Axle VPP

[panec]

Some time ago I joined Axle VPP for helping with grid events. Unfortunately for the last 3 of them my inverted did not participated. The only information I have is in the Solax app that states that "execution failed". Is it possible that my HA Solax Modbus is interfering with it somehow? I only use HA for pooling for data as I do not set / send anything to inverter.
If it can interfere with this do you know what I can disable to let them control it when they need it?

[TCWORLD]

What inverter do you have? How is it connected to HA?

I've got an X1-IES connected to HA via modbus adapter. I'm having no issues with Axle VPP events running.

[panec]

Exactly the same. X1-IES. I do have HA via modbus adapter and that works fine. I do not use modbus to control inverter - I just use statistical data for energy dashboard. At some point I might add predbat but not at the moment.
Latest information from Axle and Solax is that my dongle is not compatible:

"Currently only Dongles of SS, SN, SM, XW, or XS models are compatible with Axle"

mine is a WiFi dongle and has following props
Associated SN H580....
Registration no. SRHS....
Version: 3.022.03

I still have not confirmed which of those values should map to the mentioned model from Solax.
@TCWORLD If it works fine with your setup can you confirm what model you have and what software version you have?

[TCWORLD]

My Wifi dongle registration number starts with SN, so I think that must be what they are talking about. It has version 1.007.02

[TCWORLD]

Mine missed the first events after signing up, but has participated fine for the other two since then.

I've also got Predbat set up which ended up triggering export itself during the first axle event that the inverter didn't respond to.

They can generate HA API keys, so it might be worth asking them for one, and then just triggering the export through home assistant/predbat in response to events until your dongle is supported.

[panec]

There are 2 solutions for me:

1. To use their API and predbat for automating it
2. Buy new WiFi dongle starting with SS, SN, SM, XW, or XS
   At the moment I'm trying option 2 as it easier and does not rely on HA but if that will fail then I will fall back to option 1.

PS. Is there any official stand on Axle and HA & predbat? If I export during event using predbat would they count is as valid export and pay for all kWh exported or do they need to be able to fine control the process of amount and duration of exported power?

[TCWORLD]

I got paid the full amount for the event where the inverter failed to execute and predbat did the export.

As far as I can tell, the behaviour of the event in the VPP is to just tell the inverter to export at full power (up to grid export limit) for an hour at a given time.

Axle only use the smart meter half-hourly data to calculate how much you exported and pay you based just on that not the SolaX sensor readings.

I asked them about this when it first failed, and the response was:

While we send dispatch messages to all inverters when the event starts, these commands can fail in rare cases, meaning that the inverter won't export energy without manual intervention.

So they clearly see the case for manual intervention as sometimes necessary.

[insipiens]

I am in the same predicament, my dongle begins SR, however I just purchased 20 SN dongles on ebay (hopefully unbound 😅) if they work I’ll post here, and if anyone wants one I will be happy to send one out - assuming they work

[insipiens]

I got a reply from Solax confirming the details discussed:

While we have successfully updated your firmware to the latest version available for your current hardware, we regret to inform you that your system remains incompatible with the IEEE 2030.5 standard required for VPP participation.
Based on the official compatibility technical specifications, here is the breakdown of why the system is unsupported:
Compatibility Summary for 2030.5 Standard

Unsupported Hardware: Several "Pocket" series models are explicitly listed as unsupported and have reached their end-of-maintenance life. These include:
Pocket WiFi 2.0/Plus (SW)
Pocket LAN 2.0 (SP)
Pocket GPRS 2.0 (SG)
Transition/Older Models: Versions such as Pocket WiFi 2.0/Plus Transition (SX/SJ) Pocket WiFi 3.0(SV/SR) and Pocket LAN 2.0 Transition (SL) are also confirmed as unsupported.
Technical Limitations: Even for newer hardware versions like the Pocket WiFi+LAN 2.0 (XW) or Pocket WiFi 4.0 (XS), specific firmware versions (below 004.02 and 003.xx respectively) suffer from issues where "second-level data switching" interferes with the 2030.5 protocol stability.

Recommendation

To successfully join the VPP, you would likely need to upgrade your communication hardware to a model that fully supports the 2030.5 standard. Supported examples from the technical list include:
Pocket WiFi 3.0 (SS): Requires firmware above 3.035.08.
Pocket WiFi+LAN (SN): Requires firmware above 1.001.20.
Pocket WiFi+4GM (SM): Requires firmware above 1.001.23.