Pierre
Somewhere down South
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- Dec 21, 2019
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It will run on any Pi. I am using a Pi ZeroW.
Solar assistant: do you use it?
- Thread starter Will Prowse
- Start date
But the zero doesn't have USB ports for plugging in the interfaces.
In any case, I've also learned quite a bit more since that post, and I have no need for SA. Home Assistant, which I already had installed, with ESPHome is a far better option for me, and much less expensive.
robby
Photon Vampire
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- May 1, 2021
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So I noticed you said a better option for you.
Can you add some context to that?
It seems like setting up ESPHome is not simple and has a learning curve.
are there more features that you can access with it or is it just purely a Price issue like you mentioned?
SA is almost perfect IMHO but It does need an upgrade in the Graphing area.
Can you add some context to that?
It seems like setting up ESPHome is not simple and has a learning curve.
are there more features that you can access with it or is it just purely a Price issue like you mentioned?
SA is almost perfect IMHO but It does need an upgrade in the Graphing area.
Kenny_
Solar Addict
Looks like I bought the wrong batteries. 
No luck so far getting Solar Assistant to talk to my Sungold batteries.
No luck so far getting Solar Assistant to talk to my Sungold batteries. 
I think it was pylontech driver that worked with the sungold batteries best I remember.Looks like I bought the wrong batteries.
Kenny_
Solar Addict
Yep....they say to set the inverter for Pylontech Comm. So I'm thinking that's the one. I got the wrong cable at first rs485 doesn't seem to work but have a rj11 on the way....maybe it will work....worth a try....otherwise I'll just have to live with not knowing the detailed battery states. That's okay cause otherwise I LOVE Solar Assistant!
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timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
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- Feb 5, 2022
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I Mostly just look at the main system.
The others are rarely checked. I just like having the ability to check them anytime and from anywhere.
They were spare Pi's and licenses, anyway. (Long story)
I may try to put it together, some day.
Technology and I don't get along very well.
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
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Some graphs for this would be nice.
But my delta is never above 0.09 , after a week or more without a full charge. And my SOC's are never more than 5% apart. And always come together at full charge. I don't need to do anything. It's just nice to know everything is fine.
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
yeah, me too!
playing with the JK "GPS" output - Rx Tx and tiny little connectors (JST 4-pin 1.25mm) will see if I can figure out how to get cell level data, or the delta for each pack...learning outside my comfort zone!
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
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Same here. I generally just load up the parts cannon. And keep firing until my goal is reached.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
Easy for you guys. I’m just happy that SA doesn’t crash and don’t have a clue as to get two programs to cooperate let alone set it to pull data and graph. Just tad bit over this old guy’s head and afraid to FUBAR permanently. But yeah, that it looks good.
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I've been using HA and ESPHome for quite some time, so, for me there was no learning curve. Personally, I believe HA has more of a learning curve than ESPHome.
If you have a standard HA install, installing ESPHome is very easy. Once you get it installed, plug in an ESP32/ESP8266/RP2040W, and it's a point and cliick install on the device. Connect it to your network, and then you just have to find the right YAML config for whatever device/devices you want to connect it to. You just click a button to flash it wirelessly after that.
You will likely have to solder on some sort of interface (UART connector / RS485 transceiver, etc), but, for example, you can connect to multiple JK BMS from a single ESP32 via bluetooth without soldering anything.
The limitations of SA was more of a deciding factor than cost, though. Not being able to get battery information was a non-starter for me, and I didn't see anything in SA that I couldn't do in HA. I also have all my other devices in HA, so I can, say, charge my EV when solar production is high, or limit the AC if battery is low, etc.
I don't have any of those automations in yet, but I know I can do it, and maybe there's a way to feed back control information to SA as well, but that seems more difficult and fragile overall for my use case.
Robbert
Solar Enthusiast
if you have a second PI, you can install Grafana, InfluxDB and Nodered on that PI and make whatever dashboard you want (using the data from SA). Since i have two inverters with their own SA-instance, I wanted a consolidated dashboard with relevant information for me.
Never look a SA anymore, since my own dashboard provides me with all information I need.
fun project to do and pretty simple.
SA needs a PI.
Lt.Dan
Solar Wizard
I have asked Solar Assistant, and they said it must be on a Pi, I even asked about running it in a VM, and they said no.
Now if it actually works or not, I don't know.
Sanwizard
Solar Wizard
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- Feb 2, 2021
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Ah, sounds like an interesting project @Lt.Dan! If you have a spare PC( i dont), it should be fairly simple to instantiate a couple linux VM's to load the SA image on. Virtual USB ports? I never tried that.
Wish I didnt give away my old Dell server now.... I had Ubuntu on it.
That being said, the SA web page explicitly states that VM's and Docker are NOT supported. (But does it work?)?
wildbillpdx
Solar Enthusiast
Probably needs to emulate the PI.
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