TeslaSolarCharger

TeslaSolarCharger is a service to set one or multiple Teslas' charging current using the datalogger TeslaMate.

Table of Contents

• How to install
  • Docker compose
  • Setting up TeslaMate including TeslaSolarCharger
    • docker-compose.yml content
    • First startup of the application
    • Install and setup BLE API
• Often used optional settings
  • Power Buffer
  • Home Battery
  • Telegram integration
• How to use
  • Charge Modes
• Generate logfiles
• Privacy notes

How to install

You can either install the software in a Docker container or download the binaries and deploy it on any server. In June 2024, Tesla implemented rate limits to their API, so there is a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy, implemented since Bluetooth Version 4.0) capable device needed near the car. You can find details on how to set up BLE here.

Docker compose

The easiest way to use TeslaSolarCharger is with Docker.

Depending on your system, you have to install Docker first. To do this on a RaspberryPi (should be the same on standard Linux systems), you need to execute the following commands in your Terminal window:

1. Install Docker

   curl -sSL https://get.docker.com | sh
   

2. Add permissions to the pi user. If you have another username, update the command accordingly

   sudo usermod -aG docker pi
   

3. Reboot your Raspberry Pi
4. Test the Docker installation

   docker run hello-world
   

If any issues occur, try to identify them using this more detailed instruction.

If you are using a Windows host, install the Software from here. Windows 11 is highly recommended. Select Linux Containers in the installation process.

Setting up TeslaMate including TeslaSolarCharger

To set up TeslaSolarCharger, you must create a docker-compose.yml (name is important!) file in a new directory. Note: During the setup, some additional data folders to persist data will be created in that folder, so it is recommended to use a new directory for your docker-compose.yml.

docker-compose.yml content

The needed content of your docker-compose.yml depends on your inverter. By default, TeslaSolarCharger can consume JSON/XML REST APIs. To get the software running on SMA or SolarEdge, you can use specific plugins which create the needed JSON API. You can use the software with any ModbusTCP-capable inverter also.

Content without using a plugin

Below you can see the content for your docker-compose.yml if you are not using any plugin. Note: I recommend changing as few things as possible on this file as this will increase the effort to set everything up but feel free to change the database password, encryption key, and Timezone. Important: If you change the password or the encryption key, you need to use the same password and encryption key at all points in your docker-compose.yml

version: '3.3'

services:
  teslamate:
    image: teslamate/teslamate:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DATABASE_USER=teslamate
      - DATABASE_PASS=secret ##You can change your password here
      - DATABASE_NAME=teslamate
      - DATABASE_HOST=database
      - MQTT_HOST=mosquitto
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=supersecret ##You can change your encryption key here
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin ##You can change your Timezone here
    ports:
      - 4000:4000
    volumes:
      - ./import:/opt/app/import
    cap_drop:
      - all

  database:
    image: postgres:15
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=teslamate
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret ##You can change your password here
      - POSTGRES_DB=teslamate
    volumes:
      - teslamate-db:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  grafana:
    image: teslamate/grafana:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DATABASE_USER=teslamate
      - DATABASE_PASS=secret ##You can change your password here
      - DATABASE_NAME=teslamate
      - DATABASE_HOST=database
    ports:
      - 3100:3000
    volumes:
      - teslamate-grafana-data:/var/lib/grafana

  mosquitto:
    image: eclipse-mosquitto:2
    restart: always
    command: mosquitto -c /mosquitto-no-auth.conf
    #ports:
    #  - 1883:1883
    volumes:
      - mosquitto-conf:/mosquitto/config
      - mosquitto-data:/mosquitto/data

  teslamateapi:
    image: tobiasehlert/teslamateapi:latest
    logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "5"
            max-size: "10m"
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      - database
    environment:
      - DATABASE_USER=teslamate
      - DATABASE_PASS=secret ##You can change your password here
      - DATABASE_NAME=teslamate
      - DATABASE_HOST=database
      - MQTT_HOST=mosquitto
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin ##You can change your Timezone here
      - ENABLE_COMMANDS=true
      - COMMANDS_ALL=true
      - API_TOKEN_DISABLE=true
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=supersecret ##You can change your encryption key here
    #ports:
    #  - 8080:8080

  teslasolarcharger:
    image: pkuehnel/teslasolarcharger:latest
    container_name: teslasolarcharger
    logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "10"
            max-size: "100m"
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      - teslamateapi
    environment:
#      - Serilog__MinimumLevel__Default=Verbose #uncomment this line and recreate container with docker compose up -d for more detailed logs
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin ##You can change your Timezone here
    ports:
      - 7190:80
    volumes:
      - teslasolarcharger-configs:/app/configs

volumes:
  teslamate-db:
  teslamate-grafana-data:
  mosquitto-conf:
  mosquitto-data:
  teslasolarcharger-configs:

Content using SMA plugin

The SMA plugin is used to access your EnergyMeter (or Sunny Home Manager 2.0) values. To use the plugin, add these lines to the bottom of your docker-compose.yml.

  smaplugin:
    image: pkuehnel/teslasolarchargersmaplugin:latest
    container_name: teslasolarcharger_smaplugin
    logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "5"
            max-size: "10m"
    restart: always
    network_mode: host
    environment:
      - ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:7192

You can also copy the complete content from here:

<details> <summary>Complete file using SMA plugin</summary>

version: '3.3'

services:
  teslamate:
    image: teslamate/teslamate:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DATABASE_USER=teslamate
      - DATABASE_PASS=secret ##You can change your password here
      - DATABASE_NAME=teslamate
      - DATABASE_HOST=database
      - MQTT_HOST=mosquitto
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=supersecret ##You can change your encryption key here
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin ##You can change your Timezone here
    ports:
      - 4000:4000
    volumes:
      - ./import:/opt/app/import
    cap_drop:
      - all

  database:
    image: postgres:15
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=teslamate
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret ##You can change your password here
      - POSTGRES_DB=teslamate
    volumes:
      - teslamate-db:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  grafana:
    image: teslamate/grafana:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DATABASE_USER=teslamate
      - DATABASE_PASS=secret ##You can change your password here
      - DATABASE_NAME=teslamate
      - DATABASE_HOST=database
    ports:
      - 3100:3000
    volumes:
      - teslamate-grafana-data:/var/lib/grafana

  mosquitto:
    image: eclipse-mosquitto:2
    restart: always
    command: mosquitto -c /mosquitto-no-auth.conf
    #ports:
    #  - 1883:1883
    volumes:
      - mosquitto-conf:/mosquitto/config
      - mosquitto-data:/mosquitto/data

  teslamateapi:
    image: tobiasehlert/teslamateapi:latest
    logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "5"
            max-size: "10m"
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      - database
    environment:
      - DATABASE_USER=teslamate
      - DATABASE_PASS=secret ##You can change your password here
      - DATABASE_NAME=teslamate
      - DATABASE_HOST=database
      - MQTT_HOST=mosquitto
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin ##You can change your Timezone here
      - ENABLE_COMMANDS=true
      - COMMANDS_ALL=true
      - API_TOKEN_DISABLE=true
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=supersecret ##You can change your encryption key here
    #ports:
    #  - 8080:8080
      
  teslasolarcharger:
    image: pkuehnel/teslasolarcharger:latest
    container_name: teslasolarcharger
    logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "10"
            max-size: "100m"
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      - teslamateapi
    environment:
#      - Serilog__MinimumLevel__Default=Verbose #uncomment this line and recreate container with docker compose up -d for more detailed logs
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin ##You can change your Timezone here
    ports:
      - 7190:80
    volumes:
      - teslasolarcharger-configs:/app/configs
  
  smaplugin:
    image: pkuehnel/teslasolarchargersmaplugin:latest
    container_name: teslasolarcharger_smaplugin
    logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "5"
            max-size: "10m"
    restart: always
    network_mode: host
    environment:
      - ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:7192

volumes:
  teslamate-db:
  teslamate-grafana-data:
  mosquitto-conf:
  mosquitto-data:
  teslasolarcharger-configs:

</details>

Content using SolarEdge plugin

The SolarEdge Plugin uses the cloud API, which is limited to 300 which is reset after 15 minutes. When the limit is reached the solaredge API does not gather any new values. This results in TSC displaying 0 grid and home battery power until 15 minutes are over.

To use the plugin, just add these lines to the bottom of your docker-compose.yml. Note: You have to change your site ID and your API key in the CloudUrl environment variable

  solaredgeplugin:
    image: pkuehnel/teslasolarchargersolaredgeplugin:latest
    container_name: teslasolarcharger_solaredgeplugin
    logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "5"
            max-size: "10m"
    restart: always
    environment:
      - CloudUrl=https://monitoringapi.solaredge.com/site/1561056/currentPowerFlow.json?api_key=asdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdf& ##Change your site ID and API Key here
    ports:
      - 7193:80

You can also copy the complete content from here:

<details> <summary>Complete file using SolarEdge plugin</summary>

version: '3.3'

services:
  teslamate:
    image: teslamate/teslamate:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DATABASE_USER=teslamate
      - DATABASE_PASS=secret ##You can change your password here
      - DATABASE_NAME=teslamate
      - DATABASE_HOST=database
      - MQTT_HOST=mosquitto
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=supersecret ##You can change your encryption key here
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin ##You can change your Timezone here
    ports:
      - 4000:4000
    volumes:
      - ./import:/opt/app/import
    cap_drop:
      - all

  database:
    image: postgres:15
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=teslamate
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret ##You can change your password here
      - POSTGRES_DB=teslamate
    volumes:
      - teslamate-db:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  grafana:
    image: teslamate/grafana:latest
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DATABASE_USER=teslamate
      - DATABASE_PASS=secret ##You can change your password here
      - DATABASE_NAME=teslamate
      - DATABASE_HOST=database
    ports:
      - 3100:3000
    volumes:
      - teslamate-grafana-data:/var/lib/grafana

  mosquitto:
    image: eclipse-mosquitto:2
    restart: always
    command: mosquitto -c /mosquitto-no-auth.conf
    #ports:
    #  - 1883:1883
    volumes:
      - mosquitto-conf:/mosquitto/config
      - mosquitto-data:/mosquitto/data


  teslamateapi:
    image: tobiasehlert/teslamateapi:latest
    logging:
        driver: "json-file"
        options:
            max-file: "5"
            max-size: "10m"
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      - database
    environment:
      - DATABASE_USER=teslamate
      - DATABASE_PASS=secret ##You can change your password here
      - DATABASE_NAME=teslamate
      - DATABASE_HOST=database
      - MQTT_HOST=mosquitto
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin