Can I use a separate .yaml-file for battery registers?

[DrPVgren]

Hi all!
I am not very adept at Home assistant. Maybe this is a stupid question, but I thought i should ask before trying it myself.

I'm planning to migrate to the new 2026-version. Up until now I have used added battery registers (for SBR096) and other "stuff" to the modbus_sungrow.yaml-file. It works, but the file becomes large and difficult to update. Is it possible to create and use a separate .yaml-file for battery registers (i.e. modbus_sungrow_battery.yaml) in a similar vein to that used for multiple inverters? I understand that there would have to be other modifications also. Would I create more problems than i solve?

[Gnarfoz]

I know there's someone (or some people) out there that say they have it like that, but I don't think I've ever seen their particular file structure and YAML structure. It might be possible to do using the various include directives Home Assistant offers: https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/configuration/splitting_configuration/

However, the Modbus integration has certain expectations. For example, you can't have any "hub" twice. So this won't work:
your_normal_stuff.yaml:

modbus:
  - name: SungrowSHx
    type: tcp
    host: 10.1.1.1
    port: 502
    sensors:
      - name: Sensor 1
        address: 1234
      - name: Sensor 2
        address: 5678

your_battery_stuff.yaml:

modbus:
  - name: SungrowSHx
    type: tcp
    host: 10.1.1.1
    port: 502
    sensors:
      - name: Sensor 3
        address: 9876
      - name: Sensor 4
        address: 5432

Also, it rejects having two hubs with the same host & port, so this won't work either:
your_normal_stuff.yaml:

modbus:
  - name: SungrowSHx
    type: tcp
    host: 10.1.1.1
    port: 502
    sensors:
      - name: Sensor 1
        address: 1234
      - name: Sensor 2
        address: 5678

your_battery_stuff.yaml:

modbus:
  - name: SungrowBattery
    type: tcp
    host: 10.1.1.1
    port: 502
    sensors:
      - name: Sensor 3
        address: 9876
      - name: Sensor 4
        address: 5432

Yes, you can even use !include directly within the main modbus_sungrow.yaml file (after all, it itself is just being included in configuration.yaml), but I can't seem to find a way to include just a block of sensor definitions:
your_battery_sensors.yaml:

      - name: Sensor 3
        address: 9876
      - name: Sensor 4
        address: 5432

your_normal_stuff.yaml:

modbus:
  - name: SungrowSHx
    type: tcp
    host: 10.1.1.1
    port: 502
    sensors: !include your_battery_sensors.yaml  # does not work
      - name: Sensor 1
        address: 1234
      - name: Sensor 2
        address: 5678
      - !include your_battery_sensors.yaml # does not work
      !include your_battery_sensors.yaml # does not work

Sadly, the option to have multiple "top level" keys, like sensors seems to be up to the integration to implement, so this doesn't work, either:
your_battery_sensors.yaml:

      - name: Sensor 3
        address: 9876
      - name: Sensor 4
        address: 5432

your_normal_stuff.yaml:

modbus:
  - name: SungrowSHx
    type: tcp
    host: 10.1.1.1
    port: 502
    sensors general:
      - name: Sensor 1
        address: 1234
      - name: Sensor 2
        address: 5678
    sensors battery: !include your_battery_sensors.yaml  # does not work

So... I don't know. Maybe if the sensor definitions were moved into a separate directory sensors/general.yaml, it could be done?
your_normal_stuff.yaml:

...
modbus:
  - name: SungrowSHx
    sensors: !include_dir_merge_list sensors/
...

sensors/general.yaml:

      - name: Sensor 1
        address: 1234
      - name: Sensor 2
        address: 5678

sensors/your-extra-battery-sensors.yaml:

      - name: Sensor 3
        address: 9876
      - name: Sensor 4
        address: 5432

If it's possible, someone enlighten us please. ;-)

[TCzerny]

Not a block of sensors but all sensors in separate files. Using the include dir for the sensor section in the main file and having multiple yaml with e.g. sungrow sensors, sbrbattery sensors, monthly/yearly etc files which will get imported. I had it running several years before I build my own integration.

[Gnarfoz]

Heh, I just came back here after realizing I had your comment from early 2025 still in my inbox, to look into that.
Basically that means the last example I gave would work, but it would also require restructuring the base file into a multi-directory thing. Hmm.

[TCzerny]

Correct.

[DrPVgren]

Thanks for the answers! I imagine "restructuring the base file into a multi-directory thing" would kind of defeat the purpose of simplifying updating of the "modbus_sungrow.yaml-file". Hmm...