New Wattson Special Edition - Set up with New Holmes2 Software

Last night I finally connected this New Special Edition Wattson to the New Holmes2 software from Energeno; Last time I posted something about Wattson, Mark Elliott reminded me of this recent update, and since I do not use it anymore, I downloaded it from their website

It has been completely revamped and looks a lot like the Wattson Anywhere Portal I beta tested since last year

I used my netbook for that, the Mac being used by someone else at home


First things first: Connect the Wattson unit to the PC with a USB cable




Here is the front page of the new Holmes2



At the bottom left, the 3 interesting values, updated in real time - I like that - : Usage, Generation, Net Usage  - measured, measured, calculated -



When going to the Account tab, the Wattson unit is listed



and clicking Wattson Settings, I get a popup to change all this - see below - and what I want to tchange here is the ability to log Generated Power - from my solar system and ESS that is - which is always unchecked by default

Done: it is checked for Generation / Production

Now the new things ... : A lot more languages and currencies are now available, and it looks like Wattson is going to be more international than before :-)

I can choose USD, Yen,  Pesos, etc

Also the Mains Voltage can be changed here (!) , and for me it is by default 240V (UK original setting)

I tried to set the US Voltage of 110V 

and then Dollars

Finally applied the settings and the GENERATED POWER mode shows up when I tilt Wattson

Tilting again, NET USAGE shows up, all I wanted here

First time I see USD currency on a Wattson :-), cool 

Orange LED lighting for Generation : This is an old version ...

I then unplugged it from the USB cable

and it dumped (oops)

Let's restart, BTW this is the new icon 

and the loading page I missed the first time, whith updated company name Energeno - instead of DiyKyoto -

Welcome message

My ESS is working well ... NET USAGE = - 2W

Another look at the 3 figures at the bottom left

Now trying Yen currency

Russian Roupy

Pesos

Danish Krone 

Then back to EUR, where I will leave it even if I do not use the Currency Display Mode

Cooking is in progress, and the ESS is doing its job

For now I leave it here on top of the ESS, with the others

Energeno introduces Opti-Range of products for Wattson Energy Monitor

There it is ! Energeno is launching new Wattson compatible products to use your solar energy in house instead of selling it back to the utility company

I had been waiting for these products since they announced this idea back in april 2012

Presented during the Solar Power UK 2012 event, two products which could change your vision of micro-generation and in house consumption:

• A variable power immersion heater called Optimmersion
• An intelligent socket called Optiplug

Energeno, a developer and supplier of energy monitoring systems including the Wattson Solar Plus energy monitor, has launched its new Opti-Range of products at Solar Power UK 2012 which is being held this week in Birmingham at the NEC.

Designed for solar PV households, the new range comprises the Optimmersion and the Optiplug. Optimmersion is an intelligent controller which, when added to a solar power installation, automatically diverts free electricity to the immersion heater when the solar PV has produced surplus power. Installed between the immersion tank and the consumer unit, it supplies variable power for hot water depending upon the excess energy being generated. Typical savings are around £55 per year for a gas boiler and £80 for electrically-heated water.

When Wattson glows green - shown here by Richard W - it diverts all the spare electricity to the immersion heater, thanks to the clever proportional controller - held up by Richard S.


Optiplug is a smart socket which collates data on how much energy appliances around the home are using and switches power to them only when enough surplus energy is available to run them.

Both technologies ensure that householders have greater control over their energy use when they are not at home and ensure they are not paying for expensive electricity bought in on the day from their energy provider. This also means that in the majority of cases they are not affecting the revenue they generate from the Feed-in-Tariff.

The two devices, which work through intelligent RF sensors and are linked to clever switches that calculate the excess electricity being generated, are part of a larger suite of home automation products being developed by Energeno to access free energy produced by solar PV panels. Other products in the range will be launched later in the year and during 2013.

The Energeno Team: Emily, Richard, Mark and Chris ...


“Thousands of people who have had solar PV fitted have become armchair experts on when to use the free electricity they are generating.” said Mark Elliott, Director at Energeno.

“However, people also have jobs to go to and cannot always be at home to make the calculations to access the free electricity. This is where smart technology comes to the fore because the devices make the calculations for you whether you are home or away,” he added.

... Jon and Ilias, the Wattson technical experts

Source: Solar Power Portal & Energeno News

More info about Energeno @ Solar Power UK 2012


Energeno Opti-Range

HOW IT WORKS

Wattson sensors continuously monitor the electricity being generated and used in the home. This data is then transmitted wirelessly to the clever Opti-Range devices which know the excess electricity available to use so each available Watt is used effectively and your appliances are run for free.

PRODUCTS

• Opti-Plug the intelligent socket which switches on your appliances when you have spare electricity.
• Coming Soon Optimmersion the proportional controller which diverts free electricity to the immersion heater.
• Upcoming: look out for the Wattson Inside label on intelligent devices which automatically switch on your chosen appliances.

Energeno OptiPlug


HOW IT WORKS

• The Optiplug learns how much electricity is used by the appliance (chargers, aircon etc) it is connected to in the first three minutes of operation.
• Optiplug uses Wattson sensors to constantly measure the power being generated by Solar PV and also power in use in the home
• This data is transmitted over RF to the clever Optiplug system If there is enough energy it will switch on – SIMPLE
• It will switch off if it is using too much electricity
• The system knows not to keep things switching on and off
• Optiplug can listen to up to 4 transmitters, just like the Wattson Solar Plus
• There is a manual overide button should you wish to keep the item on
• There is a time delay on switching off and switching on, so that multiple optiplugs don’t compete for the same amount of spare energy
• The Optiplug is not currently programmable to be switched on for a certain time period e.g. 2.5 hours for a washing cycle.
• Can be used with any device that uses/charges with electricity, that doesn’t require a manual switch on (unlike most washing machines) and doesn’t mind being turned off at random.

Energeno Optimmersion


HOW IT WORKS

• It is installed between the immersion tank element and the mains.
• Simple to install, no modification to the existing immersion element, hot water cylinder or pipework needed.
• Optimmersion uses Wattson sensors to constantly measure the power being generated by Solar PV and also power in use in the home.
• This data is transmitted over RF to the clever Optimmersion system that regularly calculates the excess electricity which varies the power to the heating element.
• Will power any resistive load up to 3kW.
• The advanced electronics provides a true variable output.

Energy monitoring turns Leicestershire village onto savings

An innovative energy efficiency scheme in the small Leicestershire village of North Kilworth has had a dramatic effect on local resident’s consumption patterns and behaviour according to a recent survey.

Stuart Dainton at Village Power showcasing Wattson energy monitors

A total of 80 homes across the quaint village were fitted with Energeno’s Wattson energy monitors as part of a scheme lead by the Village Power Community Interest Company (CIC). The rollout of the energy monitoring devices was designed to help the village cut its collective carbon footprint whilst simultaneously raising awareness of energy usage at a local level.

The scheme impressed those at the Local Energy Assessment Fund (LEAF) who committed to fund the rollout and installation of the monitors across the village.

After two months of using their new monitors, two thirds of residents noticed that their energy usage had changed for the better and the same number of residents were eager to find out more information about the energy efficiency. Nine out of 10 residents also indicated that they would recommend an energy monitor to a friend.

Stuart Dainton of Village Power CIC explained the decision to outfit the whole village with energy monitoring devices, saying: “As a village that is trying to be as energy efficient as possible, we are always looking at ways to inspire people to make changes in their lives. Providing energy monitors has been a great way of doing this.

“We chose Wattson monitors due to their visual impact. Energy use is shown with colours and a bright display and they really are a conversation piece! Wattsons can change behaviour and have a real impact on reducing energy use.”

Mark Elliott, Director of Operations at Energeno added: “We’re delighted to be supporting this fantastic initiative and that the idea of energy monitoring has been so well-received. The Wattson monitor is playing a vital role in helping residents’ to gain a much clearer picture of what steps they can take to help reduce their household energy bills and make a measurable contribution to reducing the carbon footprint of the village as a whole.”



Source : Solar Power Portal

Mark Elliott demonstrates the Wattson home energy system

Mark Eliott from Energeno demonstrates the Wattson energy meter

A video demonstration of the Wattson, an award-winning energy management system and, for our money, the top gizmo at Ecobuild


The Wattson is one of the hottest eco gizmos on the market, has won awards for innovation and starred in television shows across the world. In this colourful video demonstration, Mark Eliott shows The Eco Experts the Wattson's features.

Mark Elliott: “One of the great things about Wattson is that you can see how much money you are spending, how much carbon you are using, and also the Watts value.

“Also, the colours at the back go between blue to red, depending on your average usage. So the Wattson learns how much you use in a day and tells you when you’re using more than you normally do.

“And one of the magic features is that when you’re generating more electricity than you’re using, it beautifully glows green. Okay, so you know just to switch on those things that you need to… just change your habits… those things you can… just use it [the electricity you’re producing] while it’s free.”


Source: Extract from the Eco Experts

Wattson WiFi & Wattson Professional trial

Great ! I asked Mark Eliott from Energeno (formerly Diy Kyoto) if I could test their new version of Wattson (the Energy Monitor).
He replied that they were working on a WiFi version of it and few weeks after I received a package from the UK :-)

In fact the first step is to test this little device (Australian device called ISU, from SAM) that gathers the RF transmissions from the original Wattson transmittor and sends them directly to a data center for live online access of the readings.
A red LED is flashing on the right side of this device every time the transmittor sends a reading and at the same time as Wattson updates its display
Later on this functionality will be integrated into Wattson PCB directly I guess

They opened a account for me on their Wattson Professional website, and my readings data is displayed there in live graphs  :-)
I can see my usage, generation (from  my ESS for now, later on from my Solar System too), and the net reading (= usage - generation)

Here are more detailed views of the Wattson Professional web interface showing my first two days of trial:

The page view of the portal is an overview of 5 independant views:
- Daily usage & generation
- Daily Revenue/bill
- Weather forecast
- Used Energy Breakdown
- Generated Energy Breakdown

NB :More pages/views also exist and I will talk about them later on ...

Here is my overview of my first full day: August 28th

If I zoom on the 1st graph, I get a much more detailed view:
In red is the Usage, mostly covered by the green, the Grid Generation, most of the time in my case
When I turn on my ESS, then we see a blue line showing the Solar(or Wind, etc) Generation; at that time the Grid Generation is lowered by the same amount and the green line dicreases : I buy less power from the utility company (EDF)

Now in the lower part of the portal, we have the:

- Used Energy Breakdown: it is showing the part of enegry imported from the Grid and the part that was generated in house by the solar or wind system (in my case it is from my LiFePO4 ESS for now, my solar system coming in few weeks)


- and the Generated Energy Breakdown: this one shows how much energy from Generation (Solar, Wind, etc) went into feeding your own usage (Used in House) or back into the utility grid (Exported)

Here, same thing for next day, August 29th:

Let's analyse this day in details (I was not home):

- The big usage at night is the water heater (2,000W) finishing its lower rate (22:24 to 06:24) heating at night

- After that the only thing showing is the fridge coming on and off in cycles (waves)

- Around 9 we see the breakfasst activity: toaster, Nespresso coffee machine, lights

- Around noon, lunch activity: stove, micro-wave oven

- After that, the two spikes must be the washing machine (laundry)

- Then around 15, back to fridge only cycles

- Until I came back home around 19:30 and started my ESS: we start to see some Generation (blue line) until 22:10

- After that, at 22:24 the water heater come back on automatically, and the additionnal spikes are the dishwasher running at night too (it is quiet)

Thanks to Mark and all the team @ Energeno !