the correct DESTDIR should be / (the root directory). Feel free to explore the installed files in /tmp/foo. On a Cerbo GX the filesystem is mounted read only. See https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ccgx:root_access. In order to make the filesystem writeable you need to execute the following command before running the install script:

   /opt/victronenergy/swupdate-scripts/resize2fs.sh
   

Please note that while this software is currently optimized for the Venus OS, it can be adapted to other Linux flavors, like Debian/Ubuntu on a Raspberry Pi or another small board. A prime candidate is certainly OpenWRT. Using a desktop machine is fine for testing purposes but when in 24/7 use its larger power consumption is of concern.

Access to Venus OS

For instructions on accessing the Venus OS, please refer to https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ccgx:root_access.

Execution of the Install Script

• If you're using Victron Venus OS:
  • Then edit the variables with a text editor in /data/etc/Spotmarket-Switcher/config.txt.
  • Set up an ESS charge schedule (refer to the screenshot provided). In the example, the battery charges at night up to 50% if activated, other charging times of the day are ignored. If not desired, create a schedule for all 24 hours of the day. Remember to deactivate it after creation. Verify that the system time (as shown in the top-right of the screen) is accurate.

The Screenshot is showing the configuration of automated charging during user defined times. Deactivated by default, may be temporarily activated by the script.

• Instructions to install the Spotmarket-Switcher on a Windows 10 or 11 system for testing without Victron devices (only switchable sockets).

  • launch cmd.exe as Administrator
  • Enter wsl --install -d Debian
  • Enter a new username like admin
  • Enter a new password
  • Enter sudo su and type your password
  • Enter apt-get update && apt-get install wget curl
  • Continue with the manual Linux description below (installer script is not compatible).
  • Dont forget if you close the shell, Windows will stop the system.

• If you're using a Linux-System like Ubuntu or Debian:

  • Copy the shell script (controller.sh) to a custom location and adjust the variables according to your needs.
  • the commands are cd /path/to/save/ && curl -s -O "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/christian1980nrw/Spotmarket-Switcher/main/scripts/{controller.sh,sample.config.txt,license.txt}" && chmod +x ./controller.sh && mv sample.config.txt config.txt and to edit your settings use vi /path/to/save/config.txt
  • Create a crontab or another scheduling method to run this script at the start of each hour.
  • Sample Crontab: Use the following crontab entry to execute the control script every hour: Open your terminal and enter crontab -e, then insert the following line: 0 * * * * /path/to/controller.sh

Support and Contribution 👍

If you find this project valuable, please consider sponsoring and supporting further development through these links:

• Revolut
• PayPal

If you are from Germany and interested in switching to a dynamic electricity tariff, you can support the project by signing up using this Tibber (referral link) or by entering the code ojgfbx2e in your app. Both you and the project will receive 50 euro bonus for hardware. Please note that a smart meter or a Pulse-IR is required for an hourly tariff (https://tibber.com/de/store/produkt/pulse-ir) . If you need a natural gas tariff or prefer a classic electricity tariff, you can still support the project Octopus Energy (referral link) . You receive a bonus (the offer varies between 50 and 120 euro) for yourself and also for the project. Octopus has the advantage that some offers are without minimum contract term. They are ideal, for example, for pausing a tariff based on stock exchange prices.

If you are from Austria you can support us by using aWATTar Austria (referral link). Please make use of 3KEHMQN2F as code.

Disclaimer

Please note the terms of use at https://github.com/christian1980nrw/Spotmarket-Switcher/blob/main/License.md