how to add APSystems ECU-3 solar inverter monitor

[lsp242]

I still scrape the local webpage in the ECU-3.

These are the same as on my account at APsystems, nothing changed since solar panel installed

[Benneton]

Scraping is working but the ECU has no more data to show for some reason.
Strange I need the account to be setup by my installer of the system?!?

Starts to get really annoying everything must have internet connection to function...

[lsp242]

As i know my installer was certified to install APsystems.

In the data i see the installer name and information ---> he added my credentials on the system.

[Benneton]

I have send an e-mail and spoken to my installer.
They confirmed to me that since beginning of May AP Systems did a major update.
They have logged a case with AP Systems to check what has changed and if it now is mandatory to have an account.
In parallel they will setup an account for me.
Let's see what happens.

Still every evening at around 21:00 the ECU-3 has had a successful connection to AP.
Last Connection to website 2021-06-11 20:57:51

[Benneton]

Just spoke to the installer, AP confirmed that account is needed and advised to create one and all would be fine...
Installer created account and I logged in successful. Looking into the details no history what so ever in the account, apparently not linked to past data.
Also the local interface still is not updating...
Still last successful connection:
Last Connection to website 2021-06-16 20:57:11
As every day 1 connection at arround 21:00 CET.
To be continued

[Benneton]

last update:
After feedback from AP, they suggested ECU-3 was to far from inverters and not on the same bus.
ECU-3 was on same bus but not direct next to panels.
Did move the ECU-3 and same result, no data. AP was willing to test ECU-3 so shipped it, they could not see what was wrong with it and today I will get a replacement. Let's hope it will work as it did before.

[lsp242]

last update:
After feedback from AP, they suggested ECU-3 was to far from inverters and not on the same bus.
ECU-3 was on same bus but not direct next to panels.
Did move the ECU-3 and same result, no data. AP was willing to test ECU-3 so shipped it, they could not see what was wrong with it and today I will get a replacement. Let's hope it will work as it did before.

Strange what is to far? Mine is 7-8 meters away on ground floor but I hope it will have efect

[Benneton]

No idea. Mine was in meterkast, and that has been working for over 3 years, distance 12 - 15 meters.
Signal strength used to be 5, and I noticed since trouble started 2.
I connected the ECU-3 direct on the point where the invertbus is connected to power cable to the meterkast and there also signal strength 5.
I believe (hope) distance is not the issue.
Keep you posted

[Benneton]

Problem solved
New ECU-3 and straight away:
Lifetime generation 12.1 kWh
Last System Power 172 W
Generation of Current Day 12.1 kWh
Last Connection to website 2021-07-02 20:13:05
Number of Inverters 6
Last Number of Inverters Online 6
Current Software Version V4.1
Inverter Comm. Signal Level 5

So as expected broken ECU-3.
I hope for the next 3 years and on it will work again.
Scraping works too

Only downside is the totals are lost.

[lsp242]

Yesss….

Nice, but I wouldn’t expect that the ECU could have been broken..

Glad it workes again

[phenix56]

Hi there,

First of all, sorry to bump this thread again but this is the only thread that comes up in Google where people actually succeeeded.

I have a APSystems ECU-3 to which my solar panels are connected. My goal is to get the solar data directly from the local ip of my ECU-3, so in case APSystems ever goes bankrupt or stops the API use i can still get the data.

I've seen people succesfully reading the solar data from their ECU's, but i am a complete noob to linux (also to Node Red etc) sinde i installed Domoticz a few months back for reading solar data, among other things. I haven't found a clear guide that describes how to setup Node Red, Mosquito-broker and the integration to Domoticz. Can one of you walk me trough the process, of link a helpful guide?


Phenix56

[FireWizard]

Hello @phenix56,

You wrote:

First of all, sorry to bump this thread again but this is the only thread that comes up in Google where people actually succeeded.

That is not a problem, as it indicates, at least, that you tried to find a solution.

This thread has been started by @Benneton and together we were able to develop a solution.

However this solution only works with the APSystems Communication Unit ECU-3, running software version 4.1.
It will not be possible to scrape the data from a Communication Unit, that does not run a local web server, such as the ECU-R.
If your ECU-3 runs a different version than 4.1, a modification might be necessary.

So please compare your software version. Check also the webpage and compare with the screenshots in this thread.
See the posts of September 1st, September 3rd and September 25th, 2019

Further on I suggest to read this thread from the beginning, as all links are still functioning.

I have the following questions:

1. On which device is Domoticz running? Which OS?
2. Do you want to install Mosquitto (MQTT server) and Node Red on the same device?
If not, what devices(s) and OS(es), you want to use?

I've seen people successfully reading the solar data from their ECU's, but i am a complete noob to linux (also to Node Red etc) since i installed Domoticz a few months back for reading solar data, among other things. I haven't found a clear guide that describes how to setup Node Red, Mosquito-broker and the integration to Domoticz.

We can change that, if you want that

Mosquitto and Node Red has excellent set-up guides and tutorials, you should read.

See: http://www.steves-internet-guide.com/mqtt/ and https://mosquitto.org/

And

https://nodered.org/docs/ and https://stevesnoderedguide.com/

If you will search on the Internet, you will find many more.
But regarding Node Red, I suggest you also watch some of the YouTube movies, created by the developers.

Let me know,

Regards

[phenix56]

Hi FireWizzard,

Thank you for this kind response! I've seen people verry mad about 'bumping' threads.

I have the ECU-3, with firmware version V3.11.4.
I have the http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xx/cgi-bin/parameters page, where i have a page that shows the output of each solar panel. The page is slightly diffrent than the ones on the other screenshots posted by @Benneton though.
Is there any way to upgrade the firmware, or to make it work on this firmware version?

I am willing to post a screenshot of the real time data page, not i'm not sure if somebody could do harmful things with my inverter ID's.

I read pretty much the whole topic, tried the links you posted about NodeJS, but i intalled Domoticz via a tutorial and don't know how to link NodsJS, Mosquitto-broker and Domoticz together, or even how to install it. I will create a image of my SD card and start trying to install it, but i'm not even sure if it will work given my firmware version.

The answers to your questions:
1. I have Domoticz running on a Raspberry Pi 4, the 4GB RAM version if that matters. It is running Raspbian Buster.
2. If that is possible, yes, that would be great! That also makes the backups easier. If it's not possible, i can setup a Ubuntu VM on a Intel Nuc.



Phenix56

[FireWizard]

Hello @phenix56,

I have the ECU-3, with firmware version V3.11.4.
Is there any way to upgrade the firmware?

As I do not own APSystems micro inverters (I have Enphase IQ7+), I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you whether it is possible to upgrade your firmware or not.
And if so, how to upgrade. Perhaps @Benneton or anyone else can tell you.

I have the http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xx/cgi-bin/parameters page, where i have a page that shows the output of each solar panel. The page is slightly different than the ones on the other screenshots posted by @Benneton though.
Is there any way to make it work on this firmware version?

For the time being, we will try to make it work with your firmware version V3.11.4.

I am willing to post a screenshot of the real time data page, not i'm not sure if somebody could do harmful things with my inverter ID's.

For @Benneton we scraped 2 pages, the main page and the page with the individual inverters.

If you can post a screenshot from those pages and also with the developer options enabled would be great.
You can send them with PM (multiple).

The answers to your questions:
1. I have Domoticz running on a Raspberry Pi 4, the 4GB RAM version if that matters. It is running Raspbian Buster.
2. If that is possible, yes, that would be great! That also makes the backups easier. If it's not possible, i can setup a Ubuntu VM on a Intel Nuc.

Great, then we can install everything on 1 machine.

For Mosquitto, you can install from the Raspbian repository, as Mosquitto is included.

Follow this guideline: https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-mos ... tt-server/

For Node Red you can follow this instruction page: https://nodered.org/docs/getting-started/raspberrypi

As a tool to check MQTT communication, you can use: http://mqtt-explorer.com/ (Install this on your laptop/desktop)

And last for now: Install in Domoticz hardware "MQTT Client Gateway with LAN interface".
See the Domoticz WIKI: https://www.domoticz.com/wiki/MQTT

Let me know, if you are so far.

Regards

[phenix56]

Hi FireWizzard,

I've searched on the internet, and it seems that the firmware of the ECU-3 is not upgradable or it isn't mentioned anywhere in the manual.

From what you write, it eems that @benneton has 2 pages. I only have one, the 'real time data' page. It lists all the inverter-ID's, along with the output power, grid frequency, grid voltage, temperature and date&time.

I will PM a screenshot of the 'real time data' page to you.

Do you mean the 'inspect' window of the developper options on the ECU-3? If on the ECU-3, how do i enable them?

I'll try tomorrow to install the required programs and report back!


Phenix56

[Benneton]

Hi,

Indeed I searched many times and I have not found any upgrade file for the ECU-3.
Strangely the box offers an option to do so.
In 4.1 under Administration --> Firmware upload --> upload packege...

Good luck with getting it to work!

[FireWizard]

Hello Bernard, @Benneton

Indeed I searched many times and I have not found any upgrade file for the ECU-3.
Strangely the box offers an option to do so.
In 4.1 under Administration --> Firmware upload --> upload packege...

I searched also the Internet and found the same. In some documents it has been indicated that during start-up the unit is searching for updates and, if found, updates the unit. So probably it will be done automatically from the cloud. So no need to look further.

Thanks for your response.

Regards

[phenix56]

Hi @Benneton and @FireWizzard,

@Benneton: I do not have thta setting, so it was introduced in a later verion.

@FireWizzard: I tried turning the ECU on and off, letting it sit for a while, replugging the power again, but nothing changes. I think this feature was introduced together with the 'upload package' menu that @Benneton has.

Phenix56

[josemi]

Hi
I got installed my solar panels today with a ECU-C, and I followed your instructions and it is working as a charm.
Thank you for sharing your configuration.

placas.jpeg (148.58 KiB) Viewed 2446 times

placas2.jpg (45.44 KiB) Viewed 2446 times

[josemi]

Hi
Yesterday my Ecu-C was updated from version 1.1.9 to 1.2.0, and it has become a bit crazy with the values, I think we must review node-red. They must have added DC Volt in the html table.