SBFspot multi-arch docker image

Docker image for SBFspot. For more documentation about this project see https://github.com/SBFspot/SBFspot.

Typically you create a container which is run every x minutes to collect data from your inverter. Next you (optionally) create another container which will upload data to pvoutput.org.

Supported architectures: amd64, arm64, arm v7 Raspberry PI

1. Create a local user

sudo groupadd -g 2000 sbfspot
sudo useradd -m -u 2000 -g 2000 -s /bin/bash sbfspot
sudo -iu sbfspot
mkdir config
mkdir data

2. Set your time zone

sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

3. Setup Bluetooth

Note: these instructions were tested on ubuntu 20.04 for pi.

Install bluetooth (if not done already)

sudo apt install bluetooth pi-bluetooth
sudo reboot

3.1 Pair with SMA converter

sudo bluetoothctl [-a]
[bluetooth]# default-agent
[bluetooth]# agent on
[bluetooth]# scan on
<... note MAC address of SMA inverter>
[bluetooth]# pair <MAC address>
[bluetooth]# trust <MAC address>
[bluetooth]# exit

4. Setup Docker containers

Install docker (if not done already)

sudo apt install docker.io
sudo docker pull solarexplorer/sbfspot-sqlite

4.1 Test inverter connectivity

docker run -it --rm \
 -v /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro \
 -v ~sbfspot/data:/var/smadata \
 -v ~sbfspot/config/SBFspot.cfg:/opt/sbfspot/SBFspot.cfg \
 --device=/dev/tty \
 --net=host \
 solarexplorer/sbfspot-sqlite /opt/sbfspot/SBFspot -v -finq -nocsv -nosql

4.2 Create SBFspot daily collector container

docker create -t \
 -v /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro \
 -v ~sbfspot/data:/var/smadata \
 -v ~sbfspot/config/SBFspot.cfg:/opt/sbfspot/SBFspot.cfg \
 --device=/dev/tty \
 --net=host \
 --name sbfspot-daydata \
 solarexplorer/sbfspot-sqlite /opt/sbfspot/SBFspot -v -ad1 -am0 -ae1

4.3 Create SBFspot monthly collector container (optional)

docker create -t \
 -v /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro \
 -v ~sbfspot/data:/var/smadata \
 -v ~sbfspot/config/SBFspot.cfg:/opt/sbfspot/SBFspot.cfg \
 --device=/dev/tty \
 --net=host \
 --name sbfspot-monthdata \
 solarexplorer/sbfspot-sqlite /opt/sbfspot/SBFspot -v -sp0 -ad0 -am1 -ae1 -finq

4.4 Run SBFspot PVoutput uploader (optional)

docker run -dt --restart=unless-stopped \
 -v /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro \
 -v /home/sbfspot/data:/var/smadata \
 -v /home/sbfspot/config/SBFspotUpload.cfg:/opt/sbfspot/SBFspotUpload.cfg \
 --name sbfspot-uploader \
 solarexplorer/sbfspot-sqlite /opt/sbfspot/SBFspotUploadDaemon

5. Configure crontab on Docker host

If you want the SBFspot collector container to be run automatically you can use standard crontab functionality to run it at set intervals;

Run the following command as root:

(crontab -u sbfspot -l 2>/dev/null; echo "*/5 5-23 * * * docker start -a sbfspot-daydata > /dev/null 2>&1") | crontab -u sbfspot -

or:

sudo -iu sbfspot
crontab -e

and edit the crontab file by adding the following line:

*/5 5-23 * * * docker start -a sbfspot-daydata > /dev/null 2>&1

6. Build this image locally

Setup QEMU

docker run --rm --privileged tonistiigi/binfmt:latest --install all

Build image and load into local docker.

docker buildx create --name all --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64,linux/arm/v7
docker buildx build --platform=linux/amd64,linux/arm64,linux/arm/v7 -t solarexplorer/sbfspot-sqlite --load .