Sharing this tip on a rain sensor with solar panel!

Hardware
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13

I use mine with Conbee II.

I have had some issues with range. Right now it’s working fine.

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It keeps connecting to my Conbee instead of using the router right next to it.

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It has very poor reception when connected to the Conbee but for about three days it was connected through the router and it had much better reception.

Is there any way to lock it to a router?

The really annoying thing with this device (for me with poor reception) is that it has the pairing button behind the mount.
So I first have to take it off the mount then re-pair and mount it again.
But apart from that it seems to work fine.

1 Like
14

Nice that it works with conbee II. May I ask how precise is this sensor when the rain stops? Right now I have a water leak sensor for rain and the main problem is that it reports that the rain stopped after at least 1-2 hours than the actual time the rain stopped (until it dries)

Since you already have the conbee I think you will know the answer for my next question (unrelative). Can I add a sonoff zigbee device to use it as zigbee2mqtt?

I have read that the sonoff dongle is better than conbee (wider range etc) but I don’t want to remove conbee and reallocate all my sensors :frowning:

15

If you look at the image above it seems to detect dry rather quick.
Much quicker than I expected.
Perhaps something is not correct, I’m not home at the moment.
But it said wet at 9:45, then 9:54 it was dry.
This could be a smal drop that it first detected then it dried or dripped off.
It has not rained when I have been home while this device also worked since I got it.
This has been the first test today actually.

I don’t use sonoff or Z2M so I don’t know.

1 Like
16

ok, please if possible give us feedback when you can actually monitor it’s behavior when you are at home.

17

yep it will work with sonoff dongle and z2m.

i use usg-01 router and z2m, works great for weeks.

18

Cross posting from here: Rain/Solar ZigBee Sensor not working as expected... loosing connection - #9 by elzorro

TL;DR: the sensor loses connection very fast and even from a short distance.

19

It’s been working great for me. Accurate and reliable. It is 2 meters from the closest router.

20

I have also a device, works flawlessly. Its about 10m away (through a concrete wall) from the connected device (its a philips hue bulb).

So far so good.

Ronny

21

Hi, how are you happy with that? I need some solution that will measure my lighting intensity because of solar panels. If the electricity purchase price is low, the solar panels don’t produce anything because the overflows are turned off and so I can’t see data-wise if the sun is shining, but I would need to know if I can turn on high EV charging or turn on the heating.

22

I can’t say that it works well as a solar meeter.
I get this:

Screenshot_20241101-204340
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But I think it looks the same every day, even on cloudy and rainy days.

Edit

Yeah as expected it looks the same pretty much every day even days when it’s raining.

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23

@Hellis81 Ok, thank you, so I need something more useful for information on whether the sun is shining or not.

24

So my tip was not that useful… :innocent:

As a test, I have ordered a few of these new IKEA light/motion sensors to but against a window for using the light sensor to control lights based on the outside luminescence.
They are cheap and use AAA batteries.

25

According to this image the ZigBee antenna is right up against the Li-ION battery. You can see the antenna on the zigbee microcontroller in the cut-out in the green PCB. That would reduce the range in the direction outward of where the battery is located as the outer shell of the battery is made of steel.
Maybe in some situations where the sensor is performing poorly you could try rotating it 90 degrees and see if the RSSI improves over a period of hours.

2 Likes
26

this sensor is a big sh…for illuminance lol the 4 november was a rainy day and the 5 november was a very shining day, same values…lol

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27

work like a charm in esphome

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source : https://www.instructables.com/Interfacing-Photoresistor-With-ESP32/

code esphome:

sensor:
  - platform: adc
    pin: 34
    name: "Luminosite Huawei Solar Cuisine"
    id: illumination_huawei_solar2
    unit_of_measurement: lux
    update_interval: 5s
    filters:
      - lambda: return (( x * 3.3 / 10000.0) * 3000000.0);
    ```
28

Apparently… @Hellis81 has the same findings.
You would think that an outdoor sensor would be perfect.

Of course ESPHome gives you more guarantee to work but WiFi & mains power are a big disadvantage - at least for me.

29

I’m seeing the same results, see below compared with the lux from my Ecowitt weather station

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1 Like
30

even in front of a windows, inside? you cant plug a usb cord on a wall socket?

if you already use some bluethooth Proxy in Esphome, its really simple to add this lux sensor to one of them.

or if you have Z2M the AQARA P1 is cheap Motion Sensor P1 - Aqara

ALiexpress Aqara motion sensor with luminance 9.21€ free shiping to France :slight_smile:

31

Yeah, BT could be another option but still: that cable on a wall… :face_with_raised_eyebrow:
I don’t have an outlet close enough to a window to be acceptable.

The IKEA VALLHORN (also zigbee) is in the same pricerange, ‘locally’ available AND with rechargeable AAA batteries which could last longer.

32

I’m having problems with my newly arrived Tuya, but I think my problems are that it’s not getting enough light to charge the batteries properly. It will probably be a few days before I know for sure. The battery level isn’t responding so I can’t check for sure, but given it goes fine for a few hours and then drops off, I’m willing to bet that lack of sun is probably my issue.