Connecting Fronius Datalogger to Solar.web

First thing you'd want to do after having your solar (PV) system installed is to monitor how much power the solar panels are generating. Most inverters will have an LCD panel in front to show the relevant stats. But if you're like me, you probably don't want to be standing in front of the inverter out in the sun (or inside the garage) just scrolling through the numbers. Most inverters would also have realtime monitoring available through an online portal. In the case of Fronius, they have an app called Fronius Solar.web Live on Android and IOS, and an online portal called Solar.web at www.solarweb.com.

Two ways to get the inverter connected to your home WiFi network to get data monitoring going. The first is using an online wizard (wizard.solarweb.com), which you can access via a web browser (desktop or mobile). I tried using a desktop PC running Windows, and for some reason it didn't work. Second option is to call the commissioning wizard from within the app. Just click on the red icon on the lower right corner of the app.

Setup procedure is similar to how you would integrate wireless speakers and Chromecasts to your home network. Basically, you pair your app to the device using a special WiFi access point provided by the device. You provide the SSID and password of the home WiFi, so that the device can connect to the Internet, and continue the setup process from there.

The inverter access point is enabled from the inverter panel - under the Setup tab. Note that the inverter AP will only be active for an hour, so try to finish the setup by then. Ideally, the app should automatically switch APs, but if it doesn't, the inverter panel will display the SSID and password (12345678) anyway. Once connected, a form comes up and you'll have to specify the ff. information:

• feed-in tariff
• grid supply tarriff
• time, day, timezone
• a name for your PV system
• PV power in watts
• home WiFI SSID and password

Once this is done, the inverter will connect to the home WiFi, and you should do the same on your phone/tablet.

The app will ask you to set up a password for your inverter, and add more user accounts if you want to. You will then be redirected to the Solar.web portal to create an account to manage your PV system. Once you complete the verification process via email, you're pretty much done. You should now be able to monitor your system using the app or the web portal.

If you need more help, check out this video.

Next stop, PVOutput!