Docker image for 123Solar and meterN

A self-configuring multi-arch Docker image to run 123Solar and meterN energy metering and monitoring.

Introduction

123Solar is a logger app for photovoltaic inverter(s) meterN is a metering and monitoring app for energy management, that can be used also for monitoring others meters like: water, gas, temperature, etc...

Why this Docker image

After many hours of work to run these apps on my NAS, using Docker, I've decided to develop a ready-to-go image, in order to simplify the installation process.

Run on Synology NAS

I've finally wrote a guide to install this Docker image on a Synology NAS.

• 123Solar and meterN on Synology NAS (English version)
• 123Solar and meterN on Synology NAS (Italian version)

Credits

Both 123Solar and meterN apps are developed by Jean-Marc Louviaux and are based on Web interfaces with PHP and shell scripts backend.

The SDM120C script used to read meter data via ModBus is developed by Gianfranco Di Prinzio.

Some of the interface scripts used to get data inside the Web apps are written and maintained by Flavio Anesi. Flavio has also published many very detailed and well done guides (in Italian) about the whole setup for these apps. Since these are the most detailed guides you find online about this topic, I suggest you read them.

How to use

Container creation

You can simply create and run a Docker container from the image on the Docker hub by running:

SERVER_PORT=10080 && \
USB_DEVICE=/dev/ttyUSB0
docker create --name 123Solar-meterN \
	--device=$USB_DEVICE:rwm \
	--volume 123solar_config:/var/www/123solar/config \
	--volume 123solar_data:/var/www/123solar/data \
	--volume metern_config:/var/www/metern/config \
	--volume metern_data:/var/www/metern/data \
	-p $SERVER_PORT:80 \
	edofede/123solar-metern:latest

By changing SERVER_PORT you tells on which TCP port of your Docker host the web server should listen. The USB_DEVICE variable is the address of the USB>RS485 interface that is used to communicate with inverters and meters. Four volumes are created to persist configurations and datas of the apps, so you can delete and re-create the Docker container from the image, without loosing configs and data.

First access

The web interfaces are available at these addresses:

http://<Docker host/IP>:<SERVER_PORT>/123solar/
http://<Docker host/IP>:<SERVER_PORT>/metern/

For example (my case):

http://nas.local:10080/123solar/
http://nas.local:10080/metern/

Administrator passwords

The default admin accounts to access the administrator views are: Username: admin Password: admin

You can change the password later by using this command:

docker exec -i -t 123Solar-meterN bash -c 'printf "admin:$(openssl passwd -crypt)\n" > /var/www/123solar/config/.htpasswd && cp /var/www/123solar/config/.htpasswd /var/www/metern/config/.htpasswd'

meterN ModBus setup

I've included a config_daemon.php template file (provided by Flavio that points to meter address 2. If your meter address, USB device address or communication speed are different, edit this line:

exec("pooler485 2 9600 /dev/ttyUSB0 > /dev/null 2>/dev/null &");

by using this command while the container is running:

docker exec -i -t 123Solar-meterN nano /var/www/metern/config/config_daemon.php

(and restart the container after editing)

If you have more than one meter on a single RS485 line, you can add the meter IDs, separated by commas, in the config_daemon.php file, as explained by Flavio in his tutorial, for example:

exec('pooler485 1,2,3 9600 /dev/ttyUSB0 > /dev/null 2>/dev/null &');

Extra features

I've developed and included a simple reqLineValues.php script, that can be used to graph also the mains line parameters (voltage, current, frequency and cosphi). More infos later.

Container shell access

If you need to edit some file or configuration inside the container, you can simply access the shell using this command while the container is running:

docker exec -i -t 123Solar-meterN bash

Docker image details

The image is based on Alpine linux for lightweight distribution and mainly consist of:

• runit init scheme and service supervision
• Nginx web server
• PHP-FPM FastCGI process manager for PHP interpeter

All components are automatically configured by the Docker image

Limitation & future enhancement

At the moment, the image supports only one USB>RS485 communication interface, so you must have all inverters and meters on the same RS485 bus.

Support me

I treat these free projects exactly like professional works and I'm glad to share it, with some of my knowledge, for free.

If you found my work useful and want to support me, you can donate me a little amount