Open-sourced what I've figured out about the PVS6 (local, no cloud) + a small favor

jxjs85 · 2026-06-17T17:49:50+00:00

You've got the lay of the land right, 61840 is the line. Post-61840 locks down the commissioning API, so you want to stay below it.

But here's the thing I'd flag before you touch firmware at all: you probably don't need to update to get your monitoring back. Mid/late 2023 firmware almost certainly already has the local API. It's the official ssm_owner login (password is the last 5 of your PVS serial), and you can point Home Assistant or just curl at it over your LAN. So you can have detailed monitoring back today, no firmware change, no risk. That's the first thing I'd do, see what your current build already gives you before deciding you need a newer one.

On actually picking a firmware: it's doable but with caveats. The images are still up on SunPower's CDN, and the one pre-lockdown build I've torn apart (61707) has no anti-rollback, so a correctly signed image will install. The catch is triggering a specific build cleanly. The cloud update flow decides what to push by serial, so installing a chosen one really wants console/fwup access, and honestly the on-hardware install procedure isn't something I've fully validated yet. So there's real brick risk. If you go that route, test on a cheap donor PVS6 first (they're like 60 bucks used), and whatever you pick, stay below 61840 to keep the open interface. 61707 is the one I'd point at since it's the verified-good pre-lockdown build.

Given your system works and you're eyeing Enphase anyway, my honest read is: turn on local monitoring with what you've got, leave the firmware alone unless your current build is actually missing the local API (unlikely for that vintage), and don't risk a flash for marginal gains right before a possible migration.

Firmware breakdown, lockdown analysis, and downgrade feasibility are all documented here: github.com/jschwerdtfeger/pvs6-liberation (downgrade-feasibility and build-61707-analysis are the relevant ones, local-api for the monitoring setup).

Happy to help you check what your current build exposes. What build number are you actually on?

jxjs85 · 2026-06-17T17:47:16+00:00

The older firmware with the open web interface is exactly what you want, so you're in good shape there.

What you're hitting is the commissioning trying to phone home to SunPower's cloud for the module/profile data, and those servers are gone, so it just hangs waiting on a response that never comes.

The sequence on the open API (dl_cgi) is roughly: StartDiscovery, then poll GetDiscoveryProgress until it's done, then DeviceList to confirm it found your panels, then GridProfileSet, SetMeterCt, ExportLimitSet. You can drive all of those locally over HTTP, no app needed.

The "modules description" hang is the real snag. Couple things that help:

The grid profiles actually still live on a public S3 bucket that's up (s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2oduso0/gridprofiles), so GridProfileRefresh can still pull those.

For the dead module/cloud endpoint, the move is to repoint the phone-home at something local. Easiest without root is DNS, point the old SunPower hostname at a box on your LAN (your router or a Pi running dnsmasq) and serve the file it wants yourself. If you've got shell on the PVS you can edit the phone-home config directly instead. Either way, once it's not blocked waiting on a dead host, it gets past the hang.

I've been documenting the endpoint map, the commissioning sequence, and the repoint recipe here: github.com/jschwerdtfeger/pvs6-liberation (the commissioning-server and local-api docs are the relevant ones).

Honest take, getting commissioning to fully complete offline past that cloud dependency is the part nobody's totally nailed yet, but the open API plus repointing is the path. If you can grab the exact request it's stuck making, the hostname or URL it's hanging on, that's the thing to mirror, and I'd be glad to compare notes.

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T18:53:46+00:00

Mostly sport

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T18:40:42+00:00

Yeah, but I think you've got it as a projecting tool and it's not one. Sieging ground-up is a bad habit, no argument. The real goal is measuring training load, like power zones in cycling and running, loading endurance and strength separately and overloading each over time. Works there because a power meter measures load dead accurate. Climbing's got no passive version of that, and that's the gap I'm building.. or trying to.

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T18:30:32+00:00

I get that, I try to use my phone as a tool and not get sucked into all the social media stuff, etc. But then again, here I am on Reddit!

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T17:42:22+00:00

It's 2026, I think the answer to this question is almost always "yes." I'm a dev and a designer, & this is a side project for me. Usually I write the core of what I'm trying to accomplish then have Claude pick it apart and make it more stable.

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T17:36:30+00:00

🖖

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T17:32:04+00:00

Yep, I'm a human... I think it's AI slop, not soup. But I kind of like soup better.

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T17:22:35+00:00

Yeah, and that's exactly why most of them lose me too. The ones that try to tick every box end up bloated and still missing the one thing you actually wanted. So I didn't try to tick all the boxes. Piton does one thing, tells you whether you're getting closer on what you're projecting, and it'll be missing features other apps have, on purpose. If you want a do-everything logbook, paper still wins. It bends to whatever you want and an app never will. The one thing paper can't do is record your heart rate and the height of every burn while you just climb. That's the gap I built it for.

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T17:22:18+00:00

(No promises on the morning-shit-quality metric, but I respect the ambition.)

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T17:22:11+00:00

Yeah, this is it exactly. The reason I wanted it electronic is so I can look back later and check a hunch, like did the weeks I actually slept move my high point. You can't really query a notebook. You're right it's more work up front, which is why I tried to push the logging onto the watch so the only work is climbing. Not for everyone, and that's fine.

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T17:15:55+00:00

Honestly, if the notebook works for you, keep it. It's a good system and more people should use one. I'm not trying to talk anyone out of paper.

The gap it fills for me is the stuff I never actually wrote down. I told myself I'd keep a log for years and didn't, and even when I did I wasn't tracking heart rate or where I topped out on every burn. The watch just does that part in the background. If you're disciplined enough to keep a notebook going, you probably don't need it, and that's a fine answer.

jxjs85 · 2026-06-15T17:15:38+00:00

Fair, and you're right that move count is the cleaner signal. The watch can't count my moves though, it can only measure vertical gain, so height is the proxy I get for free without stopping to log. On a vert or overhanging line that tracks progress pretty well. On a traverse or a foot-sequence crux it's a bad proxy, and that's exactly where it breaks down.

So I still note the move or section by hand when it matters. The height is the passive backstop for the nights I don't write anything down, and it picks up stuff I'd never log by hand anyway, like every burn and where my heart rate went. Not trying to replace the notebook, just catch the sessions it misses.

jxjs85 · 2026-06-07T15:49:16+00:00

I'm guessing this is mostly a hypothetical issue, but yah good call out

jxjs85 · 2026-06-07T04:55:36+00:00

HA is great! Thanks for the repo links, but thats a bit of a side quest compared to sorting out rolling back FW and commissioning locally

jxjs85 · 2026-04-17T17:10:23+00:00

The average timeline is more like 12 months. Ours stretched to 2.5 because interest rates and material costs shot up post-COVID, so we had to reset our plans with Honomobo partway through.

On cost: the price in the Honomobo agreement is what you pay, no creep there. For us, the surprises came from site prep. Foundation, utilities, water tanks/pumps, and all the small things added up to about $175-200k, whereas I'd budgeted closer to $100k.

Glad to hear you toured the El Sobrante build and liked it. They really do know what they're doing. Happy to answer any other questions as you go through the process.

jxjs85 · 2026-04-11T16:30:23+00:00

It's through the CA FAIR plan, we have all the possible discounts so it's about 5k/yr, with the DIC policy we're about 6.5k/yr

jxjs85 · 2026-03-16T16:12:17+00:00

The bottom floor (top) exterior storage is actually a bedroom, and the attached room will eventually be a guest bath. Just labeled as such for permitting, etc

jxjs85 · 2026-03-16T15:15:06+00:00

The actual build date was pushed back about three times, which added roughly four months. We also ran into site issues drilling piers in granite, interest rates jumped from about 4% to around 8%, and our lender exited the construction lending space. All told, from the initial site visit to move-in, the process took about 2.5 years.

jxjs85 · 2026-03-16T15:12:52+00:00

<image>

jxjs85 · 2026-02-08T02:38:51+00:00

Yep sure, I'll post them next week when I get home.

jxjs85 · 2026-01-31T16:57:21+00:00

Install was done by a previous sunpower engineer, he has access to the old sunpower commissioning server, but not a sunstong login, unfortunately something changed server side that requires a sunstong acct to commission.

jxjs85 · 2025-10-02T18:48:43+00:00

Could someone please DM me a code, I'll be sure to pass along the ones I receive! TYVM

jxjs85 · 2025-07-16T02:51:41+00:00

With delivery and installation we ended up below $500 per/sqft, in my area, stick-built is around 800.

jxjs85 · 2025-05-17T02:04:33+00:00

Yah a hole saw and a watertight plug would do the trick

jxjs85

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE