Discuss 4-Noks Elios4you Android app not working properly after 3 months in the Solar PV Forum | Solar Panels Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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compmad1

I tried to put the review below on Google Play, but had to reduce the words considerably. I would appreciate experiences/observations regarding this product. Is there a better alternative? Thanks.


Since mid November (3 months) we have used the Elios4you app to monitor our solar panels, based on the recommendation of a solar fitter.

We very much regret choosing this system, because it has not worked properly from the start.

Having paid for a full price product, it was soon evident that the app is really an incomplete beta version. The app itself is free, but is effectively part of what you have paid for when buying the expensive Elios4you monitoring system that is fitted with the solar panels.

I have contacted the importers, Greenologic, about the problems and received email communications from the app maker in Italy.

After several updates, the remaining faults are:

1. The Elios app can give readings that are totally wrong.

Example:

Generation = approx 1.15kWh
Grid = 0w
Consumption = 0w ( The house has got to be using some power even at a low level, with fridge, freezer, phones, computer etc)
Water Heater = 3kWh, which was almost three times what the roof was generating --- plus as the water heater has broken (after only 3 months) and is switched off there is no electricity feeding into the immersion at all, so should read 0w.

2. Daily solar data can not be transferred to a PC for easy reference. The Data Export file on the app, when imported into Excel, gives 98 rows of results in a 24 hour period (for every 15 minutes). For each row there are 13 columns: Date and time, Generated Power, Bought Power, Sold Power, Consumed Power, Generated Energy, Generated Energy, Generated Energy F1, Generated Energy F2, Generated Energy F3, Sold Energy, Sold Energy F1, Sold Energy F2, Sold Energy F3.

This is not want ordinary people require.

3. There are no instructions available anywhere about how to do the settings on the app. The app is complicated and not at all intuitive. Greenologic responded on 6th February with ' We are currently working on an app guide to explain the settings and usability of the app. I will let you know as soon as this is available.'

Instructions should be available when a product is sold, not still a work awaiting completion after 3 months.

4. The Elios4you is ambiguously described as ' data is transmitted wirelessly to a Tablet, Smartphone and also to the broadband router which uploads the data to 4-Cloud' Only one Android device can be used. If you want to use a different device you will have to synchronise it with the transmitter that has been fitted in your house. The first device will then no longer work. You can only upload the data to 4-Cloud if your solar panel fitter is prepared to pay an annual fee to 4-noks. We did not know this at the time of purchase. Our fitters are not prepared to pay the cost of this service, so we are not able to use it.
 
That actually sounds as if you've accidentally ended up with the ap set up with the timer controlling the immersion at full power, or there's some function to turn off the proportional control, so that'd be the first thing I'd check.
 
Have you spoken to the installer. I have Elios on my solar never had a problem. The Elios only works with Ipad, Iphone or smart phone does not work on PC. I have customer using the system on 2 devices at once. Seems like installer error and a bit of confusion on your part.
Speak to Andy from Sibert AND Puddy. Puddy has tried three different monitoring devices.
4 cloud is free. I have used mine abroad to monitor my solar.
 
That actually sounds as if you've accidentally ended up with the ap set up with the timer controlling the immersion at full power, or there's some function to turn off the proportional control, so that'd be the first thing I'd check.

Thanks. I'm not technical so I don't know how to check this. I'm not getting any help from the installer or Greenologic.
 
Now that I have thought about what you have said, I realise looking back that we only got problems after the latest app update which included a timer for the water heater.

I have not done anything to the settings since the update. Maybe I should have?

The water heater was set to 'Auto' on the main Energy Performance page, and 'Auto - yellow' on the tools page that lists the days. Should I switch the water heater to 'off' on the main page?

Thanks.
 
Have you spoken to the installer. I have Elios on my solar never had a problem. The Elios only works with Ipad, Iphone or smart phone does not work on PC. I have customer using the system on 2 devices at once. Seems like installer error and a bit of confusion on your part.
Speak to Andy from Sibert AND Puddy. Puddy has tried three different monitoring devices.
4 cloud is free. I have used mine abroad to monitor my solar.

Thanks. The installer knows about our problems, but is not helping us. They just tell us to contact Greenologic ourselves.

When I connected a second Android device to the transmitter the first one got disconnected. Greenologic told us that you can't use 2 devices at a time, and that an app update at some time in the future may enable this. I haven't tried to connect two devices again based upon what happened and was told.

How do you use 4 cloud for free? Greenologic told me that this was only a separate paid for service and that I wasn't therefore able to use it.

Who are Andy and Puddy? All help appreciated. We're are just non-technical customers who are confused and receiving no help from the installer or the supplier.
 
Andy is from Sibert Solar. Sibert are a supplier of Elios equipment so he may have more information. Or he may know who to ask. I'm not sure if he posts on weekends though so you may have to wait until Monday.

Puddy is an end user.
 
Regarding the 4 cloud. You need to set the Elios in indirect mode. Reset Elios by using a small pin in hole on the Elios unit follow the wizard instructions on the device your using to monitor solar
 
Now that I have thought about what you have said, I realise looking back that we only got problems after the latest app update which included a timer for the water heater.

I have not done anything to the settings since the update. Maybe I should have?

The water heater was set to 'Auto' on the main Energy Performance page, and 'Auto - yellow' on the tools page that lists the days. Should I switch the water heater to 'off' on the main page?

Thanks.

Have answered my own question. Whether it is set to off or auto, when I switch on the immersion heater it still takes from the grid, even though my panels are generating over 2 kW + most is going back into the grid.
 
Regarding the 4 cloud. You need to set the Elios in indirect mode. Reset Elios by using a small pin in hole on the Elios unit follow the wizard instructions on the device your using to monitor solar

Thanks. This is what has been done. I thought the 4 cloud system was the one you could read via a pc.
 
i installed an elios and power reducer (1st one) and it done just that it was sending the full 3KW to the tank all the time.

i had a replacement sent out by Andy the following day, changed it over, good as gold!

Sounds like the Power reducer to me.
 
hmm.. I've got a power reducer to go and see tomorrow that's doing a similar thing apparently. Guess I'd best take a spare with me then.
 
I am glad you found a fix. My meter reading are spot on when I check 1st month. Perhaps checking both meters (home meter & generation) once a month will show you how accurate the elios4you is

But I have run in to the same problem I too can only set it to 1 device

When you asked who puddy, I am just a home user I don't have a electrical qualifications or a solar installer. But I do have solar panels on my house. The installer's haven't kicked me out yet
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Compmad1 - firstly, I am sorry to hear that you are still having issues with your system. Secondly, I am sorry it's took me so long to reply. If I recall correctly, you had some initial install-related issues. Yes, the Elios4You platform can be seen as complex, due to the comprehensive amount of data being stored/displayed (on certain screens) and if it isn't installed correctly, then it is extremely difficult to get your head around the volume of data available from the APP.

The design of the system was intended to be APP-based from the beginning, with no intention to have a PC/Mac-based software interface for the end-user. However, there is an online portal (4-Cloud) that is available in two formats – “installer” and “client”. The installer-portal is what costs £24/year to have, and this provides the installer of multiple Elios4You (and Intellymodem) systems to view all their installs in one place/on one screen, amongst other things. The client-portal is a more basic level of access, restricted to the home-owner’s own system alone. So long as the Elios4You is installed in “indirect mode” (ie, hooked up to the home’s WiFi network) then the client-portal is available by default, at no extra cost – just log-in using the user ID and password unique to each Elios device.

One of the benefits of being an APP-based system is that upgrades to performance and functionality can be done live, without affecting the installed hardware. Some updates do includes hotfixes and firmware updates (transferred to the device via the APP) but, to be fair to 4-Noks/Greenologic, these have not been frequent – there was a major one when the Power Reducer was released, and another minor hotfix the other day. The majority of the updates were related to advancements in the functionality of the APP (such as 24hrs/7day timer option, flexibility of on-board relay settings etc).

One the topic of not being able to use more than one device running the APP. This is not strictly true - you can "pair" multiple devices with the Elios4You unit, one at a time. Just go through the pairing procedure with each device in turn. Once a phone/tablet has been paired with the Elios, you can switch between each paired device just by closing the APP on one device, and opening it on the other (close the APP, not minimise it...). It is true that you cannot have more than 1 device running the APP in communication with the Elios at a time, but to be honest, I have not known that to be an issue. Bear in mind that you can set the Elios to indirect mode, set the 4-Cloud settings in the APP to "auto" and you should be able to run the APP in or out of the home, with communication done directly or via the cloud depending on where your device is at the time. Take note though that communication with the device when outside the home will utilise your data tariff if you are not in a wifi hotspot.

Now, to the Power Reducer. This has been a frustrating experience for all involved in the supply-chain as an issue with the last batch of units was discovered by the manufacturer (4-Noks). The issue was two-fold. Firstly, the packaging of the units was not up to the standard required to avoid damage during transit from Italy. Secondly, an internal component has been found to be sensitive to fluctuations in the household’s incoming mains voltage. We have had a handful of units trip the protective device (16A MCB/fuse) upon start-up, or have found that a couple of devices transmitted full power (3kW) to the immersion element during the night.

Your installer, or Greenologic, should have replaced the unit straight away, if possible, once these symptoms appeared – this is what we would have done if we were made aware of it, and it was supplied by us. The current state of play with 4-Noks is that they quite rightly asked us to quarantine our existing stock so that they could replace with new units once the packaging upgrade was complete, and the necessary modifications were made to the internal resistance to voltage spikes etc. I have seen the new packaging and it is quite suitable now. I am also waiting on a handful of new units to get out to our affected clients asap. This is hoped to be carried out towards the end of this week/beginning of next week. Following that, all stocks will be of the new type. Nothing particularly fundamental is changing with the units, but this issue has to be fixed before we can move forward. In addition to this, the manufacturer has taken additional steps to strengthen the internal mechanical PCB and LED supports - again, to improve the sturdiness of the device.

Please contact your installer again, and ask them to speak to whoever they bought the unit from (I can’t recall if it was ourselves, sorry) and/or directly to Greenologic. A replacement PR will be provided as soon as possible for you I am sure.
 
Hi Sibert,

Thank you for your very detailed explanation and support. We very much appreciate the time you have spent: in contrast to our installers (who expect us to communicate with Greenologic ourselves, as if it is nothing to do with them) and Greenologic, who do not really keep us informed at all.

We rang Greenolic again yesterday and tech support was unavailable to speak to. We left a detailed message and asked for a call-back. No response. We will try again today.

It seems from what you say that we need to have one of the new units to replace the broken one, and that they should be available by next week at the latest. That is good news, and as Greenologic has our email address as well as phone numbers, I am at a loss to know why they can't just explain what is going on.

I have read with interest what you say about being able to use the APP on more than one device, but just one at a time as opposed to simultaneously. We will try this out at the weekend when we have more time. I have been using it on my phone so far, and can read what is going on away from the house which is interesting. I will try it out on an older Android tablet that we don't regularly use now, then anybody in the house would be able to refer to it when at home. We had thought at the start we could use both of our phones at the same time.

We will contact our installer again tonight, whether we have had a response from Greenologic or not. You have been really helpful and have clarified several issues.
 
Finally spoke to Greenologic today. Apparently the new units will need to be collected from Italy. They say it may be later next week, or the following week. I'd be interested to know when other people manage to get them. Is it normal to have to go and get them yourself?
 

Reply to 4-Noks Elios4you Android app not working properly after 3 months in the Solar PV Forum | Solar Panels Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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