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2021-01-28 9:27 pm
Hi All. I need some advice and some insight into the best way to solve my camera problem.
For context, I have a 14kW solar panel plant on the roof of my house. Here, in central Connecticut, we enjoy somethng called 'net metering'. This means that the utility meter on the outside of my house measures power flow in both directions individually. The meter has a digital display that constantly repeats a four screen set of displays: a blank screen; a screen of all eights; a display of the total kWh that flowed from the street to the house; a display of the total kWh that flowed from the house to the street. This cycle takes exactly 30 seconds, each screen is displayed for 7.5 seconds with a very short (200 - 300 ms?) blank spot in between. At the end of the month, if 'in' is more than 'out', I pay retail for the difference; if 'out' is more than 'in', the difference is 'banked' and goes into the calculation next month. The total result is about 9 months of zero power bills and 3 much reduced bills.
The installation includes a revenue grade meter inside that measures the total output of the plant, plus, the micro-inverters (1 per panel) report individual output for the day to the manufacturer who then uploads a file to my computer. In addition, we read the utility meter at sunrise and sunset each day.
It is that last step that I'm trying to (semi?) automate. My idea is to fasten a weatherproof enclosure containing an ESP32-CAM module to the face of the meter. If I take 5 photos, 7.3 seconds apart, 2 of them are guaranteed to show the screens that I need. The ESP32 would then upload those pictures to an Arduino with a datalogger, where they would wind up on an SD card. Then, instead of getting all dressed up in winter garb and venturing out in all sorts of weather, I would come down to the home office with a cup of coffee and read the pictures from the SD card.
I have developed an Arduino sketch that interfaces with an RTC module and executes a (now void) fuction at sunrise and sunset each day. I need help in actually waking the ESP32 up, take the photos, and get them to the Arduino.
Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Jan
2021-01-28 9:59 pm
Jan,
What about a completely different approach? Couldn't you install your own meter, with your own monitoring system, on your side of the official utility meter? I don't know if meters need any calibration but if so, you could just compare a month of readings and factor something in.
Tom
Tom
2021-01-28 10:30 pm
Why not just use an IP video camera? Except I guess you'd still have to look at the video feed on a regular basis!
SteveG