PVOutput Uploader for Growatt MIN 5000TL‑X + MyEnergi (Zappi/Harvi)

Overview

This project uploads your solar generation and household consumption data to PVOutput.org. It combines:

1. Live inverter data from a Growatt MIN 5000TL‑X (and likely similar models) via Modbus/RTU over a serial adapter.
2. MyEnergi (Zappi/Harvi) data for import/export and live PV/house figures.
3. Weather temperature from OpenWeatherMap (OWM).

The uploader posts PVOutput v1–v12 fields. We only submit v3 (cumulative energy consumed) and let PVOutput derive v4 (instantaneous power used). Live power (v2/v10) and export (v9) prefer Harvi readings when available, falling back to inverter/ derived values.

What this fork does now

• Talks to the Growatt inverter over Modbus/RTU using pymodbus (reads power, energy today/total, inverter temp/voltage, etc).
• Queries MyEnergi using a tiny, self‑contained client (zappi_client_local.py) that implements the same digest‑auth + ASN hand‑off behavior as the MEC tools.
• Uses two HARVI devices (one on the grid, one on the PV) for accurate live power readings when available.
• Uploads to PVOutput every 5 minutes, aligned to wall‑clock boundaries.
• Persists a small state JSON under /tmp to compute clean deltas across runs.
• Uses OpenWeatherMap for ambient temperature (required).

Credits

• The MyEnergi client behavior here is informed by the excellent MEC project: https://github.com/edent/mec (referenced for request flow and data layout).
• Original Canadian Solar project foundations by Josenivaldo Benito Jr.

Requirements

• Python 3.9+ (3.10 recommended)
• A serial connection to your Growatt inverter (e.g. USB‑RS485/RS232 depending on your setup)
• A MyEnergi account with Zappi/Harvi devices
• An OpenWeatherMap API key
• A PVOutput API key and System ID

Virtualenv Setup (recommended)

create and activate a venv (example path; choose your own)

python3 -m venv ~/zappi-env source ~/zappi-env/bin/activate

upgrade pip and install dependencies

pip install --upgrade pip pip install -r requirements.txt

run the uploader

python pvoutput.py

Configuration

Place a JSON file named pvo_config.json next to pvoutput.py with ALL of the following keys (all are required):

{ "SYSTEMID": "your-pvoutput-system-id", "APIKEY": "your-pvoutput-api-key", "OWMKEY": "your-openweather-api-key", "CityID": "5391959", "TimeZone": "Europe/London", "InverterPort": "/dev/ttyUSB0", "DeviceId": "1", "ZappiUser": "12345678", "ZappiPassword": "your-myenergi-password", "HarviGridSno": "2826772", "HarviGenSno": "2835761" }

Notes:

• Harvi serials are used to identify the “grid” and “PV” devices for live power.
• If a Harvi reading is unavailable, the uploader falls back to inverter/derived values.
• CityID must be the numeric OpenWeatherMap city id.

Running

from your venv, in the project directory

python pvoutput.py

The script aligns to 5‑minute wall‑clock boundaries and continuously uploads.

Service (optional)

Many users prefer to run a small wrapper shell script under systemd. Example:

/usr/local/bin/pvoutput.sh

#!/bin/bash set -euo pipefail while true; do /root/zappi-env/bin/python3 -u /root/pvoutput/pvoutput.py echo "Python crashed; sleeping 60s then restarting..." sleep 60 done

Create a systemd unit that ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/pvoutput.sh so it restarts after errors or reboots. See Raspberry Pi docs for service creation details.

Docker (optional)

A minimal Dockerfile is included. Build and run examples:

docker build -t pvoutput-growatt . docker run --restart always --name pvoutput -d -i --device=/dev/ttyUSB0 --net=host -v /path/to/project:/app -w /app pvoutput-growatt bash -lc "source /app/.venv/bin/activate && python pvoutput.py"

(Adjust device path, volumes, and env to your setup.)

Files in this repo

• pvoutput.py Main uploader loop (reads inverter + MyEnergi + OWM, posts to PVOutput)
• zappi_client_local.py Minimal MyEnergi client (digest auth + ASN switch; hourly + live status)
• requirements.txt Python dependencies
• Dockerfile Optional container build
• pvo_config.json Your local configuration (create this; not committed)

Troubleshooting

• If PVOutput shows zero or odd values for v2/v9, verify Harvi serials and CT orientations. The code treats grid export as negative power from the grid CT.
• If temperature (v5) is blank, verify OWM CityID and API key.
• If Modbus reads fail (inverter offline at night), v1/v2 will be zero; v3 will continue to reflect cumulative consumption derived from imports/exports.

License

This fork maintains the original project’s license. See LICENSE file if present.