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ksheumaker / homeassistant-apsystems_ecur

Home Assistant custom component for local querying of APSystems ECU-R Solar System
Apache License 2.0
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Changing Query time seems to do nothing #43

Closed Xplode85 closed 2 years ago

Xplode85 commented 2 years ago

I've tried query time 60s and 120s, but it doesn't seem to actually change the query time. I know the lower query time can cause instability, but i'd like to test and find the actual limit where problems will appear. Would also love if a method to change query time without reinstallering the integration could be added.

To help with instability because of shorter query times would it help to not query some entities? Temperature, voltage, frequency signal etc isn't something that everyone will need or they could be queried at longer intervals.

ksheumaker commented 2 years ago

Which version of the integration are you using? My system is querying every 300 seconds. I verified by looking at the sensor data and seeing the update time on the graphs.

It's on the list of things to do to be able to alter the query time w/o re-installation - just haven't gotten there yet.

And just an FYI the ECU doesn't seem to provide new data more frequently than 5 minutes, so I'm not sure going to a 120 or 60s query time will really have any advantage.

There are only 3 commands we issue to the ECU to get data, they are:

  1. system as a whole (total energy, etc)
  2. inverter level data - this includes panel level production, temperature, and voltage.
  3. signal strength

We could certainly query 3 less to see if that would be more stable, and it's probably a good idea since signal strength isn't that important.

Xplode85 commented 2 years ago

I've used both 1.1.2 and 1.2.10. It's an ECU-R with 40 panels (system belongs to a friend that i've helped setup HA for) Would be nice to have shorter intervall on queries, but since it's most likely out of your hands it's of no worry

ksheumaker commented 2 years ago

What ECU do they have, and which inverters? and what is the firmware the integration is reporting?

Are there stability issues, or is has it been working?

I have 25 panels (on 7 QS1 inverters) and it has been really stable for me. We aren't sure the amount of data or number of inverters is more problematic or not, but 40 is the most I've heard, so I'm interested in feedback from a system like that.

Xplode85 commented 2 years ago

ECU_R_1.2.19 10x QS1 Stability is okish so far, just ran a few days. Stable during the day, but problems at night.

I did try turning of queries at night with 1.1.2, but queries never started again unless i restarted home assistant. I setup an automation to restart home assistant at night, but will test if it's stable through the night and day without restarting.

He is probably adding another 2 inverters in a few days so will be 48 panels total.

How is the efficiency of your panels? He's using 285w panels and one of the panels mounted vertical on the wall has been up to 281w, snow on the ground might have helped this thou...will continue to monitor the max power produced on this panel.

Xplode85 commented 2 years ago

I have set querries to 120s now and i see updates at 240s and 360s interval image

ksheumaker commented 2 years ago

If the data doesn't change between those intervals, HA doesn't log it. If you really want to make sure it's querying every 120s then put the logging for the integration in debug mode, and you'll see messages about it opening the connection to the ECU.

ksheumaker commented 2 years ago

He's using 285w panels and one of the panels mounted vertical on the wall has been up to 281w, snow on the ground might have helped this thou...will continue to monitor the max power produced on this panel.

My panels are bigger than 300W since the placement of them isn't ideal because of the shape of my roof. Here's what I'm seeing right now:

Screen Shot 2022-02-18 at 11 23 10 AM

We had 8 inches of snow yesterday, and with the drifts some of them are still pretty covered. I'm not sure how I get greater than 300W production though, since my understanding is the QS1 can only do 300W per channel. I don't know if the data is incorrect, or if they under-report the specifications on them. The data I get here is the same when I login to APSystems EMA web app though.

HAEdwin commented 2 years ago

I think @Xplode85, the graph is somewhat confusing with this interval/timing because it just missed the update from the ECU so it will show in the next. The pattern long (6 minutes) -short (4 minutes) -long (6 minutes) -short (4 minutes) confirms this. On average the information of the ECU is still updated once every five minutes. This is a slight disadvantage of intervals larger than one minute but it should not really be an issue, no data is missed with intervals < 5 minutes unless there is a communication error, the probability increases with large intervals.

HAEdwin commented 2 years ago

@Xplode85 Did my explanation help to solve this problem? If so would you please close this issue? Many thanks.