MQTT with auto-discovery
If you already run Mosquitto (the Home Assistant add-on is perfect), open the settings of MoniWatt for Pytes, enter the broker address, user and password, and save. The box announces itself through MQTT discovery and Home Assistant creates one device with all its sensors. No YAML to write.
Typical entities you will find:
| Entity | Example |
|---|---|
sensor.pytes_monitor_state_of_charge | 87 % |
sensor.pytes_monitor_power | -640 W (negative while discharging) |
sensor.pytes_monitor_voltage | 51.9 V |
sensor.pytes_monitor_cell_max_voltage / …_cell_min_voltage | 3.305 V / 3.291 V |
sensor.pytes_monitor_temperature | 21.5 °C |
sensor.pytes_monitor_state_of_health | 99 % |
binary_sensor.pytes_monitor_alarm | off |
The power and energy sensors are declared with the right device classes, so you can add the battery to the Energy dashboard.
Ideas people set up first
- Start the water heater or the dishwasher when the battery passes 95% on a sunny afternoon.
- Switch off non-essential loads in the evening when the charge drops under 25%.
- Get a phone notification when the gap between the highest and lowest cell grows beyond 50 mV.
- Track how many kWh actually went through the battery each month.
The JSON API
Every value is also available as a JSON document on your network, which suits Node-RED, Jeedom, openHAB, Domoticz or a small Python script:
GET http://moniwatt.local/api.json?key=YOUR_KEY
{
"soc": 87, "voltage": 51.92, "current": -12.3, "power": -639,
"temperature": 21.5, "soh": 99, "cycles": 214,
"cells": [3.301, 3.298, 3.305, 3.291, ...],
"status": "Discharging"
}
The API is read-only and uses the same password as the dashboard.