Auto Uploader

The Auto Uploader service is an online facility that automates live data uploads from multiple sources to PVOutput. The service is configured online and removes the need to run additional monitoring software on local hardware.

It can be used in conjunction with the API for combining solar, consumption and temperature data from different sources into a single view.

Getting Started

  1. Login and open the System Editor

  2. Scroll down to the Automatic Uploads section

  3. Select the Device and configure the specific settings described below

  4. Save the system details

The service commences operation after the system configuration is saved.

Common Settings

Direction

The selected direction controls if the data is allocated to solar generation, energy consumption or net data.

  • Solar - Record all the data from the device as energy and power generated.

  • Consumption - Record all the data from the device as energy and power used.

  • Net - Record all the data from the device as Net power.

  • Both - Record both consumption and generation.

The Net direction treats positive values as power import and negative values as power export.

The Both direction is only supported with the following devices -

  • Enphase

  • Energomonitor

  • Smappee

A device recording net data must also upload generation data. The Net Delay setting under the Advanced Settings section should also be configured to ensure generation data is processed before Net data.

Note

The Net and Both directions require a Donation enabled account

Poll Interval

The poll interval controls how often the data is retrieved from the source. For devices that are only able to report instantaneous data, this should be set to 5-minutes or equal to / less than the Status Interval.

Timezone

The Timezone in the Live Settings section should be configured to correctly adjust the time data when it is retrieved from the source.

Shift Time

This setting will adjust all timestamps received from the device before saving to PVOutput.

Rule

Use a rule to update the power value received from the device. See Rules

Enphase

The Enphase auto uploader reads energy generation and consumption data from your Enphase Enlighten API account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 20 minutes.

To setup Enphase read only access -

  • Click on the PVOutput Authorize button

  • Login to your Enphase account

  • Review the access permissions and click Allow Access

The following settings are used to configure the device -

Enlighten Id

The Enlighten Id is a unique number that identifies your Enphase system.

It can be found in the URL of your Elighten system page -

1https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/systems/<enlighten id>

User Id

This is the User Id (e.g. 7a4d9347a4dd0ae7a4) obtained from your Enphase account.

Restrictions and Limitations

  • If an Enphase account is already authorized against one PVOutput account, it cannot be used with another PVOutput account until the access is revoked on the original account.

  • Enphase data is read every hour and sent to PVOutput. The frequency is increased to 20 minutes for a Donation enabled account.

  • The Both direction (consumption and generation) requires a donation enabled account.

SolarEdge

The SolarEdge auto uploader reads power production data from your SolarEdge API account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 15 minutes.

API Key

This is the API key generated in the SolarEdge Portal under -

1Site Admin ► Site Details tab ► API Access

Site Id

The SolarEdge Site Id is a unique number that identifies your system in the SolarEdge Portal.

Test the API with the following URL, replacing <Site Id> and <API Key>

1https://monitoringapi.solaredge.com/equipment/<Site Id>/list?api_key=<API Key>

Inverter Serials

For a multiple inverter installation, specify which inverters to download data from. The result is the sum of the specified inverters.

Separate each inverter serial with a comma.

When left blank all inverters will be used.

Energy

The SolarEdge energy value is calculated from power. Enable this option to use SolarEdge reported energy at 15 minute intervals.

Warning

Enabling this option will reduce Status Interval from 5 minutes to 15 minutes and may cause issues if other devices are reporting at 5 minutes.

Temperature

Use the inverter temperature data reported by SolarEdge. This will disable weather temperature data from the Weather Device.

Restrictions and Limitations

  • SolarEdge temperature and voltage requires a Donation enabled account

  • The Both direction is not supported on SolarEdge Auto Upload. To upload both generation and consumption from SolarEdge, setup the primary device as Solar and a secondary device as Consumption using the same SolarEdge API details.

Efergy

The Efergy auto uploader reads power data from your Efergy Engage / Energyhive account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 5 minutes.

Token

This is the token generated from the EnergyHive Portal.

Generate a token to access your data with the following steps -

Test the token with the following URL, replacing <Token>

1http://www.energyhive.com/mobile_proxy/getCurrentValuesSummary?token=<Token>

Power

This is a combination of the cid and sid values in the Efergy message, separated by a dot used to retrieve the power value.

The cid for power is usually PWER e.g. PWER.6236

Secondary Power

A secondary power value on a different sid may be used to add, substract or recorded as the opposite direction of the primary power.

Temperature

This will retrieve the specified cid / sid and recorded it as temperature. Note this will overwrite any existing temperature upload, either via the API (v5) or wunderground weather station.

The cid for temperature is usually TEMP e.g. TEMP.6236

Extended V7 / V8

This will allow two additional data streams from the device to be recorded against Extended Data v7 and v8. e.g. LGHT.6236

Flukso

The Flukso auto uploader reads energy production or consumption data from your Flukso API account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 5 minutes. Energy data is calculated based on the power data at 5 minute intervals.

Sensor

The Flukso sensor uniquely identifies the data channel.

Token

The Flukso token is used to access the data from the above sensor.

EKM Meter

The EKM Meter auto uploader retrieves power and voltage data via the EKM Meter portal API and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 5 minutes. Energy data is calculated from power readings.

Meter Id

The meter id to download data from.

API Key

The API key used to access your meter data.

Test your settings by browsing to the following URL, replacing <Meter ID> and <API Key>

1http://io.ekmpush.com/<Meter ID>~60.xml?<API Key>

Energomonitor

The Energomonitor auto uploader reads generation and/or consumption from your Energomonitor account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 5 minutes.

This device provides both consumption and generation in a single request. There are three direction configurations for the device -

  • Solar - only the solar data from the device is used

  • Consumption - only the consumption data from the device is used

  • Both - both solar and consumption is used

The following settings are used to configure the device -

Username

Username to login to your Energomonitor account

Password

Password to login to your Energomonitor account

Feed Id

Optional and if left blank defaults to the first feed

Stream Out

Optional and if left blank defaults to S1 Solar Generation for Solar. The stream id can also be used.

Stream In

Optional and if left blank defaults to P3 Metered Power for Consumption. The stream id can also be used.

Restrictions and Limitations

  • Only streams with W (watts) units will be used.

  • If the Stream Out or Stream In cannot be found by its title or id then the defaults will be used.

  • If there is more than one stream with the same title then the stream id should be used instead, e.g. emfyma

Smappee

The smappee auto uploader reads consumption and generation from your smappee account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 5 minutes.

This device provides both consumption and generation in a single request. There are three direction configurations for the device -

  • Solar - only the solar data from the device is used

  • Consumption - only the consumption data from the device is used

  • Both - both solar and consumption is used

The following settings are used to configure the device -

Client Id

This is the client id provided by smappee.

Client Secret

This is the client secret provided by smappee.

Username

The smappee account username.

Password

The smappee account password.

Wattvision

The Wattvision auto uploader retrieves power data from your Wattvision account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 5 minutes. Energy data is calculated from power readings.

Sensor ID

The Sensor ID can be found under the Wattvision settings page in the API Information section.

API ID

The API ID can be found under the Wattvision settings page in the API Information section.

API Key

The API Key can be found under the Wattvision settings page in the API Information section.

Test your settings by browsing to the following URL, replacing <Sensor_ID>, <API ID> and <API Key>

1https://www.wattvision.com/api/v0.2/elec?sensor_id=<Sensor_ID>&api_id=<API ID>&api_key=<API Key>&type=rate&start_time=2021-01-03T05:00:00&end_time=2021-01-03T06:00:00

TED5000

The TED5000 auto uploader accepts live data from a TED5000 gateway. The device does not need to be accessible from the internet, as data is sent from the TED5000 to PVOutput directly.

This setup requires configuration on both PVOutput and the TED5000.

PVOutput Configuration

  1. Select TED5000 as the Auto Uploading device

  2. Select the Timezone to use

  3. Take note of the Activation URL and Unique Id. These will be used in the TED5000 next.

  4. Enter the MTU Ids for generation and/or consumption.

  5. Save your system details

TED5000 Configuration

  1. Goto the Activate Energy Posting screen

  2. Copy and paste the Authentication URL and Unique ID from the PVOutput setup

  3. Save your gateway configuration

After successfully registering the TED5000 device with PVOutput, it will start to upload data every 5 minutes.

Activation URL

This is used by the TED5000 to register with the PVOutput Auto Upload service. Copy and paste this value into the TED5000 gateway configuration.

Unique Id

This is used by the TED5000 to uniquely identify the TED5000 gateway during registration. Copy and paste this value into the TED5000 gateway configuration.

Generation MTUs

The MTUs to upload as generation.

Consumption MTUs

The MTUs to upload as Consumption or the Net MTU when using the ‘Net’ direction.

Multiple can be added or subtracted to calculate the resulting generation or consumption value. To add or subtract MTUs, place a + or - sign in front of the MTU.

1109C18+109D82
2109C18-109D82
3-109C18-109D82

The absolute value of the sum is uploaded.

Net MTU

TED5000 Net MTUs are supported using the Net direction in the device configuration. To configure TED5000 Net MTUs -

  1. Select the device direction as Net

  2. Enter the Solar MTU in Generation MTUs

  3. Enter the Net MTU in Consumption MTUs

Negative values are treated as export and positive values as import. The Net MTU value is combined with the Solar MTU value to calculate gross consumption.

Restrictions and Limitations

  • Both generation and consumption can be uploaded at the same time by entering MTUs in ‘Generation MTUs’ and/or ‘Consumption MTUs’.

  • The device ‘Direction’ is ignored if MTUs are entered.

  • Leaving MTU configuration blank will cause the service to pick the first Solar MTU if the direction is Solar. The first Load MTU willl be used for consumption. Otherwise the first MTU regardless of type will be used.

  • The TED5000 only uploads cumulative lifetime energy values for each MTU. Power values are calculated by PVOutput.

SMA Webbox

The Webbox auto uploader accepts FTP Push data from an SMA webbox device. Energy data is calculated from power readings.

FTP Server

Copy and paste the FTP server value into the Webbox FTP Push configuration.

FTP User

Copy and paste the FTP user value into the Webbox FTP Push configuration.

FTP Password

Copy and paste the FTP password value into the Webbox FTP Push configuration.

The XML data format must be selected on the Webbox configuration. Other FTP settings should be left as defaults.

Zevercloud

The Zevercloud auto uploader retrieves power data from your Zevercloud account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 20 minutes. Energy data is calculated from power readings.

App Key

The App Key is provided by Zevercloud support

App Secret

The App Secret is provided by Zevercloud support

Test your settings by browsing to the following URL, replacing <API Key>

1https://www.zevercloud.com/api/v1/getPlantOutput?period=bydays&date=2017-04-18&key=<API Key>

Trannergy

The Trannergy auto uploader retrieves power data from your solarmanpv account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 5 minutes. Energy data is calculated from power readings.

Email

The solarmanpv account email address.

Password

The solarmanpv account password.

Eagle

The Eagle auto uploader reads power from your rainforest cloud account and automates the data upload to PVOutput every 5 minutes.

Warning

There may be reliability issues with the Eagle device. The Eagle Push method of sending data directly to PVOutput is recommended over Eagle Auto Uploader.

Cloud Id

The cloud id on rainforest e.g. 000AAA.

User

The rainforest account user id

Password

The rainforest account password

History Data

Enable this option to download the last 1 hour of 5-minute data instead of the default instantaneous value every 5-minutes

Weather Device

The Weather device auto uploader extracts live temperature information from the selected weather API provider. No energy information is uploaded so it can be combined with another Auto Uploader primary/secondary device or external API upload.

Common Settings

Main Temperature

By default all weather devices record to the temperature (v5) parameter. Disable this option and select Temperature from one of the Extended Parameter option below.

Ambient Weather

This weather device downloads weather data from an Ambient personal weather station. It requires the following information from Ambient Weather -

Generate the Ambient keys by logging in to the Ambient weather account -

Configure the device on PVOutput -

  1. Select Ambient Weather from the Weather Device selection

  2. Enter the API key in Ambient API Key field and the rest of the Ambient fields will appear

  3. Enter the App Key and click on TEST to check if the keys are valid

  4. Additional weather data may be uploaded to extended data fields

Daily 5-minute history is supported with Ambient Weather and is retrieved each hour to fill in any potential gaps in the last 24 hours.

OpenWeatherMap

This weather device downloads weather data from an OpenWeatherMap city. It does not require a personal weather station. The following information is required from OpenWeatherMap -

Obtain the OpenWeatherMap API Key and City Id from -

Configure the device on PVOutput -

  1. Select OpenWeatherMap from the Weather Device selection

  2. Enter the API Key in OpenWeatherMap API Key field and the rest of the OpenWeatherMap fields will appear

  3. Enter the City Id and click on TEST to check if the keys and city valid

  4. Additional weather data may be uploaded to extended data fields

Wunderground

This weather device downloads weather data from Wunderground for owners of personal weather stations uploading their data to Wunderground. The following information is required from Wunderground -

Configure the device on PVOutput -

  1. Select Wunderground from the Weather Device selection

  2. Select Enabled from the PWS API and the rest of the Wunderground fields will appear

  3. Enter the API Key from your Wunderground PWS account

  4. Enter the Station Id and click on TEST to check if the keys and station valid

  5. Additional weather data may be uploaded to extended data fields

Daily 5-minute history is supported with Wunderground and is retrieved each hour to fill in any potential gaps in the last 24 hours.

Auto Uploader Rule

A custom rule is a simple line of logic that modifies the current power value based on the available input data.

The rule is applied for each raw power value and the resulting power value is saved for upload.

The section refers to the rules for the primary and secondary Automatic Upload devices. For extended data rules see Extended Data Rule section.

Input Data

The rule has access to the following variables which can be used as part of the rule logic -

  • power - the raw power value in watts

  • hour - hour of the day (0-23)

  • minute - minute of the hour (0-59)

  • out - true if the direction is solar

  • in - true if the direction is consumption

Rule Tester

The rule tester will validate the specified rule and apply it to a set of predefined values. The data table shows a set of sample values and the corresponding output value after the rule is applied.

Note that the system configuration cannot be saved if the rule is invalid. The rule tester will report validation errors that needs to be corrected.

Examples

When power is less than 100W, then make power 0W

1if(power < 100) power = 0;

When consumption power is less than 200W and the current time is before 4 AM, then make power 0W

1if(in && power < 100 && hour < 4) power = 0;

Always increase power by 2%

Always increase power by 2% only if it is solar

When power is greater than 1000W, increase by 10W, when power is greater than 1500W, decrease 10W, otherwise decrease it by 5%

1if(power > 1000) power += 10; else if(power > 1500) power -= 10; else power *= 0.95;