Cost Effective Consumption Monitoring with PV

Chris_Wiseman

Hi all
Since having my PV installed I've been wanting to understand more about our existing consumption.
I've looked into a number of different options online, but with Bulb's upcoming roll-out of smart meters, I'm loathed to invest in something like EmonPi to understand existing usage patterns.
My Growatt inverters provide generation stats from PV but does anyone know of a cost effective system where I can monitor our usage through the day and export the data so I can calculate self-consumption?

Thanks in advance
Chris

Zarch

EmonPi is expensive, yes. Around £200 all in for everything you need, but it works like a charm.

I tried cheaper Pi based CT clamp systems which are fine for monitoring usage alone, but don't work once you add in PV because of the multi direction of the electricity (i'm no expert mind, that is my explanation).

Granted, you may never get the £200 back in any sort of savings, but if you want accuracy from day one i'd certainly recommend EmonPi. Because EmonPi is a custom made circuit board it works out the ins/outs and separates etc for accurate results, still using CT clamps.

You can also squirt the figures from EmonPi up to PVOutput for another take on the the figures.

If I were you i'd post up the details of your system on the EmonPi community forum to see what solution may suit. As you've got 2 inverters and EV you may need something with more inputs that a straight EmonPi.

https://openenergymonitor.org/

Chris_Wiseman

Thanks for the feedback and I'll certainly ask over there.

I'm currently doing a manual upload to PVOutput from my Growatt monitoring, but I've seen a few ways of setting up the integration service.

My hesitancy on the investment in EmonPi is mainly based around smart metering. When the Bulb SMETS 2 meters get rolled out, I'd expect that they'll provide a pretty detailed overview of energy import, though there is always the complications of combining them to get the full picture.

Thanks
Chris