Solar Panel Monitors

Tomytontoe

Hi
Looking for a solar panel monitor and came across Owl Intuition-pv
Has anyone got one of these and are they any good?

Andy_WSM

A number of us here use the Wattson Anywhere kit if it helps.

Works well, useful online dashboard to see what's going on and keep an archive of data.

Here's mine: http://wattson.energyhive.com/dashboard/AndyW

Tomytontoe

Can only find Wattson Solar Plus which is £140 is this the same?

Andy_WSM

Tomytontoe wrote: »

Can only find Wattson Solar Plus which is £140 is this the same?

That's most of it. To give the online functionality you buy the energyhive hub on top.

theboylard

If you are at all handy/techy, then may be look at open energy monitor?

I'm about to dive in as I have a wattson, but it doesn't measure the diverted energy (as I don't use an immersun), and it's not as accurate as I'd like it to be!

Plus with Emoncms I can save myself a truckload of excellery as I can throw the data around as I like!

I'll have a bit more free time as of April, so I'll start my build out then - I'll report and write it up as I go... there's commitment!

GreenBo

I've got a http://www.smappee.com, which monitors the solar, the total for the home and manages to meter most of the appliances within too. Pretty clever really. It also has the ability to control appliances with plug/socket things, which was something I couldn't find many other energy monitors did. It's like an energy monitor/home automation combo.

pinnks

I happened across this product recently. Sounds interesting but can it really identify the signature of every product, or does it recognise when something is turned on and then make assumptions. if it is the former then it really is smart...

GreenBo

pinnks wrote: »

I happened across this product recently. Sounds interesting but can it really identify the signature of every product, or does it recognise when something is turned on and then make assumptions. if it is the former then it really is smart...

Mine has recognised most of the appliances in my home but not all. It failed to detect small loads like LED lights, but anything larger it's fine with. From memory, I think mine is currently monitoring around 30 appliances. There a good 'user experience' series someone's doing on Youtube that I'm following at the moment which should give you a good idea on what it's all about.

groovyf

Can you link that YouTube series please. I remember that device from looking at monitoring last year. It still intrigues me

GreenBo

I don't know how to link to the whole series, but here's one of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9xxMV2RnqI

There's quite a few of them to watch, from the initial install up to one I've just noticed he's put up that I haven't watched yet. Best make a brew and watch as he goes on a bit.

pinnks

just watched these. really interesting.


I am not sure of his maths on the fridge based on a few minutes on time but overall it looks an impressive and useful bit of kit.


That said, like most monitoring devices, its really useful life is limited to how long it takes to rationalise your usage.