Global working:
general
This device consists off an ESP module and a zigbee module (see hardware. The modules are via a serial connected. The device gas 2 radio's, one for wifi (the Esp) and one for zigbee (the cc25xx).
The device is capable of communicating wireless via Zigbee with your APS inverters YC600, QS1 and DS3. Via this Zigbee channel it can collect values as to the working and yield of the inverter. These values are displayed in a webinterface and are devided via Mosquitto. Therefore the device should be connected to your home network (wifi).
Zigbee
The network has several components, one is the 'coordinator' which is running on the zigbee module and communicates via serial (wired) with the ESP and wireless with the inverters. At boot this coordinator is initialized with a series of zigbee commands, and should be running.
Zigbee
The network has several components, one is the 'coordinator' which is running on the zigbee module and communicates via serial (wired) with the ESP and wireless with the inverters. At boot this coordinator is initialized with a series of zigbee commands, and should be running.GET STARTED:
connect to wifi network
If your device is powered the first time, the led lights up continuously. This means that it is not connected to a network and an accesspoint is opened. Open the network settings on a pc/laptop/smartphone and connect to a network 'ESP-ECU'. When prompted for a passwd this is 123456789 When connected, open a webbrowser and go to '192.168.4.1Now you'l get a form where you can fill-up your wifi credentials and your user password. (this is standard 000). Follow the on-line instructions, when done your ESP-ECU is connected. The led flashes 3 times at reboot and stays off, this means that there is a wifi connection. Now connect your pc/laptop/smartphone back to your wifi. You can browse to the address of the ESP-ECU.
settings
For the timekeeping it is important to provide your geographical position (google this up) and fill this up in the page 'time config'. The offset to GMT is also needed, in Central Europe this is +60. When DST applies in your country, check that. Now click save. In the menu item 'settings' you should provide some data too, click help for more information. Your ESP-ECU has an id in the Zigbee network that has 12 hexadecimal characters (0123456780ABCDE). The standard id will work.Zigbee coordinator
When your Zigbee module is equipped with the right firmware and correctly wired, the coordinator wil be initialized during the boot of the ESP. If this is successful you can check in the log or in the console (10;health).INVERTERS:
registering
Your inverters have to be registered to the system. Open the page inverters, click add and fill up the relevant data. The serial nr is important and has 12 characters. Check how many panels you have connected to the inverter. Now click save, the inverter will be saved and the ESP-ECU reboots.
pairing
The inverter must be binded to the Zigbee network. When you go back to the menu 'inverters' you can see which inverters are registered. In the status field you can also see if they are paired. When paired there is an id in this field, e.g. 0x12AB.
To the left you'l see a button 'pair'. If you click this, the pairing process starts.
Tip: You can open a second instance of the webinterface and go to the console. The pairing process is displayed there. Type 10;diag to see all info.
polling
The automatic polling is done with an interval of 5 minutes. The coordinator sends a command to the paired inverter and gets an answer. This answer contains an amount of general values, like temperature, AC frequency and voltage. Furthermore the values per channel like dc voltage/current and generated energy. When we know the generated energy (Wh) in 5 minutes, the system calculates the power(W). All these values are displayed in the webinterface.
polling on demand
When the automatic polling is unchecked, you can poll manually. If you send http://ip_of_esp-ecu?POLL=0, inverter0 gets polled. Or via a mosquitto message to the intopic '{"POLL":0}' to poll inverter 0.HARDWARE
the ESP
The ESP is the main component that connects to the user via wifi, and to the Zigbee module via serial. All zigbee commands come from the ESP and are made airborn by the zigbeemodule.
On the ESP a software is running, that needs to be flashed to it.
The software is packed in a binary file (e.g. ESP-ECU-9_4.bin). This file should be flashed on the ESP. How to do that is explained in a lot of articles on the web, there is also a manual in the readMe.txt.
The software is only flashed once. Future updates are very convenient via O.T.A.
The Zigbeemodule
This is the component that talks wireless to the inverter via Zigbee. It translates the serial commands from the ESP to a zigbee broadcast to the inverters an receives the answers.
Also on this component a software is running that should be flashed on it.
There are several ways to do this, see the internet. The most convenient way is to install a small program on a Raspberry, connect some wires betweeen the Raspberry and the ZB and run it.
the ESP
The Zigbeemodule
This is the component that talks wireless to the inverter via Zigbee. It translates the serial commands from the ESP to a zigbee broadcast to the inverters an receives the answers. Also on this component a software is running that should be flashed on it. There are several ways to do this, see the internet. The most convenient way is to install a small program on a Raspberry, connect some wires betweeen the Raspberry and the ZB and run it.miscellaneous:
LED signals
You can connect an external led to the ESP, this has the same behaviour as the blue on-board LED. When the LED is:- continuously on: An accespoint has been opened.
- flashes 3 times at boot: Wifi connected.
- flashes once: Polling is done
- flashes serveral times: zigbee is initialized
- goes on when pushing the button: reboot when button released.
- goes on and off when pusshing the button: Drop wifi and start AP
button
You can connect an external tactile switch to the ESP, this has the same behaviour as the on-board flash button. When you continuously push the button, the LED goes on after a few moments. If you release it then, the ESP-ECU will reboot.If you keep pressing the button the LED goes off again. If you relase the button now, the ESP-ECU will drop the wifi credentials and reboots into the accesspoint.
SOFTWARE UPDATE:
The software on the ESP-ECU can be renewed 'over the air' (OTA). This works as follows: Be sure you downloaded the firmwarefile on a known location on your pc/laptop. Click 'settings' and 'software update'. At this page you can point to the firmware file and click on 'update'afbeelding 5
