ok, just bought my first EV and now I need some wallbox!
I’m completely new to this - so do you have some recommendations for an easily integratable wallbox, which I can then use for PV excess loading, if I (and openHAB) says so?
I’m about (if the roof-plates for mounting finally arrive) to install my Photovoltaic with an Kostal Plenticore inverter, if that helps.
As always, I’d like to use the wallbox:
local API
load managing accessible
…whatever is necessary for a integrated wallbox
Thanks!
PS: I saw https://openwb.de (german only I guess), and it sounds perfect - but has 4month delivery atm…
PPS: It’s a Kia EV6. Typ2 and Combo.
Hi, I am running the OpenWB Wallbox now for two months and I am totally satisfied - And I had to wait even 6 months for the delivery
Got it installed, connected to the network cable , entered the IP addresses for my solar equipment incl. Battery and it simply worked. Even the the outdated Solarworld equipment that I unfortunately own. It even reads the data from my BMW.
So far I had no need / time to connect it to Openhab because there is a lot of logic already built in. For charging you can e.g. choose: Immediately or only when Solar Power is available. And OpenWB also completely shows me what is going on with my consumption, with my solar generation and the battery usage. OpenWB will become my one stop shop for all related to the PV.
Connection to OpenHab is possible via MQTT. There are some posts.
Was definitely worth my 6 months wait charging via the normal outlet.
I took both out for a test drive. Obviously the same but different! Dashboard, UI and overall feeling is the same, the Ioniq5 being the more “conservative” choice as the EV6 is a bit more sporty in the “normal” series and definitely the GT-version (coming end of next year).
I was lucky, the dealer (a big one here) got only five(!) and one was already our configuration and we took it right away…
There is a modbus RTU inteface, where you can change charging current.
You can also read out the energy data (not calibrated), which is very interesting I think.
I don’t have an EV, so I did not integrate it into openHAB yet.
Have an OpenWB as well (also not yet connected to OH but it has MQTT for that purpose).
I’d be surprised though if Tinkerforge kept that promise. Shipping times are ludicrous ATM.
Installer’s availability as well.
So you are one of those emptying the funding program without having an EV!
I ordered one last week and they’re on stock, at least that’s what their forum suggests also. We’ll see. Meanwhile I’ll use the Juice Box, which I got already. No interface, no PV excess loading, but simple CEE16 11kw loading…
I have finally got an EV as well and considering one of the three options to use for excess PV charging.
Zappi
Warp from Tinkerforge
OpenWB series2+ or Pro
How was your experience with Tinkerforge? Did you manage to program with openhab to use excess solar power to charge? Does it offer dynamic adjustment of phases/current?
I already have a modbus binding to get my inverter production data and a zwave qubino Smart meter to measure net export/import. It would be great if I didn’t have to install yet another energy meter and simply export the values to the Wallbox.
Warp2 is a well crafted, completely open Wallbox. In combination with the “Warp energy manager” it supports charging 3-phases or 1-phase automatically. It supports NFC and a smartmeter in Smart edition and they recently the added OPCC and Modbus support.
I use it with https://evcc.io and it supports up to 22kW loading and I’m confident it’ll support V2H/V2G if there’s a standard worked out.
Yes, would recommend it. You could ask, if it worked to send energymeter info to it, but I think, it needs the built in one for all internal functionality.
If you don’t need statistics within the Wallbox, you’re good.
With openHAB and EVCC available, you don’t need any of the “intelligent” boxes any more.
So choose from what’s deliverable for a good price, check if there’s OH and/or EVCC support, get it installed, and you’re set.
Thanks a lot for your quick reply and feedback about warp.
Indeed the motivation behind considering OpenWB Pro was the support of v2g if and when it becomes a reality in future vehicles. I thought it needed additional hardware also, but I have no idea.
Evcc also looks like a nice project. But if we can feed data to it from openhab anyway why do we need an additional energy meter/manager? I guess the phase switching is controlled by the manager too; maybe that’s the reason. My electricity cabinet is already very full and additional meter, manager and phase switcher may not fit in there. I don’t really care about the statistics too much, just the phase and current control to optimally use excess PV energy.
By the way, on the energy manager description, it says the following:
Bald verfügbar: Dynamisches Lastmanagement mit dynamischer zur Verfügung stehender Leistung
Suggesting it is not available yet. Is that why you use evcc?
That’s very true but the Wallbox should still be able to switch the phases and adjust three current right? Which one do you suggest? I see a lot of people mentioning go-e-charger, but it looks a bit too small and from what I read, a rather flimsy WLAN Connection. A lan cable would surely be nice.
I finally have an ev and so I also got the integration from the heidelberg wallbox done with openhab and modbus rtu.
Load with excess PV energy is done with simle rules in openhab. Works quite good.
I also had a look at EVCC but i don’t see a big advantage as i already have all the data of the inverter and smart meter in openhab.
Which exact model did you buy that supports dynamically adjusting the current/phases? Does modbus RTU require additional hardware or is it accessible over regular Ethernet interface? I do use modbus TCP interface for my PV inverter too. Is it similar to that?
I have a Heidelberg Energy Contol with 11 kW Power.
It looks like the name changed to amperfied:
No ethernet interface. It is modbus RTU so I use a converter from USB to RS485. In openhab you need to define the serial port. The rest like poller and register is the same like modbus tcp.
The wallbox supports only current adjustment from 6A to 16A on all three phases. So the minimal adjustable power is about 4 kW.
That’s a bummer, and pretty much unusable for excess solar charging in my case since my max solar generation is just 4kW in practice. Thanks, nevertheless.
A Wallbox has to have some kind of open API, there’s some, that work only with certain inverters, and have closed APIs. Vendor locked in. Avoid those, they can’t be integrated. Have a look on supported Wallboxes on evcc: Wallboxen | evcc - Sonne tanken ☀️🚘 (German only)
A Wallbox with an open API typically reacts on commands and can modulate between 6A to 16A/32A per phase. Some only in broad steps, some in milliamps steps.
Of course you can send those commands from openHAB depending on the current states of your PV production. But there’s evcc.io for a reason: let it do the heavy lifting and let openHAB decide, if it should do it - or just let it idle for some reason
Nearly all BEVs only support a minimum of 6A per phase, so you will have to add some juice from the grid regardless, if you want 3-phase charging. You can have 16A/1-phase charging, as this adds up to 3,7kW. Be aware, AC charging losses are higher with lower currents.
The Warp energy manager is already available and will cut two phases, if PV excess won’t suffice. But: if you want to charge PV excess only, you can just manually switch of the fuses for phases 2 and 3 and then your Wallbox will always run on 1-phase. There’s no BEV, that charges with 2-phases, if that’s what you’re thinking…
If you’re also in to V2H/V2G, you should go with an open Wallbox like openWB or Warp, because all others will have a hard time to add this to their concept, as they’re not meant for modularized extensions.
Warp natively supports modbus. But also a MQTT-based API. But as I wrote: you want evcc do the heavh lifting. evcc has a REST/MQTT API, which allows you to change modes (ON/OFF, PV only, Minimum plus PV, Full 11/22kW) and some other interesting stuff like home battery integration, car specific commands…
Thanks for the nice summary. Some comments/queries below:
Thanks. Very useful site.
Do you run the EVCC on the same RasPi as Openhab? I am curious whether it becomes too much for the little SoC.
Aah, yes, but the idea is to have it all automated. =) So that when there isn’t sufficient sunshine and we still need a minimum charge, it can indeed all 3 phases, as needed!
I am actually leaning towards OpenWB Pro now, since I am not sure how easy it would be to support V2G with extensions in Warp, plus the phase switching seems already integrated in the OpenWB box rather than needing additional wiring and space in the supply cabinet. I am still trying to figure out whether we can supply the real-time power numbers from Openhab to OpenWB (directly or via EVCC) without having to install an additional meter. Any tips on whether it’s possible/works reliably are welcome!
I don’t really care about the statistics too much, just the phase and current control to optimally use excess PV energy.