Future Plugin: Energy EAGLE

Proposed Plugin: Energy EAGLE

I'm planning on creating a new Indigo plugin to integrate the Rainforest Automation RFA-Z109 EAGLE ZigBee SmartMeter gateway into Indigo. The relatively inexpensive ($99 US) RFA-Z109 EAGLE connects directly to compatible ZigBee enabled SmartMeters and gathers near-real-time information (4-15 second delay) directly from the SmartMeter installed by your utility company on your premises. A number of major energy companies in the US (including Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Souther California Edison (SCE)) have installed SmartMeters that include ZigBee radios that work with the EAGLE. The plan is to create a plugin that pulls data directly from the EAGLE and stores it in an Indigo device whose states (such as current power drain and cumulative energy usage, among others) can then be displayed on any Indigo control page, or otherwise manipulated by Indigo.

I'm mostly starting this thread to let other interested parties know that I plan on creating and sharing this plugin (current plan is to do it free of charge). I'm also curious about the kind of demand for this plugin. So if you're interested, post a comment to let me know.

Proposed Plugin: Energy EAGLE

I'm planning on creating a new Indigo plugin to integrate the Rainforest Automation RFA-Z109 EAGLE ZigBee SmartMeter gateway into Indigo. The relatively inexpensive ($99 US) RFA-Z109 EAGLE connects directly to compatible ZigBee enabled SmartMeters and gathers near-real-time information (4-15 second delay) directly from the SmartMeter installed by your utility company on your premises. A number of major energy companies in the US (including Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Souther California Edison (SCE)) have installed SmartMeters that include ZigBee radios that work with the EAGLE. The plan is to create a plugin that pulls data directly from the EAGLE and stores it in an Indigo device whose states (such as current power drain and cumulative energy usage, among others) can then be displayed on any Indigo control page, or otherwise manipulated by Indigo.

I'm mostly starting this thread to let other interested parties know that I plan on creating and sharing this plugin (current plan is to do it free of charge). I'm also curious about the kind of demand for this plugin. So if you're interested, post a comment to let me know.

I'm interested.

How do we know what SmartMeters will work with the product ? Is there a list somewhere ? (I couldn't find one...)


Mike

I'm interested.

How do we know what SmartMeters will work with the product ? Is there a list somewhere ? (I couldn't find one...)


Mike

No, there's no list. If you're a PG&E customer, you have to first ask PG&E to verify your meter is eligible by filling out this form. If your meter is eligible, you'll receive an email from PG&E within a week containing your eligibility code and links to FAQs and a device registration page.

Not ever having been a SCE customer, I'm not sure what their process is, so you'd need to check with them if you're a SCE customer. The same goes for any other utility other than PG&E since the utility companies have to authorize your device to connect to the meter.

I am interested in the plugin also.

With SCE the process is fairly simple to register an Eagle. Your eligibility will show in the Device Management tab of your SCE online account. On this Home and Business Area Networks page you can register a ZigBee enabled monitoring device. You will need its model number and ZigBee Mac Address (all listed on the Eagle). After a day or two you will see the Device Management status change so that you can pair the Eagle with your Smart Meter. Then the status will change to "Registered" after pairing is completed. There typically is a day or so delay in each status update.

I'm interested.

How do we know what SmartMeters will work with the product ? Is there a list somewhere ? (I couldn't find one...)


Mike

No, there's no list. If you're a PG&E customer, you have to first ask PG&E to verify your meter is eligible by filling out this form. If your meter is eligible, you'll receive an email from PG&E within a week containing your eligibility code and links to FAQs and a device registration page.

Not ever having been a SCE customer, I'm not sure what their process is, so you'd need to check with them if you're a SCE customer. The same goes for any other utility other than PG&E since the utility companies have to authorize your device to connect to the meter.

Done.

I am eligible, and will order a box today.

Cool. Thanks for the feedback guys. I ordered mine Wednesday and it's already out for delivery today (Friday), so hopefully I can get it registered with PG&E and linked to the SmartMeter pretty quickly. I'll keep this thread updated on my progress whenever there's anything noteworthy to report.

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/harvard-medical-doctor-warns-against-smart-meters/

Just one more thing in our lives we need to worry about.

Given the generalized nature (RF affects on humans), that looks like a discussion best suited for the General Home Automation, actually.

Is the information from the Eagle complementary to the TED, or is it basically a much cheaper and easier way to get the same data?

Is the information from the Eagle complementary to the TED, or is it basically a much cheaper and easier way to get the same data?

My understanding of how TED works is that it does its own measurement of your energy usage then does cost calculations based off its measurements. The EAGLE doesn't do it's own measurements, it just reads the data directly from your meter and reports that data back to you. The EAGLE will give a more accurately representation of the data your energy company sees (because it's exactly what they see). So I guess to answer your question, much of the data would duplicate what you get from TED. Some data may supplement it (such as what energy usage tier you're currently on, assuming your energy company uses tiered billing like PG&E does).

[matt (support)]

I agree this should be on another thread, but I wanted to reply real quick (if the discussion continues much more I'll move the posts to their own thread):

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/harvard-medical-doctor-warns-against-smart-meters/

Just one more thing in our lives we need to worry about.

From my understanding, the RF power of a smartmeter is pretty low. If you Google around on smart meter safety you'll note lots of the articles mention electromagnetic hypersensitivity as a big concern, which according to wikipedia (yeah, I know but you can follow the footnotes if you want more details):

The majority of provocation trials to date have found that self-described sufferers of electromagnetic hypersensitivity are unable to distinguish between exposure to real and fake electromagnetic fields, and it is not recognized as a medical condition by the medical or scientific communities. Since a systematic review in 2005 showing no convincing scientific evidence for it being caused by electromagnetic fields, several double-blind experiments have been published, each of which has suggested that people who report electromagnetic hypersensitivity are unable to detect the presence of electromagnetic fields and are as likely to report ill health following a sham exposure, as they are following exposure to genuine electromagnetic fields.

Everyone should come to their own conclusion of course, but I personally won't lose any sleep having a smartmeter in use by my house.

Update: I received confirmation that the EAGLE had been registered with PG&E on Wednesday. The final step is to get it paired with the SmartMeter which requires you to call a special HAN 800 number PG&E has set up. Yesterday (Thursday) I called to get the EAGLE paired with my SmartMeter but, unfortunately, the guy wasn't able to add it. Either the SmartMeter is misconfigured, their system isn't set up properly, or there's something wrong with the EAGLE. The agent had to send my case to a supervisor who, very inconveniently, will call me back within 5 business days (not exactly a great customer experience). In the mean time, I've also emailed Rainforest Automation describing the situation to see if they have any technical support related suggestions on getting the EAGLE paired with the meter. Their stated response time is 2 business days. So far, I'm not impressed with how PG&E is handling the whole HAN device deal. Every step seems to be handled completely manually on their part (submit a form to have someone verify meter compatibility, submit a form to have someone register a device, call a number to have someone pair the device while you're on the phone with them), so there's lots of room for error and wasted time. It sounds like SCE has a much more streamlined setup. Anyway... more to come I'm sure.

So if I understand correctly, this RFA device is a Zigbee-to-Ethernet bridge of sorts? Could we just use a USB Zigbee device to talk to the meter instead? Is there some advantage (other than having multiple devices be able to talk to this thing) for going the ethernet route?

I'm with SCE, and I am able to register a device, just as GRWilde described, so I'm going to order one as well.

But while we're all here... what are the potential use cases that we are imagining once the plugin exists?

I have solar and drive an EV, so for me it would be a few things:
- monitor solar production and be able to know when I'm "ahead of the game". This will likely involve talking to the solar monitor device as well. But one step at a time.
- be able to tell if my car stops charging, or didn't charge for some reason (like I forgot to plug it in!)
- keep an eye on the A/C

Update: After factory resetting the EAGLE and calling PG&E to try to pair it again, they were able to pair the EAGLE to the SmartMeter this time. So now I'll begin exploring the data it's gathering from the meter and what can be done with it.

So if I understand correctly, this RFA device is a Zigbee-to-Ethernet bridge of sorts? Could we just use a USB Zigbee device to talk to the meter instead? Is there some advantage (other than having multiple devices be able to talk to this thing) for going the ethernet route?

Correct. In a very similar way to how the Philips Hue hub is a ZigBee-to-Ethernet bridge for the Hue light bulbs, the RFA-Z109 EAGLE bridges the SmartMeter to Ethernet. It is likely possible to pair a USB ZigBee interface to the SmartMeter. The SmartMeters (at least the ones PG&E uses) require that they be the coordinator of the ZigBee network, which may or may not pose an issue for centrally managing the connection from home automation software. Currently, my understanding of the ZigBee standard is very limited, so I don't know what challenges would be associated with doing that. From what I've read so far, the ZigBee standard, similar to Bluetooth, incorporates numerous application profiles. SmartMeters support the "Smart Energy Profile" (SEP), either version 1.0 or 1.1, so whatever device (USB or otherwise) that connects to the meter needs to support the SEP profile, either through software or hardware. I don't have the time to learn all the ins-and-outs of ZigBee communication and application profile standards, then develop software to implement it. That's a much bigger project than a simple XML data exchange between the EAGLE and Indigo plugin over an existing network layer. I do know that the SmartMeters support coordinating more than just one ZigBee device, so you could connect the EAGLE as well as a display device and USB device all to the same meter. So, is there an advantage to using the EAGLE over some USB stick? Yes. Simplicity, both in pairing and in data gathering. The EAGLE, out of the box, also provides a basic embedded web interface that shows current readings along with energy usage and demand history for up to a year. It can be configured to forward all data to a 3rd party "cloud" energy tracking web site, and Rainforest Automation includes a free iOS and Android app to view the data in real-time while on the same local network as the EAGLE. We'd get none of that with a basic USB ZigBee device.

I have solar and drive an EV, so for me it would be a few things:
- monitor solar production and be able to know when I'm "ahead of the game". This will likely involve talking to the solar monitor device as well. But one step at a time.
- be able to tell if my car stops charging, or didn't charge for some reason (like I forgot to plug it in!)
- keep an eye on the A/C

I don't know how the EAGLE handles negative demand (energy going back to the energy company form your solar system), but I assume it just reads the data from the meter and doesn't care one way or the other. Maybe you could let us know what it shows for that when you get it all set up at your location.

Being able to tell if your car stops charging might be possible, but you'd have to do the energy "profiling" in your head by looking at the historical data viewable from the EAGLE web interface or a 3rd party "cloud" service's analysis. It might also be possible in the future, by correlating the times when an Indigo device turns on or off with trends in the historical usage data. This would be an advanced feature, though, as it would require the incorporation of database logging and statistical analysis of historical data. I'm not sure I'm up that (yet anyway). Something that would probably be much less difficult to implement would be something like a 5-minute "delta" value which could be used to track change in usage over a fixed short period. If this value suddenly grew large, you'd know something big was just turned on.

Keeping an eye on the A/C usage would be a lot easier as it uses a lot of energy. A spike in demand like that is hard to miss and you could set up electrical demand-based triggers in Indigo to keep track of that.

My thoughts for a first release plugin are to provide very basic Indigo integration, making the real-time data available to Indigo for whatever demand and usage notifications one may wish to set up. Subsequent versions might include more calculated data (such as average demand increase/decrease states) to help identify high usage electrical equipment and trends better. Of course, all of this is contingent on how much free time I have outside of my day job and family life. But at minimum, I expect to get the above first release features into a plugin. And, like my other plugins, I don't currently plan on charging anything for it.

Awesome. I ordered mine, I'll post back when it's set up.