Request Vitapower Control

[IncorporateApps]

Do you think there will be support for the Vitapower Powerstation?
Specifically to see battery state and also set the AC charge and discharge values via the AC connection?

Then you can connect this to a smart meter and fill it with PV power from the AC grid.

[Poshy163]

I guess it is possible for us to integrate it assuming all the parameters are sent via the API (and able to be seen in the openAPI https://open.alphaess.com/login at all?) are you able to test it at all?

Ill update the postman collection with all the data the API endpoints, and you can see if anything is shown.

[IncorporateApps]

Unfortunately not at the moment. I am waiting for a HA integration, because it seems their standalone software is very bad. I only need to set the kW for the AC chanrge and discharge and maybe tell it to charge or dischare. Alternatively I can probably use a smart adapter inbetween the Schuko and the cables and control the wattage this way, but I still need to be able to switch between charging and discharging via AC. And not sure what happens if I set the Alpha Vitapower to 800W in the App and it sends 800W from the inverter but the wattage is lowered to 100Watts from the Schuko adapter connected between the Alpha and socket, do you think that might be an issue?

[eekhoorn]

I'm interested as well in this feature: I want to able to start/stop charging and decharging the Vitapower with a variable Wattage via HomeAssistant.
In the current api specs of AlphaEss I cannot see the possibility to set the Wattage, only the api calls make it possible to start/stop charging/decharging.

Furthermore:
@IncorporateApps : do you have a smart socket that can limit the power? I only have smart sockets like the Shelly Plus Plug S that can switch on/off and monitoring the power, but limiting the power is not possible.

[IncorporateApps]

I'm interested as well in this feature: I want to able to start/stop charging and decharging the Vitapower with a variable Wattage via HomeAssistant. In the current api specs of AlphaEss I cannot see the possibility to set the Wattage, only the api calls make it possible to start/stop charging/decharging.

Furthermore: @IncorporateApps : do you have a smart socket that can limit the power? I only have smart sockets like the Shelly Plus Plug S that can switch on/off and monitoring the power, but limiting the power is not possible.

Do you have the Vitapower? Can you test it and maybe help @Poshy163 with the integration?

[eekhoorn]

Yes, I will test the HA integration when I have received the dutch version of the Vitapower (called Evapower).
I expect the delivery before the end of January.

[IncorporateApps]

Yes, I will test the HA integration when I have received the dutch version of the Vitapower (called Evapower). I expect the delivery before the end of January.

Great, keep us updated. As long as there is HA integration, it should work better.

[eekhoorn]

Yesterday I received the Vitapower VT1000 or EvaPower as branded in NL.
Good news: the HA Integration is working: 44 entities are created!

Some sensors are not relevant for this unit. E.g. sensor.XXX_instantaneous_ppv3 and sensor.XXX_instantaneous_ppv4 because only 2 ppv are supported.
Also the the sensors button.XXX_YY_minute_charge/discharge are not working in my case, but I have to test it further.
Furthermore, not all functions from the official Energy Lite app are supported in HA. E.g. selecting a specific working profile like smart charging.
If I can help to test / develop it further, please let me know.

[IncorporateApps]

Can you change the AC charging power setting of the Vitapower via HA- API script? And also see the battery state in %? Thank you

[eekhoorn]

Battery state: yes: sensor.XXX_instantaneous_battery_soc is reporting correctly

Change the AC charging power setting: I have to test the actions "Alpha ESS: Set Battery Discharge" and "Alpha ESS: Set Battery Charge" further.

[IncorporateApps]

Battery state: yes: sensor.XXX_instantaneous_battery_soc is reporting correctly

Change the AC charging power setting: I have to test the actions "Alpha ESS: Set Battery Discharge" and "Alpha ESS: Set Battery Charge" further.

Ok, thank you. Can you at least change the AC charging power in the App? Charge, not just discharge.

[eekhoorn]

Yes, in the app it is possible to change: 1) Charge: 20 - 2000W 2) Discharge: 0 - 800W or to 2000W after approval from Alphaess

[efmuurman]

I bought the EvaPower in the netherlands. ( same as the vitapower )
reading data works. But for example the function to charge 15 minutes doesn't work.

[IncorporateApps]

function to charge 15 minutes doesn't work

Please explain this function in detail, maybe attach some screenshots, thank you!

[Poshy163]

I've been thinking about it, i really don't think a product like this would be suitable to add into this current integration, which focuses on home batteries + solar. Rather we move it into its own integration

Both with (i assume) Charles and i not having this a vitapower, its very hard to test if its even feasible to add to the existing codebase. coupled with the previous issues around their API (more specifically the API limits around the amount of calls that can be made per minute being low)

I would be more than happy to make a fork of this, and move it to a separate vitapower integration, which focuses on it and its abilities. i would just need someone's appid and app secret (or better yet a unit 🙈) and i could see how it goes.

[IncorporateApps]

How many calls do they allow per minute, is 5-6 ok?

[Poshy163]

The current limit appears to be 8, the integration uses 6. with the additional stuff required from the vitapower it seems like we will need 9? which we could spread to ~a min and a few secs, like what currently happens if you have more than a single inverter linked to your OpenAPI account.

Still doesn't help that there is 0 way for myself to test the functionality (aka what calls are supported and what isnt) which would be needed to not releases a broken buggy mess

[efmuurman]

VitaPower / Evapower are both homebatteries from AlphaEss and partly the API works.

[IncorporateApps]

the integration uses 6.

What do you need 6 for? What if I don't need what you need? If we make the API work so that we can change the AC charge speed and the DC discharge speed and this every 10 seconds (so 6) without other calls, would that be enough?

Basically what I need is to tell the Vitapower to charge via AC when the panels are producing more than the house uses, and to discharge when the PV are not producing enough, but the house demands it.

Or do you need something else ontop of that, because if not 6 is fine with me?

Are those two things easy to implement?