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Final Installation
This documentation is for software version 0.2.0 and earlier. Click here to see this page in the latest docs.
This page briefly describes the installation in your main electrical panel which is inherently dangerous! If you are not adequately equipped to perform this work yourself, STOP HERE and consult a licensed electrician. By proceeding, you agree that any actions are carried out at your own risk and I cannot be held liable for personal injury or property damage.
At this point, you should already have a clear idea of which CTs will be installed on specific conductors to achieve your monitoring goal. As mentioned above in the disclaimer, if you aren't sure how to do this safely, stop here and consult an electrician.
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Connect your CT leads to the Raspberry Pi before clamping them over your conductors.
Note: A very high voltage (potentially dangerous to you!) can build up between the leads of a CT if the CT is clamped onto the conductor before the leads are connected to the PCB. Many CTs have internal diodes to prevent this hazardous buildup, but the voltage can still exceed the maximum acceptable input voltage for the ADC, so connecting the leads to the Pi first is the safest for both you and the Pi/power monitor PCB.
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Install all of your CTs over your conductors
- Try to keep the CT wires as far away from the AC wiring as reasonably possible.
- Try to avoid running the CT wires parallel with AC wiring.
- If you have to cross AC wiring, try to do so at 90 degrees to minimize noise pickup.
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Power on the Pi
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Start the software in terminal mode so you can see the raw calculations on screen.
If you do not have any sources of power production (solar, generator, turbine, etc), make sure that all of the values shown in terminal mode are reporting a positive measure of Watts. If any values are showing negative, you'll need to unclip the CT and reverse the direction that the CT is installed.
If you do have a grid-tied source of power production, please see the more detailed setup instructions here.
- Setup the service file if you haven't done it already.
- Import one of the pre-built dashboards if you haven't done it already.
- Access the dashboard at http://:3000
