ahoy/tools/rpi/README.md

Communicating with Hoymiles Micro-Inverters using Python on RaspberryPi
=======================================================================

The tools in this folder (and subfolders) provide the ability to
communicate with Hoymiles micro-inverters.

They require the hardware setup described below.

The tools are still quite rudimentary, as the communication 
behaviour is not yet fully understood.

This is part of an ongoing group effort, and the knowledge gained so
far is the result of a crowd effort that started at [1].

Thanks go to all who contributed, and are continuing to contribute,
by providing their time, equipment, and ingenuity!


Required Hardware Setup
-----------------------

`ahoy.py` has been successfully tested with the following setup

- RaspberryPi Model 2B (any model should work)
- NRF24L01+ Radio Module connected as described, e.g., in [2]
  (Instructions at [3] should work identically, but [2] has more
  pretty pictures.)
- TMRh20's 'Optimized High Speed nRF24L01+ Driver' [3], installed 
  as per the instructions given in [4]
  - Python Library Wrapper, as per [5]


Building the NRF24 Python Wrapper
---------------------------------

You have to install the NRF24 Python Library, as a Dependency for the Raspberry Pi Version of Ahoy.

To do that correctly, I have contacted the developer of NRF24 via github
[Python 3 Wrapper not installing properly #845](https://github.com/nRF24/RF24/issues/845) 
as I could not get the Python Wrapper for NRF24 to be built.

- Install Raspberry Pi OS lite x86 with raspberry pi imager
- Connect nrf24 module to raspberry pi (as described in github)
- Login with user pi
- Execute `sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade`
- Execute `sudo raspi-config` and
  - Select "Expand filesystem" in "Advanced Options"
  - Activate "SPI" in "Interface Options"
  - "Finish" to exit `raspi-config` Tool, reboot YES!
- Login as pi user again

```code
sudo apt install cmake git python3-dev libboost-python-dev python3-pip python3-rpi.gpio

sudo ln -s $(ls /usr/lib/$(ls /usr/lib/gcc | \
     tail -1)/libboost_python3*.so | \
     tail -1) /usr/lib/$(ls /usr/lib/gcc | \
     tail -1)/libboost_python3.so

git clone https://github.com/nRF24/RF24.git
cd RF24

export RF24_DRIVER=SPIDEV
rm Makefile.inc #just to make sure there is no old stuff
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make
sudo make install

cd ../pyRF24
rm -r ./build/ ./dist/ ./RF24.egg-info/ ./__pycache__/ #just to make sure there is no old stuff
python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
python3 -m pip install .
python3 -m pip list #watch for RF24 module - if its there its installed

cd ..
cd examples_linux/
python3 getting_started.py # to test and see whether RF24 class can be loaded as module in python correctly
```

If there are no error messages on the last step, then the NRF24 Wrapper has been installed successfully.

Required python modules
-----------------------

Some modules are not installed by default on a RaspberryPi, therefore add them manually:

```
pip install crcmod pyyaml paho-mqtt SunTimes
```

Configuration
-------------

Local settings are read from ahoy.yml  
An example is provided as ahoy.yml.example


Example Run
-----------

The following command will run the communication tool, which will try to 
contact the inverter every second on channel 40, and listen for replies.

Whenever it sees a reply, it will decoded and logged to the given log file.

    $ sudo python3 -um hoymiles --log-transactions --verbose --config /home/dtu/ahoy.yml | tee -a log2.log

Python parameters
- `-u` enables python's unbuffered mode
- `-m hoymiles` tells python to load module 'hoymiles' as main app


The application describes itself
```
python3 -m hoymiles --help
usage: hoymiles [-h] -c [CONFIG_FILE] [--log-transactions] [--verbose]

Ahoy - Hoymiles solar inverter gateway

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -c [CONFIG_FILE], --config-file [CONFIG_FILE]
                        configuration file
  --log-transactions    Enable transaction logging output
  --verbose             Enable debug output
```


Inject payloads via MQTT
------------------------

To enable mqtt payload injection, this must be configured per inverter
```yaml
...
  inverters:
...
    - serial: 1147112345
      mqtt:
        send_raw_enabled: true
...
```

This can be used to inject debug payloads
The message must be in hexlified format

Use of variables:
  * `tttttttt` expands to current time like we know from our `80 0b` command

Example injects exactly the same as we normally use to poll data

    $ mosquitto_pub -h broker -t inverter_topic/command -m 800b00tttttttt0000000500000000

This allows for even faster hacking during runtime



Analysing the Logs
------------------

Use basic command line tools to get an idea what you recorded. For example:

    $ cat log2.log
    [...]
    2022-05-02 16:41:16.044179 Transmit | 15 72 22 01 43 78 56 34 12 80 0b 00 62 3c 8e cf 00 00 00 05 00 00 00 00 35 a3 08
    2022-05-02 17:01:41.844361 Received 27 bytes on channel 3: 95 72 22 01 43 72 22 01 43 01 00 01 01 44 00 4e 00 fe 01 46 00 4f 01 02 00 00 6b
    2022-05-02 17:01:41.886796 Received 27 bytes on channel 75: 95 72 22 01 43 72 22 01 43 02 8f 82 00 00 86 7a 05 fe 06 0b 08 fc 13 8a 01 e9 15
    2022-05-02 17:01:41.934667 Received 23 bytes on channel 75: 95 72 22 01 43 72 22 01 43 83 00 00 00 15 03 e8 00 df 03 83 d5 f3 91
    2022-05-02 17:01:41.934667 Decoded: 44 string1= 32.4VDC 0.78A 25.4W 36738Wh 1534Wh/day string2= 32.6VDC 0.79A 25.8W 34426Wh 1547Wh/day phase1= 230.0VAC 2.1A 48.9W inverter=114171230143 50.02Hz 22.3°C
    [...]

A brief example log is supplied in the `example-logs` folder.




Todo
----

- Ability to talk to multiple inverters
- MQTT gateway
- understand channel hopping
- configurable polling interval
- commands
- picture of setup!
- python module
- ...



References
----------

- [1] https://www.mikrocontroller.net/topic/525778
- [2] https://tutorials-raspberrypi.de/funkkommunikation-zwischen-raspberry-pis-und-arduinos-2-4-ghz/
- [3] https://nrf24.github.io/RF24/index.html
- [4] https://nrf24.github.io/RF24/md_docs_linux_install.html
- [5] https://nrf24.github.io/RF24/md_docs_python_wrapper.html