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djingis avatar image
djingis asked

How intelligent are the SMART systems and can they communicate with each other?

Considering replacing my solar panel controller, battery monitor, battery charger and installing a battery protect.


Currently I have the devices from different brands and are considering replacing parts or all of the solar panel controller, battery monitor, battery charger and installing a battery protect. The installation is on a 40 foot sailing yacht with a AGM battery bank of 440 Ah that will be replaced by an Lithium battery bank in a couple of years (single cells, not Victron).


The only one that I really have to replace now is the solar panel controller that I am considering replacing with a SmartSolar MPPT 75/10. The charger, battery monitor are of other brands than Victron, but works perfectly fine.


My main question is if and how the different Smart products can and will communicate with each other. What are the benefits that I get from having all products as SMART products compared to the benefits of the individual products e.g. what data is transmitted between the devices and what data would they share between the devices?


Solar panel controller: SmartSolar MPPT 75/10
https://www.victronenergy.com/chargers/blue-smart-ip22-charger

Battery monitor: BMV-712 Smart
https://www.victronenergy.com/panel-systems-remote-monitoring/bmv-712-smart

Charger: Blue Smart IP22 Charger, 12V / 30A
https://www.victronenergy.com/chargers/blue-smart-ip22-charger

Battery protect: Smart BatteryProtect 100A (not sure if this is released yet)
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-Smart-Battery-Protect-65-A--100-A--220-A-EN.pdf


Please comment of how the different Smart products can communicate between each other, not my choice of the future Lithium battery bank.


PS: Unfortunately the sales reps at my local stores are not that skilled and can answer these questions and Victron is not present at our the local expos.


MPPT ControllersBMV Battery MonitorchargerBattery Protect
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wkirby avatar image
wkirby answered ·

Currently, the VE.Smart networking feature allows devices to share certain data between themselves. For example, a BMV's Voltage measurement is considered to be more authoritative then that of the MPPT, so it will share its Voltage readings. The BMV-712 can measure temperature directly at the battery whereas the MPPT cannot, so the BMV can share it's temperature with the MPPT so that it can make more accurate adjustments to it's charge profile.
It's only the BMV and MPPT devices that can join a VE.Smart network.
The Smart devices which don't share data at all offer ease of programming, setup and an in-depth view of how the system is performing from a Bluetooth hand held device.

VE.Smart networking, currently, does not offer central view of the whole system like a Venus device does.

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djingis avatar image djingis commented ·

Thank you @WKirby for your response.

If I understand you correctly a Blue Smart IP22 Charger and a Smart BatteryProtect would not be able to join the VE.Smart network. Which would mean that temperature sensor connected to BMV-712 would not be leveraged by the Blue Smart IP22 Charger? And an overvoltage on the Smart BatteryProtect would not disable the SmartSolar MPPT and the IP22 Charger?

If I connected all these devices to a Venus device, would they all share and leverage this type of data such as Voltage readings, temperature, over voltage etc?



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wkirby avatar image wkirby ♦♦ djingis commented ·

Correct, the Smart IP22 Charger and the Smart BatteryProtect will not join a VE.Smart network. The Smart IP22 Charger will not leverage any daya that the BMV has to offer.
If wired correctly, by nature, the Smart BatteryProtect will disable all charging and discharging. This is a hard disconnection of the battery, no intelligent communication takes place.

The BatteryProtect and the IP22 Charger will not connect to a Venus device. A MPPT and a BMV can be wired into a Venus device and the BMV can be selected as the system battery monitor, the source of Voltage and SOC for the system.

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Stephen Otto avatar image Stephen Otto wkirby ♦♦ commented ·

What if one were to use a Smart Battery Sense device in this arrangement? Would it be able to play a role?

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ejrossouw avatar image ejrossouw Stephen Otto commented ·

In addition to WKirby. My simplistic take is the current implementation of smart is it is more about wireless connectivity. No cable losses etc. It is primarily a mechanism to share data from the actual devices (source of truth) throughout a system. Devices should therefore perform better as a result of more accurate data being available/shared. However, there can only ever truly be once source of truth e.g. in my setup the battery BMS is "master" source. The data from my Lifepo4's internal BMS will be more accurate than remote Multiplus or BMV measurements etc. and I can do away with all these extra gadgets and it also has all the necessary safety mechanisms built in. Even the MPPT is under the battery's control.

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