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mondeoman avatar image
mondeoman asked

EV Charging Station NS Phase Switching

I am interested to buy a Victron Charging Station NS to integrate with an existing ESS system built around an EasySolar II.

I found the Modbus TCP register list on the product page and registers 5055 - 5059 give the impression that it supports 1 Phase - 3 Phase automatic switching, but the datasheet and the manual don't say anything about it, which is strange, because it is such a useful feature for PV systems around 5 - 7 kW!

Can anyone please confirm if the current product "Charging Station NS" supports 1P - 3P automatic switching?

Thanks in advance.

chargingstationns-modbus.jpg

ev charging station
chargingstationns-modbus.jpg (70.7 KiB)
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luphi avatar image luphi commented ·

Have you seen this one: https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/215013/single-phase-charging-on-three-phase-setup.html

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Philipp Trenz avatar image Philipp Trenz ♦ luphi commented ·

Many thanks for the hint! I saw the second relay and expected this functionality (controlling two independent contactors for phase switching), but it's great that it's already supported in software! With any luck the EVCS will soon be sold with phase switching capabilities and retrofitting should be quite inexpensive and straight forward (~70-80 €).

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Matthias Lange - DE avatar image
Matthias Lange - DE answered ·

Unfortunately this is not possible at the current HW/SW state.
(as far as I know)

Depending on how you connect it is always 1-phase, 2-phase OR 3-phase, you can't switch between (without external equipement).

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Philipp Trenz avatar image Philipp Trenz ♦ commented ·
@Matthias Lange - DE You're sure, that this is also true for the NS model?
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Philipp Trenz avatar image Philipp Trenz ♦ Philipp Trenz ♦ commented ·

Meanwhile I had the change to check it: The NS version has the same mainboard and contactor like the first EVCS, so no phase switching – at least not yet. I'd really like to see some retrofit kits for phase switching and RFID readers, since the hardware is apparently already prepared for it.

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Philipp Trenz avatar image
Philipp Trenz answered ·

I'm also very interested in this, maybe you could shade some light on this @Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff)? Requiring more than 4000W of PV power for surplus charging is probably not very practical for the average house owner ...

Alternatively, I would be very willing to experiment if the Fiat 500e in my case accepts 3-phase charge currents below 6A. If there is no hardware limitation, to be able to set Min current below 6A via Modbus would therefore be a great addition for experienced users I think!

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Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·
As far as I know, minimum current can't go below 6A (or 10% PWM duty cycle on the CP line) That's the limitation on the communication standard and all the vehicles are following it
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Philipp Trenz avatar image Philipp Trenz ♦ Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Thanks for your quick response, @Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff). So the best option for surplus charging is currently to connect the EVCS in single-phase. good that the car can handle 32Amax on single phase

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power4me avatar image
power4me answered ·

I totally agree with @Philipp Trenz. My hopefully soon to be delivered Fiat 500e has 5 different charging levels. According to a post in motor-talk.de, level 1 charges 3-Phase only with up to 3,2A (2,2kW). The other levels with up to 4,3kW 6,4kW 8,6kW and 11kW.

If there would be an adjustable power level for surplus charging start instead of the fix min 6A/Phase demand, it would be more suitable for most home solar installations. The user could tune this level to the expected solar surplus of his installations.

Since the current Victron charging station hardware is not capable of switching between 1 and 3 phase charging it would be a software only solution to enable solar only charging for smaller PV-installations or cloudy days.

I’m pretty sure the Fiat 500e isn’t the only car with charge level selection.

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Philipp Trenz avatar image Philipp Trenz ♦ commented ·

This is a great idea and you can already experiment with that using a NodeRED flow on the VenusOS Large image.

For the daily use of our 500e, the 1-phase charging has proven to be sufficient so far, but of course this highly depends on personal usage patterns and PV size.

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