Device integrations
Smappee
Supported devices: Smappee Genius Flex
Our EMS reads the measurements of a Smappee Genius Flex over the local MQTT interface of the gateway.
The Genius Flex measures a complete installation: the grid connection, the production circuits, the storage circuits and any submetered circuits. Each of those measuring points can be added to our EMS as its own energy meter, so one gateway can deliver the grid meter of the project together with the submeters behind it.
Supported devices
- Genius Flex: the Smappee Genius Flex gateway with its local MQTT interface, one device per measuring point
Measuring points
The Genius Flex publishes every measuring point under a load type and a load ID. The combination of the two identifies the measuring point when you add the meter.
| Load type | What it measures | Typical use in the EMS |
|---|---|---|
| Grid | the grid connection of the site | the grid meter the control strategies rely on |
| Production | a production circuit, usually the PV | production monitoring |
| Storage | a storage circuit, usually a battery | storage monitoring |
| Submeter | a submetered circuit | consumption of a building, a machine, a charging circuit |
When you add the meter, our EMS asks the gateway which loads it measures and offers the submetered circuits, and any second grid connection, as further meters to create in one go. The production and storage loads are not offered: they measure the PV and the battery, which are added as their own devices, and a meter on either would count that energy twice.
The load IDs are numbered per type (grid-1, production-1, production-2, submeter-1) and stay the same across a restart of the gateway. Adding or removing circuits in the Smappee environment can renumber them, so check the meters in the platform after a change to the circuit configuration.
What the meter reports
- Total active power and active power per phase
- Current per phase
- Voltage per phase, for the grid connection
- Cumulative imported and exported energy
- For the grid connection: the contracted peak power, the current limit and the phase configuration
The gateway publishes new measurements every 5 seconds.
No reactive power or power factor
The Smappee interface exposes no reactive power, no apparent power and no power factor. A Smappee energy meter therefore shows 0.00 kVAr and a power factor of 0.00 in our EMS, and those figures are not measurements: they are the placeholder our EMS commits for a value the device does not measure. Does the installation need reactive power, for example to follow the power factor of the grid connection or for control that acts on reactive power? Then add a meter that measures it, such as an Acrel ADL400 or a Schneider PM5000, at that measuring point.
Energy counters
The imported and exported energy counters of the gateway restart when the gateway itself restarts, so they are reference values rather than meter readings. Our EMS keeps its own energy totals by integrating the measured power, which is unaffected by a restart.
EMS functionality
With the current integration, our EMS enables:
- Measurement of the grid connection as the reference point for peak shaving, capacity management and grid protection
- Monitoring of production, storage and submetered circuits as separate measuring points
- Load balancing and consumption monitoring per submetered circuit
- Use of the same gateway for metering next to the battery and the charging stations behind it
Additional functionality may be added over time as integration capabilities evolve.
Configuring the gateway
Install the MQTT integration in the Smappee app
In the Smappee app, go to Control > Smappee Store, open the MQTT app and tap Install Integration. The last step shows a user name and a password: copy both with the copy button in the app.
The credentials are scoped per part of the interface. The pair from the MQTT app gives access to the metering data and to the charging stations. A battery behind the same gateway needs its own pair from the Generic MQTT battery integration.
Put the gateway on the local network
- Connect the Genius Flex to the same wired network (LAN) as the Voltmasters Controller, on the same subnet.
- Give the gateway a fixed IP address and note it.
- Verify that the controller can reach that IP address on port 443.
Note the measuring points you want to add
Look up the circuit configuration of the installation in the Smappee environment and note, for every measuring point you want in the EMS, its load type and its load ID. The names come from the Smappee configuration, so a submeter called "Warehouse" there is the same measuring point in our EMS.
Add the gateway as an energy meter
Add one energy meter, selecting brand Smappee and model Genius Flex, and fill in the IP address of the gateway together with the user name and the password from the MQTT app. That meter measures the grid connection, so mark it as the grid meter of the project.
Our EMS then asks the gateway what else it measures and offers those measuring points as extra meters. Tick the ones you want and they are created with the right measuring point already set, so nothing has to be looked up by hand.
The gateway is now successfully configured and ready for use with the EMS.