Instalation for a complete newbe....

[mprowe]

I am considering a GivEnery system and looing into the monitoring & management of same. I have come across your announcement on the Home Assistant site. I have now got the HAOS running as a (test) VM but I'm stuck trying to install your Monitoring Tool. Can you offer any pointers?

Regards, M.

System Health
version: core-2022.4.7
installation_type: Home Assistant OS
dev: false
hassio: true
docker: true
user: root
virtualenv: false
python_version: 3.9.9
os_name: Linux
os_version: 5.10.108
arch: x86_64
timezone: Europe/London

logged_in: false
can_reach_cert_server: ok
can_reach_cloud_auth: ok
can_reach_cloud: ok

host_os: Home Assistant OS 7.6
update_channel: stable
supervisor_version: supervisor-2022.04.0
docker_version: 20.10.9
disk_total: 31.3 GB
disk_used: 2.4 GB
healthy: true
supported: true
board: ova
supervisor_api: ok
version_api: ok
installed_addons: Terminal & SSH (9.3.0)

dashboards: 1
resources: 0
mode: auto-gen

[cdpuk]

The integration is currently available via HACS. Once you've got that installed, this repo needs to be added as a custom repository.

Admittedly this is quite a clunky process but I'll try to improve it and the instructurions at some point.

Without a real inverter to talk to, unfortunately you're not going to see very much. Happy to answer any questions about what it can/can't do, but in general, any data you can get in the GivEnergy portal, you could also get via this integration. They have a demo available if that's useful.

[mprowe]

Thank you @cdpuk,

Okay, I'm moving forward. I have HACS installed, your repository added and the GivEnergy Local integration installed. I think!

My problem now, is that I can't find the "... then enter the inverter address during the setup steps" bit from your Installation note.

Regarding your comments about "a real inverter", do you think that just the WiFi dongle (powered in a USB hub) will provide a meaningful (although limited) digital conversation? I was hoping that I may be able to get a loan from a givEnergy distributor ;)

Regards, M.

[cdpuk]

That's the hard bit done. From here you should be able to go to Configuration > Devices & Services > Add Integration.

I'm not sure what a Wi-Fi dongle would do on its own. You might be the first person to try it though!

In any case, here's some of the data available in a real system:

[mprowe]

Thanks once again @cdpuk,

As you say, this is as far as I can go without something to look at. So, I'll go quiet now... One last question: You mention "Modbus support is provided by the givenergy-modbus library." in the Device Support section. Can you tell me a bit more about this? Is it included in the Integration download? Do I need to get it from givEnergy?

Regards, M.

[cdpuk]

It just means I didn't do the hard work of actually talking to the inverter! The comms are handled by this library: https://github.com/dewet22/givenergy-modbus

Nothing to worry about from your point of view - it's automatically installed for you.