04-24-10, 11:17 AM | #1 |
Lex Parsimoniae
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
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How to monitor your PV production? A new idea?
I was looking at the whole house monitors like the TED and my own UK made monitor.
Elite Wireless Electricity Monitor When it occurred to me , the current probe could be placed on the output of your grid-tied inverter(s)! It would monitor your PV production, and like a Kill-a-Watt, display the data in kWhs and in $.. My Efergy saves kWhs daily for a week, then compresses it to a monthly total number at the end of each month. Up to 24 months. So, if I ever get to buy some EnPhase inverters (or Chinese copies), I can get some more use out of my Efergy unit.. It can handle 120 or 230vac easily. It does not have a USB I/O like the TED, but the cost is less, about $70 IIRC. Cheers, Rich Last edited by Xringer; 04-25-10 at 08:56 AM.. |
04-26-10, 08:36 AM | #2 |
Lex Parsimoniae
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
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More info
The Ebay link to the UK e-store is, eBay Store - Smart-Green-Shop: Energy-saving
To monitor the AC wattage output of your inverter, the clip-on current probe has to be placed over a single leg of the AC line. Just clipping over the whole cable won't work. Here's some info about a clip-on non-contact sensor. Mains AC: non-invasive voltage and current | OpenEnergyMonitor |
11-26-10, 12:16 PM | #3 |
Lex Parsimoniae
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
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Efergy Elite
I found out what these look like inside.. Didn't even have to open mine!
Picasa Web Albums - Joe Desbonnet - EfergyElite There are new models coming out that have USB connections.. Here's on US dealer. Shop today for Powersave monitor and supplies |
12-05-10, 10:56 AM | #4 |
Lex Parsimoniae
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
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RFI? Or bad design?
I've been looking at the antennas in the receiver and transmitter.
They are little copper pigtails. Similar to the guts of a Rubber-ducky antenna. I've been getting signal loss, maybe due to weak signal.. After seeing these photos, I see a problem. The receiver ant is vertical, and the transmitter ant is horizontal. At work, we call is Cross-Pol. Or Cross Polarization. Cross-Pol can cut your signal up a theoretical 20dB. Which is a massive loss. (-3dB=50% loss). I've rotated the transmitter 90degs. If that fails to get an improvement, I'll install a better antenna on the transmitter. |
12-05-10, 05:24 PM | #5 |
Helper EcoRenovator
Join Date: Sep 2010
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You might want to bite the bullet and get the TED 5000. It has google powermeter..
and it is quite accurate.. and expandable. |
12-05-10, 06:02 PM | #6 |
Lex Parsimoniae
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
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Ted 1001
I've been thinking about the TED 1001. It got a max KW alarm that looks like it will
get down to a 10w resolution. It could wake me up, if the Sanyo started using over 2.25 KW.. It also seems to be able to alert you of high or low line-voltage. To 1/10 of a volt.. That's a lot of alarms for $120.. |
12-05-10, 09:23 PM | #7 |
Master EcoRenovator
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver Island BC
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I'd already have a ted 5000 but my utility is promising to move us to smart meters and provide us with a real time feedback display plus web logging for free so I'm holding off.
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12-09-10, 05:06 PM | #8 |
Lex Parsimoniae
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
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My wife is getting me a TED 1001 w/Footprints for xmas..
It's a good unit (per specs) with out the software, so it should be even better with the software.. |
12-10-10, 04:26 PM | #9 |
Helper EcoRenovator
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You will love the TED 1001.
I am checking on my TED 5000 constantly even when I am at work or running about. |
12-10-10, 04:52 PM | #10 |
Lex Parsimoniae
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
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Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
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My new charge controller is down in a cold basement.. So, I loaded it up with LogMeIn,
so I can watch it from upstairs.. Where it's a lot warmer!! |
Tags |
efergy, grid-tie, inverter, solar power |
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