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Design
By design, there are only 3 triggers that can start this automation,
- On sunrise at specified elevation.
- When you plug in the charger.
- Next charge time trigger set by this automation to meet today or tomorrow's charge end time if set. Note that today's charge end time has priority.
This will then switch on the charger once to begin the charging process. On sunset at specified elevation, or when it reaches the desired charge limit, it will then switch off the charger once to end the charging process. Please see power monitor duration to determine whether or not to pause or resume charging depending on available power. Charger is switched off when in paused state.
If "Sun trigger" is turned off, SolarCharger once started will continue to adjust current as long as there is surplus power (eg. from battery, wind turbine, etc.) irrespective of time of day.
If all triggers are turned off (ie. Plugin trigger, Sun trigger, Schedule charge), user can now program their own automation to start and stop charger without interference from SolarCharger to start or stop the charging process.
Turn on fast charge mode. Do not confuse power offset with charger minimum current setting. Power offset sets the maximum power from secondary power source (grid/battery) that can be used to charge car but is shared among all appliances of which the car charger has the lowest priority.
"Charger minimum current" and "Power offset" can be number helpers or template sensors that can be used to control charger power consumption according to time-of-use tariff, free charging period, etc. The default entity can be overridden in,
Settings > Devices & services > SolarCharger > Settings (cog wheel) > select your device > select your new entity
See example.
If you select "Add custom device" to create a custom charger, you can program your own API return codes for the connect trigger states, connected states and charging states supported by your EV or charger specific API.
Don't forget to also enter the entities required to control the charger, eg. charger on/off switch, get/set charge current, etc. Setting charger on/off switch entity is required as a minimum. The control entities are defined here,
Settings > Devices & services > SolarCharger > Settings (cog wheel) > select your custom device > define your entities
If the device is a water heater with a thermostat, apart from setting the on/off switch, the get charge current entity is also required to calculate power and energy consumption. Without the get current entity, the power and energy consumption will be incorrect when the thermostat stops heating by itself.
See example.