Emotional Solar Coaster

An experimental Docker setup that spins up Telegraf, InfluxDB and Grafana with a pre-made dashboard that monitors an Enphase Envoy solar PV system. This is currently running on an Envoy with firmware version D7.0.88.

This is running on a Raspberry Pi 3b+, although also tested on a Macbook Pro M1 Max running Mac OS 12.6.1.

Setup inspired by https://github.com/testsmith-io/jmeter-influxdb-grafana-docker

Disclaimer: This is the first time I've toyed with Telegraf, InfluxDB and Grafana - so things might be a bit messy :) This is provided as is and no support provided.

Telegraf

Uses two HTTP inputs to read metrics from two Envoy API endpoints, and pushes them into InfluxDB.

• /production.json?details=1
• /api/v1/production/inverters

Config

There are various configuration items available within main.env, some of these include:

• DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_BUCKET - the InfluxDB bucket metrics are pushed into
• DOCKER_TELEGRAF_INTERVAL - the interval that API endpoints are polled
• DOCKER_TELEGRAF_AUTH_RENEW - how often Telegraf should renew its cookie auth value (see below)

Authentication

The Envoy API endpoints all require cookie authentication. This is handled by Telegraf via the http input cookie_auth properties - check the telegraf.conf file for examples.

• This is simple cookie authentication and is based off a sessionId cookie.
• Its value needs to be populated based off a request to /auth/check_jwt:
• The request requires a Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN> header
• The <TOKEN> value is a long-lived JWT token obtained from https://entrez.enphaseenergy.com
• This token is obtained manually (but can be automated). Refer to this URL for more details: https://store-d9.enphase.com/download/iq-gateway-access-using-token-tech-brief

Other helpful resources were:

• https://thecomputerperson.wordpress.com/2016/08/28/reverse-engineering-the-enphase-installer-toolkit/
• https://pastebin.com/8pa1hKU6

InfluxDB

Single DB "enphase". Nothing fancy.

Grafana

Single Dashboard "Emotional Solar Coaster".

Dashboard Variables:

• INFLUXDB_BUCKET - specifies the InfluxDB Bucket for the InfluxDB queries within the dashboard
  • N.B. I could not find a way to populate the variable value directly from the main.env or environment variables - so it is hardcoded within the solar-main.json dashboard.
• GRAPH_WINDOW_SIZE - specifies an interval set allowing the aggregate window size on the graph queries to be changed dynamically

Gauges

NOTE: The gauge min/max values are inferred from theoretical limits of my particular system - adjust these as required. For example:

• Current Production max value of 5,850
• Current Consumption max value of 7,000 (I really hope I never hit that!)
• Total Daily Production max value of 65,000
• Total Daily Consumption max value of 55,000
• Current Import/Export min/max value of -6,000/+6,000 (negative when importing from grid)
• Total Daily Export/Import min/max value of -40,000/+40,000 (negative when net import grid greater than production)

Raspberry Pi setup:

This is running on a Raspberry Pi 3b+, although also tested on a Macbook Pro M1 Max running Mac OS 12.6.1.

• Fresh image - ensure 64bit install of Raspberry Pi OS

Steps:

Basic overview of what was run on the PI to get it ready and running Docker.

# initial
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install git vim
sudo reboot

# install docker
cd ~
mkdir workspace
cd ~/workspace/
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
usermod -aG docker pi
sudo usermod -aG docker pi

# install docker-compose
sudo apt-get install libffi-dev libssl-dev
sudo apt install python3-dev
sudo apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip
sudo pip3 install docker-compose

# setup ssh
cd ~
mkdir .ssh
touch ~/.ssh/github_id_rsa
# --> populate with relevant key.

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/github_id_rsa
echo -e "Host github.com\n\tHostName github.com\n\tIdentityFile ~/.ssh/github_id_rsa" >> ~/.ssh/config

# clone repo (this repo - lol)
cd ~/workspace/
git clone [email protected]:berniezajac/emotional-solar-coaster.git

# set perms on bound volume directories
cd ~/workspace/emotional-solar-coaster
mkdir -p influxdb/data
mkdir -p grafana/data

# Was not required on the Mac, but needed to do this on the Pi.
sudo chown -R 472:472 influxdb/data
sudo chown -R 472:472 grafana/data

# update main.env with enphase ip and JWT
vim main.env

# Spin up docker!
docker-compose up