Review of Power Monitoring Services
v1.0 Feb 2013

Yes

1. Create an account

Create an account at the enersave web site. Specify 'other' as the device type, then enter ECM-1240.

2. Obtain a token

To obtain the token, enter this URL in a web browser:

https://data.myenersave.com/fetcher/bind?mfg=Brultech&model=ECM-1240

3. Optionally indicate which channels to record and assign labels/types

Define labels for ECM channels as a comma-delimited list of tuples. Each tuple contains an id, description, type. If no map is specified, data from all channels will be uploaded, generic labels will be assigned, and the type for each channel will default to net metering.

Bidgely defines the following types:

0 - load
1 - generation
2 - net metering (default)
10 - standalone load
11 - standalone generation
12 - standalone net

Displays only one graph at a time.

Simple but functional user interface.

Displays real-time demand, real-time cost, historical demand.

Supports some logical device types, seems to follow TED5000 pattern.

No

1. Create an account

Create an account at the COSM web site.

2. Obtain API key

Obtain the API key from the COSM web site.

3. Create a feed

Create a feed at the COSM web site, or using curl as described at COSM.

• Everything is https
• Channels and devices automatically configure themselves.
• Compact display of multiple channels.
• Supports any kind of data, not just power and energy.
• Excellent API documentation.

No

1. Register power sensor at the eragy web site

The Eragy web site only knows about TED, Blueline, and eGauge devices. Register as a TED5000 power sensor.

2. Obtain a token

Eragy will provide a URL and token. Use curl to enter the registration for each ECM. Create a file req.xml with the request:

<ted5000Activation>
  <Gateway>XXX</Gateway>
  <Unique>TOKEN</Unique>
</ted5000Activation>

where XXX is an arbitrary gateway ID and TOKEN is the token issued by Eragy. If you have only one ECM, use the ECM serial number as the gateway ID. If you have multiple ECM, use one of the ECM serial numbers or just pick a number.

Send the request using curl:

curl -X POST -d @req.xml http://d.myeragy.com/energyremote.aspx

The server will respond with something like this:

<ted5000ActivationResponse>
  <PostServer>d.myeragy.com</PostServer>
  <UseSSL>false</UseSSL>
  <PostPort>80</PostPort>
  <PostURL>/energyremote.aspx</PostURL>
  <SSLKey></SSLKey>
  <AuthToken>TOKEN</AuthToken>
  <PostRate>1</PostRate>
</ted5000ActivationResponse>

At the eragy web site, click the 'find my sensor' button. Eragy assumes that the energy sensor will immediately start sending data to eragy, so start running btmon.

3. Create an account

On the eragy web site, continue and create an account. Eragy will email to you an account password which you must enter to complete the account. Then configure the account with a name, timezone, etc. and password.

• Displays only one graph at a time.
• Very slow. change to graph takes 5 to 10 seconds to update.
• Can display temperature overlaid on energy consuption.
• Values appear to be incorrect - negative consumption where there should be none.
• Server is running asp.net.
• Appears to be designed for TED5000.

No

Setup

1. Register for an account at the emoncms web site.

Create an account at the web site.

2. Obtain the API key with write access.

Get the API key from the web site.

• Can be self-hosted.
• Server software is all open source.
• Channels and devices add themselves automatically.
• Custom dashboards with any number of graphs.
• Many different widget types, e.g., dial, graph, histogram.
• Dashboard builder is buggy, but functional.
• Mapping from input to feed provides ability to do data post-processing.
• Supports any kind of data, not just power and energy.
• Excellent API documentation.

No

1. Create an account

Create an account at the PVOutput web site.

2. Obtain API Key and System ID

Create a system at the PVOutput web site.

In the Settings panel, obtain the API Key and System Id.

PVOutput expects the following information for each system:

• generated power/energy
• consumed power/energy
• temperature
• voltage

You must identify which channel monitors the total generated energy/power, and which channel monitors the total consumed energy/power. If the device is a GEM you can identify one of the temperature sensors as the temperature to upload.

The generation and consumption channels can be identified by channel, e.g. ch1, or by serial_channel pair, e.g. 399999_ch1. The latter is useful when collecting data from multiple ECM/GEM devices.

• Explicit support for many devices, but not Brultech.
• Designed for whole-house monitoring of generation and consumption.
• Excellent API documentation.

No web interface

Yes

1. Create an account

Find an iPhone or droid, run the PeoplePower app, register for an account.

2. Obtain an activation key

When you register for an account, enter TED as the device type. An activation key will be sent to the email account used during registration.

3. Register a hub to obtain an authorization token for that hub

Use the activation key to obtain a device authorization token. Create an XML file with the activation key, a 'hub ID', and a device type. One way to do this is to treat the btmon script as the hub and each channel of each ECM as a device. Use any number for the hub ID, and a device type 1004 (TED-5000).

For example, create the file req.xml with the following contents:

<request>
  <hubActivation>
    <activationKey>xxx:yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy</activationKey>
    <hubId>1</hubId>
    <deviceType>1004</deviceType>
  </hubActivation>
</request>

Send the file using HTTP POST to the hub activation URL:

curl -X POST -d @req.xml http://esp.peoplepowerco.com/espapi/rest/hubActivation

You should get a response with resultCode 0 and a deviceAuthToken. The response also contains pieces of the URL that you should use for subsequent configuration. For example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<response>
  <resultCode>0</resultCode>
  <host>esp.peoplepowerco.com</host>
  <useSSL>true</useSSL>
  <port>8443</port>
  <uri>deviceio/ml</uri>
  <deviceAuthToken>XXXXX</deviceAuthToken>
</response>

which results in this URL:

https://esp.peoplepowerco.com:8443/deviceio/ml

4. Indicate which ECM channels should be recorded

Add each channel of each ECM as a new ppco device. The btmon script will configure the device definitions, but it requires a map of ECM channels to device names. This map also indicates the channel(s) from which data should be uploaded.

Additional notes for PeoplePower

Use the device type 1005, which is a generic TED MTU. Create an arbitrary deviceId for each ECM channel that will be tracked. Apparently the deviceId must contain hex characters, so use c1 and c2 for channels 1 and 2 and use aN for the aux. The seq field is a monotonically increasing nonce.

<?xml version="1" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<h2s seq="1" hubId="1" ver="2">
  <add deviceId="3XXXXXc1" deviceType="1005" />
  <add deviceId="3XXXXXc2" deviceType="1005" />
  <add deviceId="3XXXXXa1" deviceType="1005" />
  <add deviceId="3XXXXXa2" deviceType="1005" />
  <add deviceId="3XXXXXa3" deviceType="1005" />
</h2s>

Send the file to the URL received in the activation response.

curl -H "Content-Type: text/xml" -H "PPCAuthorization: esp token=TOKEN" -d @add.xml https://esp.peoplepowerco.com:8443/deviceio/ml

To get a list of devices that ppco recognizes:

curl https://esp.peoplepowerco.com/espapi/rest/deviceTypes

• Horribly complicated setup
• Mobile app only
• Uploads accepted, but no way to tell if uploads are happening
• Extensive developer info
• There is nothing at web site that shows your stuff - its all marketing
• Easy to configure devices if they have a qr code (e.g. monster devices)

No

1. Register for an account

First register for a plotwatt account at www.plotwatt.com.

2. Obtain a house ID and an API key

You should receive a house ID and an api key at the plotwatt web site.

3. Configure meters that correspond to ECM channels

Configure 'meters' at the plotwatt web site that correspond to channels on each ECM/GEM.

Using curl to create 2 meters looks something like this:

curl -d "number_of_new_meters=2" http://API_KEY:@plotwatt.com/api/v2/new_meters

Using curl to list existing meters looks something like this:

curl http://API_KEY:@plotwatt.com/api/v2/list_meters

Use the meter identifiers provided by plotwatt when uploading data, with each meter associated with a channel/aux of an ECM.

• Very slow response. Switching tabs takes 5-10 seconds.
• Data are suspect. Server says data received, but graphs do not display it.
• setup requires programming curl or python - no web interface to set things up
• No feedback about uploads nor way to debug.
• API as raw curl or using python.
• Python client implementation at github.
• Limit of 50 meters.
• Use highest frequency possible, up to 1 reading per second.
• Send in batches, each with no more than 50 readings.
• UI is simple, but no way to drill down to details.
• Defaults to https

No

1. Create an account

Create an account at the smart energy groups web site.

2. Create a site

Create a site at the smart energy groups web site.

3. Obtain the site token

Obtain the site token at the smart energy groups web site.

Automatically create devices using the 'Discoveries' option in the SEG tools, or manually create devices on the smart energy groups web site.

To use the discovery tool, start uploading data. Click the discovery tool, then wait awhile as SEG detects the uploads. After a few minutes SEG will list the devices and channels, then you can enter names for each channel.

• Wonderful assortment of widgets.
• Excellent tools for debugging and diagnosing problems.
• Very easy to configure devices and channels.
• Web-based configuration.
• Discovery tool makes setup trivial.
• Supports many data types: power, energy, temperature.
• UI is large - display is not very information-dense.

Yes

1. Create an account

Create an account at the ThingSpeak web site.

2. Create one or more thingspeak channels

Create a ThingSpeak channel. Obtain the token (write api key) for each channel.

3. On each thingspeak channel, create a field for each ECM/GEM channel

Create a field for each ECM/GEM channel from which you will upload data. Each thingspeak channel is limited to 8 fields.

By default, data from all channels on all ECM/GEM will be uploaded. The channel ID and token must be specified for each ECM/GEM. By default, the ECM/GEM channels will be uploaded to fields 1-8.

• Defaults to https
• Graphs are crude.
• Supports any data type.