Right now it will be solar only. I’d like to at some point add batteries, but today I can’t make the math add up (I’m in NY, so very favorable net metering).
I have a quote from Tesla, and a quote from a local installer who installs QTron panels with Enphase micro inverters.
The Tesla quote was marginally cheaper, but not significantly so to be the only deciding factor. Local integration with home assistant is high priority for me. Wanted to understand from the community the relative ease (or not) of working with either system.
HA has native support for Tesla Powerwall gateways which will leverage the local API on your gateway device(s) for accessing the runtime data from your installation.
Recently, however, Tesla have removed support for two commands which used to be supported by the local API and are now only available via their cloud API.
If you need/want the ability to change battery reserves or the system’s willingness to charge the batteries from the grid (as opposed to only charging via solar) you’ll have to use the cloud API via a HACS-installed third party integration. Both the local/native integration and the cloud/HACS integration can run alongside each other without any trouble.
Generally I think if you are more concerned with Home Assistant making automation decisions based on the state of your solar install, Tesla is a good solution. If you want to do power rate arbitrage all the time or otherwise envision changing the battery reserves or charging posture, you might not be happy requiring the cloud for those tasks.
I have worked with both system and I think the Enphase is technically a better system overall. It is defiantly easier to work with and expand from a DIY perspective.
Both of them have APIs and both have different integration problems. I have Enphase in my house here and one of the issues is you only get data every 15 minutes.
I think the best overall solution is to install your own ESPhome based current sensors attached to your breaker panel, batteries and solar panels. That way you have 100% local control over real time data in HA.
FYI the HA Enphase integration has a polling interval of 60 seconds. In my case 60 seconds is more than good enough for power rate arbitrage. I haven’t tested whether the integration works when internet is down.
As a performance check I have a Graphana dashboard that overlays the Envoy data with a Sense home energy monitor (with a dedicated solar circuit). Here is a plot from today:
