HEMS or Homey EMS

Apps
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21

Ah yes I see! Does this one also auto plan the charging? The idea of my EMS is that you do not need to think about it. You only give it some requirements and settings and it will plan automatically when to do what. I’ll upload the full functionality here shortly to give an impression.

do you also want to test this one?

22

Charging is supported, you can also configure safety margins and auto delays. Haven’t figured out the options on specific charge plans based on weekday and time. It can charge based on solar surplus and it does have a button to bypass the EMS and start charging immediately. Don’t have a home battery yet, but I am considering all options. What I miss in most HEMS that are supplied by the battery manufacturer is that they lack the capability to control a EV charger via OCPP. While this is one of the most important things for a HEMS in my opinion, considering the load. I am happy to test every HEMS Homey app, as long as it doesn’t get to technical to install it. :wink:

23

Hi, as the dev of the linked app, indeed the button/cap to bypass for loading is flow enabled so you can add flow based triggers, like scheduling that easy. Next it uses a target soc setting when you enable the car will be used button, the next low tariff period will then be used to speed charge the car.
So it does car charging optimization (low fee periods or solar surplus) and charge need based on a target.
And with the override you can force whenever you need it by flows

24

I get your point but this EMS is working differently. Your homey already has the EV Controller app, this EMS is looking at these capabilities to use it. So I don’t need to do OCPP in the EMS.

25

I totally understand, thats why a HEMS in Homey is so interesting!

26

you can find the app here: HEMS (Homey Energy Management System) | Homey

27
28

Just installed and configured it. Looking good! I have a few suggestions:

  • when choosing a device you get to choose every device. Maybe its possible to filter on devices that have the required capabilities
  • You can select multiple heatpumps, but not multiple cars or PV inverters
  • With the PV system configuration it would help to calculate the expected solar better if you would also take the angle and direction of the panels in consideration
  • Maybe make it possible to enter the number of PV panels and Wp per panel and calculate total Wp

Looking forward to see what it does tomorrow when there is surplus of solar.

29

Yeah you are right, the list is pretty long. I’ll have a look at this.

the other thing, if you set a time for the peak solar generation it will make a parabol out of it with the sunrise and sunset times as start and end point. So angle does not really matter because it knows what the wp is. The solar generation always follows the parabolic curve. I could consider the sun positioning to optimize for winter days… :thinking:

30

Thanks for your reply. Aren’t the angle and direction of the PV defining parameters for the parabool?

  • I set the minimal charge treshold to 5A, when performing an EV diagnoses it shows a treshold of 3.450W. Where does this come from?
  • When I don’t have a charger that can be controlled for power, will it then command my Tesla directly?
  • I don’t see any charge settings concerning 1-3 phase usage or switching.
  • When selecting Tibber quarterly prices is no option
  • When selecting Fast charge it doesn’t start:
    “verdict”: “:hourglass_not_done: Surplus 3352W < drempel 3450W — wacht op meer zon”
    }
31

Wait it does start charging now. Probably a delay.

32

Device filter on capabilities is implemented! Update available!

33

Hi Menno,

Great to see you developing an app in this space. I’m currently using Roedi’s SlimLaden app, which works well for my setup, but it does not provide the even broader HEMS functionality that your app aims to offer.

I’ve just installed your app and wanted to share a few initial observations that may be useful as the project evolves:

  • The app does not currently detect my car (Citroën C5 Plug-in Hybrid).
  • My Zaptec Go 2 charger is not being discovered.
  • I couldn’t find an option to configure multiple battery systems. In my case, I use a Zendure SolarFlow 2400 AC+ with 2 × AB3000L batteries alongside a HomeWizard Plug-in Battery.
  • The solar setup appears to assume a single PV installation, whereas my system consists of two separate single-phase inverters (SolarEdge)

I realize the app is still in its early stages, so please take these comments as constructive feedback from a potential user. The overall concept looks very promising, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the app develops.

Keep up the good work!

Best regards, Jan

34

It’s probably the hysteresis doing its job. I’m working on you other points.
regarding the solar orientation ill try to explain this better, let me get back to you about this.

35

Hi Jean,

thanks for testing! Your findings are noted and I started working in those.

36

Do I need to build flows for it to actually command devices? I assumed that when you configured a certain device, like a car, it automatically understands how to communicate with the device. But seeing the flow triggers I’m starting to doubt that.

37

At the moment yes… start/stop and power. The Tesla is a bit of pain to implement. I’m trying to get around this but for now I use flows.

38

Setting the power on the Tesla is not a capability, still need a flow for this.

App is updated to 1.6.7

39

Jean,

Please update the app to 1.6.7 and let me know.

40

Hi Menno,

The Zaptec Go 2 charger is now also detected and added as device.

Best regards, Jan