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Real mode allows Energy Control Pro to read power values from your actual Home Assistant sensor entities instead of using simulated profiles.

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Entity Requirements

Both solar and load entities must meet strict requirements for accurate energy calculations:

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Power Unit Requirements

Entities must report power in one of these units:
  • W (watts) - preferred
  • kW (kilowatts) - automatically converted to watts
Values in kW are multiplied by 1000 during reading. For example, 2.5 kW becomes 2500 W.

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Entity State Requirements

1

Entity must exist

The entity ID must be registered in Home Assistant. Verify in Developer Tools → States.
2

State must be available

The entity cannot be in unavailable or unknown state.
3

Value must be numeric

The state value must be convertible to a number (e.g., 1500, 2.5, not on or sunny).

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Configuration Steps

1

Navigate to integration settings

Go to Settings → Devices & Services → Energy Control Pro → Configure.
2

Disable simulation mode

Toggle Simulation to OFF.
3

Select solar power entity

Choose your solar production sensor from the Solar Power Entity dropdown.Example entities:
  • sensor.solar_panels_power
  • sensor.inverter_ac_power
  • sensor.pv_production_w
4

Select load power entity

Choose your home consumption sensor from the Load Power Entity dropdown.Example entities:
  • sensor.home_power_consumption
  • sensor.total_load_w
  • sensor.grid_consumption
5

Save configuration

Click Submit. The integration will validate both entities immediately.

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Entity Validation Process

When you save the configuration, Energy Control Pro validates each entity: 
# From coordinator.py:159-180
def _read_power_w(self, entity_id: str) -> int:
    state = self.hass.states.get(entity_id)
    if state is None:
        raise UpdateFailed(f"Entity not found: {entity_id}")
    
    if state.state in (STATE_UNKNOWN, STATE_UNAVAILABLE):
        raise UpdateFailed(f"Entity state unavailable: {entity_id}")
    
    unit = state.attributes.get(ATTR_UNIT_OF_MEASUREMENT)
    if unit and unit not in (UnitOfPower.WATT, UnitOfPower.KILO_WATT):
        raise UpdateFailed(f"Entity {entity_id} must report power in W or kW")
    
    value = float(state.state)
    if unit == UnitOfPower.KILO_WATT:
        value = value * 1000
    
    return max(0, int(round(value)))
Negative values are automatically clamped to zero to prevent calculation errors.

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Common Issues

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Entities not found during setup

Error message: real_entity_not_found Solution:
1

Verify entity exists

Open Developer Tools → States and search for your entity ID.
2

Check entity domain

Solar and load entities must be in the sensor domain (e.g., sensor.solar_power).
3

Restart if recently added

If you just added the entity, restart Home Assistant to ensure it’s registered.

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Invalid value/unit errors

Error message: real_entity_unit_not_w or real_entity_not_numeric Solution:
1

Check unit of measurement

In Developer Tools → States, look at the entity attributes. The unit_of_measurement must be W or kW.
2

Verify numeric state

The current state must be a number. If it shows text like “On” or “Offline”, that entity won’t work.
3

Create template sensor if needed

If your sensor reports in different units (e.g., A for amps), create a template sensor that calculates watts:
template:
  - sensor:
      - name: "Solar Power Watts"
        unit_of_measurement: "W"
        state: "{{ states('sensor.solar_current') | float * 230 }}"

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Sensors not updating

Error message: Sensors show old values or “Unknown” Solution:
1

Confirm integration is loaded

Go to Settings → Devices & Services and ensure Energy Control Pro shows as “Configured”.
2

Check update interval

Real mode updates every 10 seconds. Wait at least 10 seconds after configuration changes.
3

Review logs

Open Settings → System → Logs and filter for energy_control_pro to see any errors.
4

Verify source entities update

Check that your solar and load entities themselves are receiving updates. If they’re stale, fix the source integration first.

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Entity unavailable intermittently

Problem: Entities occasionally go unavailable, causing sensor updates to fail. Solution:
  • Energy Control Pro will show UpdateFailed in logs when source entities are unavailable
  • The integration will retry on the next update cycle (10 seconds)
  • Fix the underlying integration that provides the solar/load sensors
  • Consider using sensors with better reliability or adding availability templates

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Switching Between Simulation and Real Mode

You can toggle between simulation and real mode at any time:
1

Open configuration

Settings → Devices & Services → Energy Control Pro → Configure
2

Toggle simulation

Enable or disable the Simulation checkbox.
3

Configure accordingly

  • Simulation ON: Select a profile (sunny_day, cloudy_day, winter_day)
  • Simulation OFF: Provide valid solar and load entity IDs
When real mode is enabled, you must provide both solar and load entities. The integration will refuse to save if either is missing.

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Verifying Real Mode Operation

After configuration, verify that real data is flowing:
1

Check sensor values

Navigate to Settings → Devices & Services → Energy Control Pro and view the device.Verify these sensors show realistic values:
  • sensor.energy_control_pro_solar_w
  • sensor.energy_control_pro_load_w
2

Compare with source entities

The values should match your configured source entities.
3

Monitor calculated values

Check that derived sensors update correctly:
  • sensor.energy_control_pro_surplus_w = solar - load
  • sensor.energy_control_pro_grid_import_w (when load > solar)
  • sensor.energy_control_pro_grid_export_w (when solar > load)
4

Observe state changes

Watch sensor.energy_control_pro_energy_state transition between:
  • importing - drawing from grid
  • exporting - sending to grid
  • balanced - minimal grid interaction

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Next Steps

Once real mode is configured and working:

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