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Integrate opendtu and ahoy into Victron Energies Venus OS as a pv inverter

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dbus-opendtu

Attention: ⚠️For any problems with OpenDTU prior v4.4.3 version, please update to the latest code where most Issues are fixed. OpenDTU changed the API. The same applies to AhoyDTU.⚠️

Table of contents


Introduction

This project integrates (supported) Hoymiles Inverter into Victron Energy's (Venus OS) ecosystem. It works upon openDTU respectively AhoyDTU and also with other generic REST Devices (template configuration needed to include them).

title-image


Installation

With the scripts in this repo, it should be easy possible to install, uninstall, restart a service that connects the OpenDTU or Ahoy to the VenusOS and GX devices from Victron.

Get the code

Just grap a copy of the main branch and copy the content to /data/ e.g. /data/dbus-opendtu. After that call the `install.sh script.

The following commands should do everything for you:

wget -O main.zip https://github.com/henne49/dbus-opendtu/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
unzip main.zip "dbus-opendtu-main/*" -d /data
mv /data/dbus-opendtu-main /data/dbus-opendtu
chmod a+x /data/dbus-opendtu/install.sh

⚠️Edit the following configuration file according to your needs before proceeding⚠️ see Configuration for details.

nano /data/dbus-opendtu/config.ini

Tha last step is to install the service and remove the downloaded files:

/data/dbus-opendtu/install.sh
rm main.zip

Check configuration after that - because the service is already installed and running. In case of wrong connection data (host, username, pwd) you will spam the log-file! Also, check to set a proper (minimal) log level

Configuration

Within the project there is a file /data/dbus-opendtu/config.ini. Most important is the DTU variant, Host and Username and Password, if you use authentication.

Default options

Config value Explanation
SignOfLifeLog Time in minutes how often a status is added to the log-file current.log with log-level INFO
NumberOfTemplates Number ob Template Inverter to query
DTU Which DTU to be used ahoy, opendtu or template REST devices Valid options: opendtu, ahoy, template
NumberOfInvertersToQuery Number of Inverters to query. Set a value larger than "0" when not all inverters should be considered. *1
useYieldDay send YieldDay instead of YieldTotal. Set this to 1 to prevent VRM from adding the total value to the history on one day. E.g. if you don't start using the inverter at 0.
ESP8266PollingIntervall For ESP8266 reduce polling intervall to reduce load, default 10000ms
Logging Valid options for log level: CRITICAL, ERROR, WARNING, INFO, DEBUG, NOTSET, to keep logfile small use ERROR or CRITICAL
MaxAgeTsLastSuccess Maximum accepted age of ts_last_success in Ahoy status message. If ts_last_success is older than this number of seconds, values are not used. Set this to < 0 to disable this check.
DryRun Set this to a value different to "0" to prevent values from being sent. Use this for debugging or experiments.
Host IP or hostname of ahoy or OpenDTU API/web-interface
HTTPTimeout Timeout when doing the HTTP request to the DTU or template. Default: 2.5 sec
Username use if authentication required, leave empty if no authentication needed
Password use if authentication required, leave empty if no authentication needed

*1: Please assure that the order is correct in the DTU, we can only extract the first one in a row.

Inverter options

This applies to each INVERTER[X] section. X is the number of Inverter starting with 0. So the first inverter is INVERTER0, the second INVERTER1 and so on.

Config value Explanation
Phase which Phase L1, L2, L3 to show; use 3P for three-phase-inverters *1
DeviceInstance Unique ID identifying the OpenDTU in Venus OS
AcPosition Position shown in Remote Console (0=AC input 1; 1=AC output; 2=AC input 2)
Servicename e.g. com.victronenergy.pvinverter see Service names

*1: Use 3P to split power equally over three phases (use this for Hoymiles three-phase micro-inverters as they report total power only, not seperated by phase).

Template options

This applies to each TEMPLATE[X] section. X is the number of Template starting with 0. So the first template is TEMPLATE0, the second TEMPLATE1 and so on.

Config value Explanation
Host IP or hostname of Template API/web-interface
Username use if authentication required, leave empty if no authentication needed
Password use if authentication required, leave empty if no authentication needed
DigestAuth TRUE if authentication is required using Digest Auth, as for Shelly Plus Devices, False if you Basic Auth to be used
CUST_SN Serialnumber to register device in VenusOS
CUST_API_PATH Location of REST API Path for JSON to be used
CUST_POLLING Polling interval in ms for Device
CUST_Total Path in JSON where to find total Energy
CUST_Total_Mult Multiplier to convert W per minute for example in kWh
CUST_Total_Default [optional] Default value if no value is found in JSON
CUST_Power Path in JSON where to find actual Power
CUST_Power_Mult Multiplier to convert W in negative or positive
CUST_Power_Default [optional] Default value if no value is found in JSON
CUST_Voltage Path in JSON where to find actual Voltage
CUST_Voltage_Default [optional] Default value if no value is found in JSON
CUST_Current Path in JSON where to find actual Current
CUST_Current_Default [optional] Default value if no value is found in JSON
CUST_DCVoltage Path in JSON where to find actual DC Voltage (e.g. Batterie voltage) *2
CUST_DCVoltage_Default [optional] Default value if no value is found in JSON
Phase which Phase L1, L2, L3 to show; use 3P for three-phase-inverters *3
DeviceInstance Unique ID identifying the OpenDTU in Venus OS
AcPosition Position shown in Remote Console (0=AC input 1; 1=AC output; 2=AC input 2 please do not use)
Name Name to be shown in VenusOS, use a descriptive name
Servicename e.g. com.victronenergy.pvinverter see Service names

Example for JSON PATH: use keywords separated by /

*2: is only used if Servicename is com.victronenergy.inverter *3: Use 3P to split power equally over three phases (use this for Hoymiles three-phase micro-inverters as they report total power only, not seperated by phase).

Service names

The following servicenames are supported:

  • com.victronenergy.pvinverter
  • com.victronenergy.inverter (non-PV - see below)
  • others might work but are not tested or undocumented yet

Note: Non-PV inverters are BETA! The functionality will be limited (due to limited understanding of Victrons/Venus's behavior).

The difference between the two is that the first one (com.victronenergy.pvinverter) is used as a PV inverter connected to PV and the grid (like a Fronius or SMA inverter). The second one (com.victronenergy.inverter) is used for a battery inverter like a Victron AC inverter and is - from Victron's view - not connected to the grid. For more Information about non-PV inverters, see this Issue #42. Also, please note the use case about non-PV inverters below.

It is possible that other servicenames are supported, but they have not been tested by us. If you have a device with a different servicename, please open an issue. Any help or research is welcome and appreciated.

Videos how to install

Here are some videos on how to install and use the script. They are in German, but you can use subtitles and auto-translate to your language. (Don't be confused that the config they used is not the up-to-date.)

Use Cases

In this section we describe some use cases and how to configure the script for them.

Use case 1: Use a PV inverter

In order to use a PV inverter, you need to know the IP address of the DTU (in my case Ahoy) and the servicename of the PV-Inverter. The servicename is com.victronenergy.pvinverter.

A Basic configuration could look like this:

[DEFAULT]
# Which DTU to be used ahoy, opendtu, template
DTU=ahoy

#Possible Options for Log Level: CRITICAL, ERROR, WARNING, INFO, DEBUG, NOTSET
#To keep current.log small use ERROR
Logging=ERROR

#IP of Device to query <-- THIS IS THE IP OF THE DTU
Host=192.168.1.74

### Ahoy Inverter
# AcPosition 0=AC input 1; 1=AC output; 2=AC output 2
# 1st inverter
[INVERTER0]
Phase=L1
DeviceInstance=34
AcPosition=0

The result will be that the first inverter is shown in the Remote Console of Venus OS.

Remote Console

Use case 2: Use a battery inverter

NOTE: BETA - Victron never intended to use a Non-PV inverter (besides Multiplus, Quattro, etc.) to be connected to the existing grid directly (Grid synchronization).

In order to use a battery inverter, you need to know the IP address of the DTU (in my case Ahoy) and the servicename of the battery inverter. The servicename is com.victronenergy.inverter.

The term battery inverter is used for a device that is connected to the grid and can discharge a battery. This is different from a PV inverter, which is only connected to PV-Modules and feeds in energy.

You might want to use a battery inverter to use a battery to store energy from an MPPT charger / AC charger etc. and use it later.

A Basic configuration could look like this:

[DEFAULT]
# Which DTU to be used ahoy, opendtu, template
DTU=ahoy

#Possible Options for Log Level: CRITICAL, ERROR, WARNING, INFO, DEBUG, NOTSET
#To keep current.log small use ERROR
Logging=ERROR

#IP of Device to query <-- THIS IS THE IP OF THE DTU
Host=192.168.1.74

### Ahoy Inverter
# AcPosition 0=AC input 1; 1=AC output; 2=AC output 2
# 1st inverter
[INVERTER0]
Phase=L1
DeviceInstance=34
AcPosition=0
Servicename=com.victronenergy.inverter

The Result looks like this:

Battery-Inverter


Usage

These are some useful commands which help to use the script or to debug.

Check if the script is running

svstat /service/dbus-opendtu show if the service (our script) is running. If the number of seconds shown is low, it is probably restarting and you should look into /data/dbus-opendtu/current.log.

How to debug

dbus-spy show all DBus values interactively.

This is useful to check if the script is running and sending values to Venus OS.

How to install

/data/dbus-opendtu/install.sh installs the service persistently (see above).

This also activates the service, so you don't need to run svcadm enable /service/dbus-opendtu manually.

How to restart

/data/dbus-opendtu/restart.sh restarts the service - e.g. after a config.ini change.

This also clears the logfile, so you can see the latest output in /data/dbus-opendtu/current.log.

How to uninstall

/data/dbus-opendtu/uninstall.sh stops the service and prevents it from being restarted (e.g. after a reboot).

If you want to remove the service completely, you can do so by running rm -rf /data/dbus-opendtu.


How does it work

The script is inspired by @fabian-lauer dbus-shelly-3em-smartmeter implementation. So what is the script doing:

  • Running as a service
  • Connecting to DBus of the Venus OS com.victronenergy.pvinverter.http_{DeviceInstanceID_from_config}
  • After successful DBus connection, OpenDTU (resp. Ahoy) is accessed via REST-API - simply the /status (resp. api/live) is called which returns a JSON with all details.
    • A sample JSON file from OpenDTU can be found here.
    • A sample JSON file from Ahoy can be found here
  • Serial/devicename is taken from the response as device serial
  • Paths are added to the DBus with default value 0 - including some settings like name etc.
  • After that, a "loop" is started which pulls OpenDTU/AhoyDTU data every 5s (configurable) from the REST-API and updates the values in the DBus, for ESP 8266 based ahoy systems we even pull data only every 10seconds.

Thats it 😄

Pictures


Tested Devices

The code allows you to query either an Ahoy or OpenDTU Device, plus multiple template based (PV) Inverter in a single script.

Following combinations are possible:

  • Use one or more devices configured via template configuration
  • Use a OpenDTU device
  • Use a AhoyDTU device
  • Use either a OpenDTU or a AhoyDTU device and one or more template devices.

Tested examples for template devices:

  • Tasmota unauthenticated
  • Shelly 1 PM authenticated/unauthenticated
  • Shelly Plus 1 PM unathenticated

All configuration is done via config.ini. Examples are commented in config.ini


Troubleshooting

Please open a new issue on github, only here we can work on your problem in a structured way: https://github.com/henne49/dbus-opendtu/issues/new/choose

⚠️ Change the Logging Parameter under DEFAULT in /data/dbus-opendtu/config.ini to Logging = DEBUG, please revert, once debugging and troubleshooting is complete. Rerun the script and share the current.log file.

Please provide the config.ini and JSON file and upload to the github issues, you can download the JSON file using your browser or using a commandline like tool like curl

Type of DTU URL
OpenDTU http://REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_IP_OR_HOSTNAME/api/livedata/status
Ahoy http://REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_IP_OR_HOSTNAME/api/live
Template Tasmota http://REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_IP_OR_HOSTNAME/cm?cmnd=STATUS+8
Template Shelly 1 http://REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_IP_OR_HOSTNAME/status
Template Shelly Plus http://REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_IP_OR_HOSTNAME/rpc/Switch.GetStatus?id=0
Template Your Own You will know best

OpenDTU Curl example which uses jq to make the output pretty:

curl http://REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_IP_OR_HOSTNAME/api/livedata/status | jq > export.json

also describe the problem as best as you can.

Please also show, what you can see in Venus OS and VRM Portal, as the source of truth is Venus OS and not VRM.

Security settings in OpenDTU

For openDTU, you can use authentication for the web Interface, but allow access to the status page unauthenticated. For this please use the settings like below.

OpenDTU Security


Inspiration

Idea is inspired on @fabian-lauer & @vikt0rm project linked below. This project is my first on GitHub and with the Victron Venus OS, so I took some ideas and approaches from the following projects - many thanks for sharing the knowledge:


Further reading

If you like to read more about the Venus OS and the DBus, please check the following links and sites.

used Documentation

Discussions on the web

This module/repository has been posted on the following threads:

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