Foxess Realtime Monitoring

Energy
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1

Hi there,

First post on here, so hope I’ve put it in the right place etc.

I had Foxess solar and battery installed back in July (H1-3.7-E-G2 inverter) and stumbled across Home Assistant looking for better monitoring apps. Anyway I read so many posts online I am more confused than when I started.

I have set up Home Assistant on an old PC via Virtualbox with the Foxcloud integration and various dashboards, but like many of you, now wanting realtime updates

Currently the inverter has a W4 wifi module so the Foxcloud app works fine. I’ve read about various types of modbus I can install to get the realtime data but have a few questions I’m hoping you experts can help with:

  • What would be the best way for my setup to get realtime data in HA?

  • My inverter is also linked to the installers as part of the warranty so they can also
    monitor / troubleshoot / upgrade firmware as required. If I change the wifi dongle
    to some kind of modbus, will it prevent the installers having access?

  • My inverter is connected to my network via the wifi datalogger with it’s own ip, is
    is possible to point HA to that IP in some way to access inverter data?

I apologise if my questions seem a bit stupid, but still trying to understand the various connection methods.

Best regards
Darryl

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2

The modbus method is the way to go. Really easy and works flawlessly. I get updates every 10s on my H1!

Just need 2 cables plugged into the inverter and then into a modbus adapter. I’m using a Usr-Tcp232-410.

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3

Sorry should have mentioned it won’t affect the Fox app or your installers access!

4

Thanks very much for the info!

Looks quite simple - what is the black box in the first picture your modbus adaptor is connected to? Just a standard switch which is connected to your router?

How easy is it to access the connecter in your second pic (which I assume is from the inverter)? I noticed the other day that my inverter has seal stickers over the join between the removable outer panel and inner fixed saying warranty void if broken.

This does seem like the way to go though, especially as the installers won’t loose their connection

5

Yeah the black box is just a cheap tplink switch.

To actually connect the cable you power everything down. Remove one of the plugs from the bottom of the inverter and insert the cables. Just push the button and push the cable in. No need to break any seals! It’s the same plug that your ct clamp is connected to.

There’s detailed instructions on the modbus integrations wiki.

I was nervous at first but it’s actually quite easy to do :sunglasses:

6

Apologies, for the delayed response, for some reason I’m not getting emails to say I have an update to read.

I’ve seen the info and instructions for the Foxess modbus online, but it’s great to have it confirmed by somoene it definitely works. Luckily enough, on the other side of the wall my inverter and battery is mounted, is where all my home networking kit is and pretty sure there is enough space in the hole that’s already there from other cables to feed a couple of extra through so that bit I’m not too worried about. It’s more turning all the inverter and battery system off properly without messing anything up I’m worried about. Plus, I see from the online tutorials there should be some kind of special tool the disconnect the connecter I need to access which I don’t have. But will figure that out when I get to it :slightly_smiling_face:

Thanks again!

7

For the G2 inverter you don’t actually need that tool as I found out!

The plug is square and there’s little clips holding the 2 sections together. Can be a little tricky to pull apart. In the end I pushed a small screw driver in the end where the cable enters and pushed it slightly to sepeate the 2 parts. Hopefully yours is a bit loose. All in all only took about 10 mins

8

Just thought I’d let you know I have live data now coming through via modbus! You were indeed right when you mentioned how easy it was.

Having read a considerable amount on various forums about issues getting the modbus recognised by home assistant I was mentally prepared, but it pretty much integrated itself.

Although on the device page I can clearly see all the sensors etc and the various readings so know data is coming through OK, the one thing that doesn’t seem to work is the charge period card addon through HACS. I added the card fine, but for some reason it doesn’t recognise any inverter. I’ve tried a number of different variables to try get it to pick up the inverter but no luck so far. Nevertheless I’m sure the answer is on the forums.

Thanks again :blush:

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9

Hi All.

I am new to this but this forum has helped me a lot in the past. I was wondering if anyone who has connected the modbus interface to an inverter and is willing to make a video of disconnecting the connector from the inverter and then connecting the wire inside the connector?

10

Hi Tash,

Have you seen the guide from the integration documentation? It’s pretty decent actually - will paste the link below. I was a bit daunted before setting up mine but it was easy. I’d do you a video if I could but my inverter is quite close to the ground so the position I have to be in to see what I’m doing with the connector, I wouldn’t be able to film at the same time. Plus there are two clips you have to release at the same time to disconnect so need both hands. But if you just print out the guide from the link below and follow it you can’t go wrong.

If you have the Elfin type modbus, all you need is a USB charge cable for power and I used some speaker cable for the data link.

Cheers
Darryl

11

Hi Daryl

Thanks for the push. I managed to do it this morning. My main worry was in case I had the square connector and no spare pins but it turned out I had the round connector with the screw terminals. I connected to a WiFi dongle and am now getting readings that refresh every 5 seconds.

I can see values on my own dashboard and looks great.

My energy dashboard is not updating , it says it can take up to 2 hours, I can’t understand why.

In any case I’m glad I made the plunge. My Fox app has been reporting my system if offline for the past few days and support say they are having server issues. At least I don’t need to rely on their app anymore.

12

Hi Tash,

So glad you got it sorted. It’s easier than you initially think isn’t it?

The energy dashboard can take a while to update - I presume you’ve gone in to the energy dashboard setup and changed the entities to the modbus ones?

I hated the Foxcloud app, the fact it only updates around every 15mins plus it was always a pain trying to force charge the battery when free electricity as I’d set it to force charge but would often revert back to self use. I get free electricity every Sunday so have an automation to turn it on and off automatically.

I had my CCTV showing on a display in my front room. Now I use a touchscreen display showing a Home Assistant dashboard in kiosk mode with both CCTV and my solar info integrated :slightly_smiling_face:

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13

Looks good. I have used the HACS Sunsynk-Power-Flow-Card to get a better more realistic display similar to the Fox app. In reality you see the power flowing through the lines on the diagram.

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14

@Partenon17 can you share the card entities config?

15

Second on that … if you could provide a list of the entities … I did set this up and try editing … but not sure which each component is

16

FWIW - I’ve got this so far for entities

type: custom:sunsynk-power-flow-card
cardstyle: full
show_solar: true
battery:
  energy: 0
  shutdown_soc: 15
  show_daily: true
  soc_decimal_places: 0
  auto_scale: true
  show_absolute: false
  invert_power: false
  dynamic_colour: true
  linear_gradient: true
  animate: true
  hide_soc: true
  remaining_energy_to_shutdown: true
  show_remaining_energy: true
  invert_flow: false
solar:
  show_daily: true
  mppts: 2
  pv1_name: Back
  pv2_name: Front
  auto_scale: true
  dynamic_colour: true
  off_threshold: 0
  invert_flow: false
load:
  show_daily: true
  dynamic_colour: true
  dynamic_icon: true
  essential_name: Home
  additional_loads: 0
  auto_scale: false
grid:
  show_daily_buy: true
  show_daily_sell: true
  show_nonessential: false
  auto_scale: true
  invert_flow: false
  show_absolute: false
  invert_grid: false
entities:
  use_timer_248: switch.foxess_toggle_system_timer
  priority_load_243: _
  inverter_voltage_154: sensor.foxess_r_volt
  load_frequency_192: sensor.foxess_r_freq
  inverter_current_164: sensor.foxess_inverter_current
  inverter_power_175: sensor.foxess_r_power
  grid_connected_status_194: sensor.foxess_running_state
  inverter_status_59: sensor.foxess_running_state
  day_battery_charge_70: sensor.foxess_bat_charge
  day_battery_discharge_71: sensor.foxess_bat_discharge
  battery_voltage_183: null
  battery_soc_184: sensor.foxess_bat_soc
  battery_power_190: sensor.foxess_inverter_bat_power
  battery_current_191: null
  grid_power_169: sensor.foxess_feedin_power
  grid_ct_power_172: sensor.foxess_grid_consumption_power
  pv1_power_186: sensor.foxess_pv1_power
  pv2_power_187: sensor.foxess_pv2_power
  pv3_power_187: sensor.foxess_pv3_power
  pv1_voltage_109: sensor.foxess_pv1_volt
  pv1_current_110: sensor.foxess_pv1_current
  pv2_voltage_111: sensor.foxess_pv2_volt
  pv2_current_112: sensor.foxess_pv2_current
  pv3_voltage_111: sensor.foxess_pv3_volt
  pv3_current_112: sensor.foxess_pv3_current
  day_grid_import_76: sensor.foxess_grid_consumption
  day_grid_export_77: sensor.foxess_feedin
  grid_voltage: sensor.foxess_r_volt
  day_pv_energy_108: sensor.foxess_pvenergytotal
  day_load_energy_84: sensor.foxess_energy_generated
  essential_power: sensor.foxess_load_power
  battery_temp_182: sensor.foxess_bat_temperature
large_font: false
wide: false
show_battery: true
show_grid: true
dynamic_line_width: false
inverter:
  model: foxess
  modern: true
  auto_scale: false
  autarky: energy
17

Hi All,
I used the circuit board from the foxess T-Series modbus interface to create an ESP home interface to my foxess inverter (Not T Series).
The YAML and a link to the circuit board details are here:

This gave me direct local access without needing a device that has unknown firmware running on my network.

I hope this is of use to someone, it is functional and does what I need. I may update it in future if I run into any issues.
Please note that I cobbled this together with information form various places so it may or may nbot be correct in all aspects. I have been using it for a year now and have not broken my inverter yet, but I can not be sure that it will stay that way.

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18

Sure. Here is the code for the full card.

type: custom:sunsynk-power-flow-card
cardstyle: full
show_solar: true
battery:
energy: 0
shutdown_soc: 20
show_daily: true
count: 1
solar:
show_daily: true
mppts: 2
auto_scale: true
dynamic_colour: true
max_power: 6000
load:
show_daily: true
auto_scale: true
dynamic_colour: true
dynamic_icon: true
grid:
show_daily_buy: true
show_daily_sell: true
show_nonessential: false
auto_scale: true
invert_grid: false
invert_flow: true
entities:
use_timer_248: switch.sunsynk_toggle_system_timer
priority_load_243: sensor.maininverter_load_power
inverter_voltage_154: sensor.maininverter_rvolt
load_frequency_192: sensor.maininverter_rfreq
inverter_current_164: sensor.maininverter_rcurrent
inverter_power_175: sensor.maininverter_rpower
grid_connected_status_194: sensor.maininverter_connection_status
inverter_status_59: sensor.maininverter_inverter_state
day_battery_charge_70: sensor.maininverter_battery_charge_today
day_battery_discharge_71: sensor.maininverter_battery_discharge_today
battery_voltage_183: sensor.maininverter_batvolt
battery_soc_184: sensor.maininverter_battery_soc
battery_power_190: sensor.maininverter_invbatpower
battery_current_191: sensor.maininverter_bat_current
grid_power_169: sensor.maininverter_grid_consumption
day_grid_import_76: sensor.maininverter_grid_consumption_energy_today
day_grid_export_77: sensor.maininverter_feed_in_energy_today
grid_ct_power_172: sensor.maininverter_grid_ct
day_load_energy_84: sensor.maininverter_load_energy_today
essential_power: sensor.maininverter_load_power
nonessential_power: none
aux_power_166: sensor.sunsynk_aux_power
day_pv_energy_108: sensor.maininverter_solar_energy_today
pv1_power_186: sensor.maininverter_pv1_power
pv2_power_187: sensor.maininverter_pv2_power
pv1_voltage_109: sensor.maininverter_pv1_voltage
pv1_current_110: sensor.maininverter_pv1_current
pv2_voltage_111: sensor.maininverter_pv2_voltage
pv2_current_112: sensor.maininverter_pv2_current
pv5_power: “0”
pv4_power_189: “0”
pv3_power_188: “0”
pv6_power: “0”
grid_voltage: sensor.maininverter_rvolt
total_pv_generation: sensor.maininverter_solar_energy_total
inverter:
auto_scale: true
model: foxess
autarky: “no”
show_battery: true
show_grid: true

19

Hi all.
This post is reassuring as I’m about to get solar and battery storage. Just 2 questions if you don’t mind…
Firstly, any regrets about going with the fox system? I see some say that the management / app is terrible but I’m assuming this sorts that and makes it a good and cheap overall system.
And then, anyone got the heated batteries and can confirm you have control over that? I will most likely install outside and will need heating, but seen other posts where that only works for some of the day.
Thanks
Alan

20

Hi Alan,

I had my system installed July 2024 so almost a year ago. On the whole, I’ve been pretty pleased. My sister and parents also had the same system installed around the same time and none of us have experienced any issues with the system.

You are right though, the FoxCloud app is really not that great which was how I ended up getting in to Home Assistant and eventually setting up a home assistant server with the modbus control for the solar - purely to give me greater control of my solar.

If you’ve got any specific questions just let me know and I’ll do my best to answer.

Best regards
Darryl

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