Device settings

The gear in the device overview opens a device. Which tabs you see depends on the type and model of the device.

The Settings tab

1. The tabs of the device. An energy meter now also has the Load manager and Alarm tabs, which this screenshot does not show yet.
2. The type, brand, model and creation date of the device. You do not change these here.
3. The safety margins for export and import are locked. Click the pencil to change them.
4. Save stores the changes.

An energy meter also has fields for the metering direction, the measurement type, the location, the phase type and the measurement latency. The question mark next to a field explains what it does.

Billed power

A PV inverter and a battery inverter (PCS) show their Billed power in kVA: the power on which PV control and battery control are billed for that device. It is set when the device is added, from the rating of the model or, when the model has no fixed rating, from the rated power you entered. Only administrators can change it.

The Data tab

The Data tab shows whether a device is delivering live values. That is the first check after adding it, see Adding and verifying devices.

Communication settings

Two settings on the Communication tab determine how the controller handles the connection.

Exclusive or shared TCP connection

Some devices accept only one Modbus TCP connection at a time, others accept several. Per device you can therefore choose whether the connection must be exclusive, so the controller keeps the socket for itself, or may be shared with other clients.

• Choose exclusive for devices that freeze or drop the connection to the controller when a second client connects.
• Choose shared when another system (a monitoring portal, a service laptop, a second EMS client) has to reach the same device at the same time.

Fallback on communication loss

For PV inverters and EV chargers you set a fallback limit per device: the power that applies while the EMS cannot reach the device. Otherwise many devices keep the last setpoint sent, so the limit during a communication failure has to be a deliberate choice.

• Set it low (or to zero) when an uncontrolled asset would violate an export limit or a grid-operator constraint.
• Set it high (full power) when losing production or charging power is worse than briefly running unlimited.

As soon as communication is restored, the EMS controls the device again.

The Alarm tab

On the Alarm tab you pass a fire alarm of the device on to an external system, such as a fire panel. Choose the IO extension and the Relay output that switches on while the device has an active fire alarm. The output switches off again when the alarm clears.

• Underneath, the contact type of the output tells you whether the contacts are normally open or normally closed, and whether they are closed or open while the alarm is active. Change opens the ports of the IO extension to change it.
• Test lets the controller simulate the alarm on the device for 10 seconds, so the output stays on for 10 seconds. Use it to check the wiring. Save your changes first. The connected system, such as a fire panel, may react as if the alarm were real, so warn the people concerned beforehand.
• The IO extension shows which of its outputs are used for alarm signalling.
• Alarm signalling needs controller version 0.0.338 or later.

Device actions

The Actions tab lists the commands the EMS can send to that device. Which ones are available depends on the brand and model. Supported battery systems can be restarted remotely this way, for example when the system no longer responds or after a fault that requires a restart.