Digital Energy Meters and MODBUS

In this manual we will describe how to use DOMIQ/Serial-4MB module to integrate digital
electricity meter SAIA BURGESS ALE3D5F11 with the DOMIQ/Base and display
measurement values in the DOMIQ/Remote application on the iPhone or on the DOMIQ/
Display touch panel.

In further part of this document you will find out how to:

• Read and display voltage values
• Read and display effective active power
• Read and display total energy counter
• Create resettable energy counter (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly measurement of electricity consumption)
• Signal power failure

DOMIQ devices comunicate with the meter using two-wire bus with MODBUS protocol.
Up to 32 devices can be connected to single DOMIQ/Serial-4MB. Each device must
have an individual addres in the range from 1 to 127. All devices also mus have configured the same transmission parameters (number of stop bits, parity type, transmission speed).

Most of the available Modbus devices requires external power supply (typically 24V DC).

1. Wiring diagram #

2. DOMIQ/Base module configuration #

Each MODBUS device is seen as a set of 16-bit registers. Functions of the specific registers are not pre-defined, so always the device documentation is required.

DOMIQ/Base and DOMIQ/Serial-4MB is a master MODBUS system. Each line in the configuration defines the device address, register number and the data format contained therein. Registers are queried periodically. Collected data is stored in the Base module and starts with
the MODBUS prefix.

2.1. Creating the REMOTE menu #

To display measured values on the iPhone you have to define the menu. To do this follow
these steps:

1. Click on the Remote tab
2. Add a new Page and give it a name
3. Add a new Section e.g Measurement values
4. Add another Section e.g Status

2.2. Voltages #

In first step you need to find (in meter documentation) the registers numbers where the
values of voltage are stored. Next you can proceed to define registers reading.

2.2.1. Registers Definitions #

Please follow these steps:

1. After logging in to the configurator, select the MODBUS tab.
2. Click on the Add button to add a new register read.
3. In Type select register type. For 16-bit registers select uint16, for 32-bit registers select uint32. In this one choose uint16 type.
4. In Address enter (in decimal) the device addres (it can be found in meter menu). In this
   example the meter address is 3.
5. In Register type register address where the value of voltage on the first phase is
   stored. In this case it is register 36. Notice! Some manufacturers gives the addresses
   starting with 1, and the part starting from 0. On the MODBUS tab addresses are
   counted from 0. In the SAIA meter adresses starts from 1, so in the register read enter
   35 instead of 36.
6. In Name type a unique register name e.g voltage1. This name will be used to define
   the controls in the REMOTE application.
7. In Label add a short description of what the register readout concerns. e.g voltage
   phase 1
8. In the left bottom corner select transmission speed and parity control type. In this case
   :19200 baud/s and parity control 8E1.
   For the remaining two phases repeat steps from 1. to 7. Remember to change the registers addresses to 40 and 45 at step 4. and change the registers names to: voltage2 and
   voltage3.

In result you will get:

2.2.2. Controls Definition #

To preview the voltage values on the iPhone you have to define controls. To do this
please follow these steps:

1. Click on the Remote tab
2. Find the menu structure created in section 2.1.
3. Add Value channel to the Measurement values section
4. Double-click on the new channel and make its features:
5. In Channel type MODBUS.register_name, where register_name is the content of
   the Name field in the MODBUS tab. In this example MODBUS.voltage1.
6. For the remaining two phases repeat steps 3. to 5.

After saving the configurator settings you will get the following result on the iPhone:

2.3. Effective Power #

Read and display the effective active power is similar to the procedure presented in section 2.2.

2.3.1. Registers Definition #

1. Enter the registers addresses where values of the effective active power are stored (in
   this case 35, 42, 47).
2. Add Gain equal to 0.01 (in order to display floating point number)

2.3.2. Controls Definition #

Modify the Channel field in the Value channel. For example: if you used power1 as a name of the register read, in the Channel field type: MODBUS.power1.

2.4. The total energy counter #

Read and display the total energy counter is similar to the procedure presented in section
2.2.

2.4.1. Registers Definition #

1. Change register type to uint32
2. Add Gain equal to 0.01 (in order to display floating point number)
3. Enter the registers addresses. In this case it’s a pair of registers: 31 and 32
4. Add a unique name, for example energy

2.4.2. Controls Definition #

Modify the Channel field in the Value channel. For example: if you used energy as a name of the register read, in Channel type MODBUS.energy.

2.5. Resettable Energy Counter #

The resettable energy counter allows for convenient measure of electricity consumption in
any time period (hour, day, week, month etc.).
The simplest implementation of such meter requires to save the current value of the energy counter when user clicks on the Reset button. Next the saved value is subtracted from
the current value and and the result of this subtraction is presented as a resettable
counter.
In DOMIQ/Base MEM channel is used for permament variables storing. The value placed
in this channel is stored until the next change. To store the current value of the meter is
the best to use VAR channel – volatile variable.
To create the resettable energy counter follow procedure presented below.

2.5.1. Logic Script #

In DOMIQ Base configurator click on the Logic tab. Paste there the source code shown below:

— variables declaration —
counter = use ‘MODBUS.energy’
save = use ‘MEM.energy’
delta = use ‘VAR.energy’

function clear()
save:set(counter.value)
delta:set(0)
end

function counter:onchange(new)
delta:set(new – save.value)
end

Function clear will be called after clicking on the Reset button. It is responsible for saving the current state of unresettable energy counter (variabl save) and reseting the value
of the resettable energy counter (variable delta).
Function counter is called after every change of the total energy counter. This function
calculates and saves (to the variable delta) difference between current value of the total
energy counter and value of the total energy counter saved after clicking on the reset
button.

2.5.2. Controls Definitions #

1. Add Value channel to the Measurement values section in the Remote tab.
2. Double-click on the new channel and make its features.
   IMPORTANT! In the Channel field enter the name of the variable that was defined in the
   Logic tab (in this case VAR.energy)
3. Add Pushbutton
4. Double-click on it and make its features:
   • Give it a name e.g. Counter reset
   • in hit (for older software versions Comands sent when button is pressed briefly) tab
     click on the Add channel button and fill its features as shown below:

The result on the iPhone:

2.6. Power State Notifications #

When the power failure occurs you will receive a notification on the screen of the iPhone.
It will also be visible in the Remote application.
Power failure is indicated when the measuered voltage falls below 180V. The additional
VAR variable is created to signal the correct voltage in all phases.

2.6.1. Logic Script #

Paste the source code presented below to the Logic tab:

— variables declaration —
m_v1 = use ‘MODBUS.voltage1’
m_v2 = use ‘MODBUS.voltage2’
m_v3 = use ‘MODBUS.voltage3’
v_v1 = use ‘VAR.v1’
v_v2 = use ‘VAR.v2’
v_v3 = use ‘VAR.v3’
v_va = use ‘VAR.va’

— this function checks voltage on each phase —
function monitor()
local v1,v2,v3 = 0,0,0
if m_v1.value > 180 then v1 = 1 end
if m_v2.value > 180 then v2 = 1 end
if m_v3.value > 180 then v3 = 1 end
v_v1:set(v1)
v_v2:set(v2)
v_v3:set(v3)
if v1 + v2 + v3 == 3 then
v_va:set(1)
else
v_va:set(0)
end
end

m_v1.onchange = monitor
m_v2.onchange = monitor
m_v3.onchange = monitor
monitor()

Remember to use variable names that are identical to names used to read registers.

In variable declaration part seven variables was declared. The first three of them (m_v) keep the voltage values on different phases. Remaing four (v_v) were used for signaling
power failure on the iPhone.

Function Monitor checks the voltage values and sets proper variables. It is called after
any change of the voltage value.

2.6.2. Power State Controls #

Power state controls will be represented as the lights that change color depending on the
power state. It allows for a quick diagnose on which phase power failure occured.
To create power failure controls follow these steps:

1. Add Status channel to the Status section in the Remote tab.
2. Double-click on in and make its features as shown below:
   
3. For the other two phases do the same, but remember to change the names of the variables to: VAR.v2 and VAR.v3.

Wynikowe działanie na iPhone, w przypadku wyłączenia zasilania z dwu faz zostało przedstawione na poniższym obrazku:

2.7. Power Fail and Restore Notifications #

Notifications are displayed on all paired iPhones with DOMIQ/Remote. This section will
describe how to use notifications to notify user about power failure and power restore.

2.7.1. Power Failure Notification #

1. Add an new event (click on the Add button) in the Events tab
2. In Channel type E.VAR.va
3. Set match to 0
4. In Command click on Add channel and type in Channel C.REMOTE.notify. In Value type content of the notification that will be displayed on the iPhone screen. For example POWER FAILURE!

The resulting action is shown in the image below:

2.7.2. Power Restoration Notification #

1. Add an new event (click on the Add button) in the Events tab
2. In Channel type E.VAR.va
3. Set match to 1
4. In Command click on Add channel and type in Channel C.REMOTE.notify. In Value type content of the notification that will be displayed on the iPhone screen. For example POWER RESTORED!

The resulting action is shown in the image below:

2.8. Visualization for the DOMIQ/Display #

In this section we will show how to implement the functionality in the DOMIQ/Display.In order not to increase the volume of this document we will only describe how to:

• Display voltages values
• Display power status
• Display power failure and power restoration notification

2.8.1. Visualisation Screen #

1. In the DOMIQ/Base configurator select the Display tab.
2. From New list add a new Screen to Tree (drag and drop) and give it a unique name
   (e.g. Energy meter).

2.8.2. Voltage Values #

To display the values of voltage follow the procedure presented below:

1. Add Value to the visualisation screen (drag it from New and drop it on the visualisation
   screen)
2. Click on it and type in Channel: MODBUS.voltage1
3. Add Text element to the visualisation screen. Click on it and type short description in the text field. For example Phase 1.

For the remaining two phases repeat steps from 2 to 4. Remember to change channel
names to: MODBUS.voltage2 and MODBUS.voltage3 and controls descriptions to
Phase 2 and Phase 3.

Add another Text element, click on it and type in the text: Voltage. The result is presented in the picture below:

2.8.3. Power Status #

To display the power status please follow these steps:

1. Add Light to the visualisation screen
2. Click on it and type in the channel: VAR.v1
3. Choose green from Theme list
4. Add Text to the visualisation screen
5. Click on it and type short description in the text field. For example Phase 1. For the remaining two phases repeat steps from 2 to 4. Remember to change channelnames to: VAR.v2 and VAR.v3 and controls descriptions to Phase 2 and Phase 3.
6. Add another Text element, click on it and type in the text: Power status.

The result is presented in the picture below:

2.8.4. Power State Messages #

To receive a power failure notification on the DOMIQ/Display screen follow the procedure
presented below:

1. Click on the Events tab
2. Add a new channel (In Command click on the Add Channel button) to the earlier defined
   event (channel E.VAR.va, match 0)
3. In Name type C.DISPLAY.message
4. In Value type content of the notification that will be displayed on the DOMIQ/Display
   touch screen. For example POWER FAILURE!

To receive a power restoration notification on the DOMIQ/Display screen follow the procedure
presented below:

1. Click on the Events tab
2. Add a new channel (In Command click on the Add Channel button) to the earlier defined
   event (channel E.VAR.va, match 1)
3. In Name type C.DISPLAY.message
4. In Value type content of the notification that will be displayed on the DOMIQ/Display
   touch screen. For example POWER RESTORED!