Looking for Testers and Feedback: Secure, Local-First Monitoring Platform for Victron Systems

UPDATE2: We now have our own wikipage where you can follow our progress. Public Releases
We have a demo deployment in our lab and you can access it here: https://sungrid.codeops.ro/ using user and pass: blind@freddy.com / blind@freddy.com

We will post our release notes in the wiki page.

UPDATE1: I have opened a Discord server for direct contact and support Codershyve.com
I am actively maintaining this Wiki page Public Releases

Hello Victron Community,

I am excited to introduce a new monitoring and management application we’re currently developing and would appreciate feedback from experienced Victron users.My application is similar in purpose to Victron VRM, but with a different architectural approach.

What makes it different

  • Local-first data storage – all telemetry and historical data are stored on your own infrastructure

  • Security-focused by design – built using modern security best practices, including encrypted communication, authentication, and access control

  • No mandatory cloud dependency – suitable for users who require data sovereignty, offline capability, or operation in restricted-network environments

Goal of the application

The goal of this application is to provide:

  • Reliable monitoring of Victron-based energy systems

  • Long-term local data retention

  • A secure alternative for users who cannot or prefer not to rely on centralized cloud platforms

It is designed for professionals, system integrators, and advanced users who value control, privacy, and resilience, while still wanting functionality comparable to cloud-based dashboards like VRM.

Cybersecurity Standards and Compliance Alignment

The application is built with a strong focus on cybersecurity and compliance, targeting professional and regulated environments.

From an infrastructure and runtime perspective, the platform is deployed using certified Docker container images, aligned with recognized security standards, including:

  • CIS Benchmarks for container hardening and secure configuration

  • NIS / NIS2 security principles for resilience, risk management, and operational security

  • FIPS 140-3–compliant cryptographic modules for encryption and secure communications

In addition, the overall system architecture and operational model are designed to align with European Union cybersecurity requirements and regulations, including:

  • NIS2 Directive (risk management measures, incident resilience, and system availability)

  • GDPR principles related to data protection, data minimization, and local data processing

  • EU cybersecurity best practices for critical infrastructure and energy-related systems

By combining local-first data storage with hardened, standards-aligned container images, the platform is intended for deployments where security, compliance, and data sovereignty are mandatory requirements, not optional features.

I am looking for testers

I am currently opening early access and are looking for:

  • Victron users willing to test the application

  • Individuals interested in providing real-world feedback

  • Installers or advanced users with practical monitoring requirements

Feedback will directly influence features, usability, and future integrations.

If you are interested in testing or would like more information, please reply here or send a private message.

Thank you, and we look forward to engaging with the community.

8 Likes

Sounds like Grafana which is already supported for several years now.

Grafana support for Victron/Cerbo has existed for years — agreed. But that’s exactly the point: Grafana is a visualization tool. Sungrid Portal is the full self‑hosted system around Cerbo GX: ingestion, storage, APIs, realtime UX, and (importantly) control/automation, with Grafana as an optional add‑on.

Why this is not “just Grafana + Cerbo”
Grafana dashboards typically assume you already solved: how to reliably ingest data, normalize it, retain it, provide an API, handle multiple sites, and safely control devices. Sungrid Portal does that:

  • Direct Cerbo GX MQTT integration (not “export to Grafana”): connects to one or many brokers, parses Victron/Sungrid topics, and supports automatic topic/device discovery.
  • Durable telemetry pipeline: MQTT → NATS JetStream → worker → PostgreSQL (time‑series history above 90 days), plus a curated “latest values” metrics pipeline (Pushgateway/Prometheus under 90 days of retention).
  • Real application APIs:
  • data-service: read‑only REST API for devices/topics/history + a unified metrics API (Prometheus for recent windows, Postgres fallback for older ranges).
  • mqtt-service: control API + realtime streaming WebSocket.
  • config-panel: connection management, locations/installations, notes, users/teams scaffolding.
  • Realtime UX: a purpose-built dashboard (web UI) using WebSocket streaming + application-level semantics (battery autonomy banner, energy flow diagram, device cards, etc.). Grafana won’t give you those workflows without a lot of glue code.

Yes, we even ship Grafana in docker-compose — because some users like it for ad-hoc dashboards — but it’s clearly optional, not the product.

Control + automation (maybe Grafana doesn’t do this), Sungrid Portal is designed to control the installation, not just chart it.

  • There is a write/control API that sends write commands back to Cerbo over MQTT (settings writes, setpoints, etc.).
  • Generator is treated as a first-class operational component:
  • The system already detects and surfaces genset started/stopped events (and grid up/down, SOC thresholds) as realtime notifications in the UI.
  • The same control path is what enables automation such as generator start/stop based on SOC/grid state/quiet hours/etc.

And the real value (beyond pretty graphs) is what comes next / what this architecture enables cleanly:

  • Economic dispatch automation: choose the best charging source (grid vs generator) based on configured fuel cost, grid tariff/time-of-use, efficiency, and constraints — then automatically set charge behavior.
  • Prosumer export optimization: in markets where export is paid, you can optimize for income (export when price is high, charge when price is low, respect limits/anti-feed-in rules) instead of manually babysitting the system.

Grafana can visualize outcomes; it doesn’t implement this control logic, safety checks, or workflows.

Privacy + security (self-hosted, hardened runtime)
Another big difference from “just use Grafana” is privacy and security posture:

  • Self-hosted by design: MQTT telemetry, historical data, notes, and configuration live on your infrastructure (PostgreSQL), not in a vendor cloud.
  • mTLS support across services/infrastructure (where you want it): database connections, internal service traffic (and optional mTLS for ingress via a proxy like Traefik), etc.
  • Hardened production containers: production Docker builds use FIPS-oriented distroless base images (e.g. registry.codeops.ro/fips-images/…) to support security-sensitive deployments and minimize runtime attack surface.

So: if someone wants a Grafana dashboard for Cerbo, there are plenty of options. Sungrid Portal exists for the cases where you want a complete, privacy-preserving, controllable energy management portal — with durability, APIs, realtime UX, and an automation path — and Grafana is merely an optional tool alongside it. But we value feedback that’s why we come to the Victron Community, maybe this app is not applicable in your country or in your situation, But for others it might be. At least for the EEEU (Estern European EU)countries it is.

1 Like

Super fain @bolchisb !
Unde sunt datele stocate in acel PostgreSQL odata ce au fost culese din Cerbo prin MQTT?
Pe un alt calculator in reteaua locala?
Acolo este si webserverul cu aplicatia?
Thanks!

PS:
Cautam de mult asa ceva, deoarece nu as mai vrea ca sa existe un tunel “necontrolat” intre mine si lumea exteriora. (acum amazonaws)
As fi dorit ceva doar in local network, retea locala pe care s-o accesez remote prin VPN, doar in conditiile mele.
Daca implementati si grafice ar fi the best!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that there are users out there that like to use that.
I’m just saying that there is already a similar (simpler) alternative.

I never used Grafana, so this might be wrong:
As far as I know Grafana is more than just an alternative dashboard, it also runs on a local server and saves everything there.

Datele sunt stocate la tine in calculator. Aplicatia este dockerizata si alegi tu unde le stochezi. Aplicatia are si grafice, primele 90 de zile le servesc din prometheus, e mai usor de lucrat cu timeseries, tot ce vrei sa vezi peste 90 de zile, ca si marturie in caz de avarii sau stiu eu mai ce se acceseaza din DB. Mai sunt multe featuri pe care vrem sa le introducem.

datele le luam prin mqtt direct de pe cerbo, controlul este bidirectional, poti sa si controlezi sistemul. Sa automatizezi.

Iti pot da detalii si in pm

1 Like

Sent by mail.

Hi Alex, if you are interested in testing the software please share an email address, so i can send you more info.

Salut.
Mail-ul de pe serverele @gmail.com pe care-l folosesc public pe forum-uri este mailuri.variate
O sa fac o masina virtuala unde o sa instalez totul si o sa fac testele.
Multumesc frumos.

PS: Nu promit un timetable, deoarece e perioada sarbatorilor si o petrec mai mult cu familia… Sper ca nu e suparare.

I can be a tester in NZ

Email

[moderator edit: removed private email address]

I can be a tester.

sent

This sounds very similar to the goals of HomeAssistant (HA).
Building a “clone” of HA for just Victron-based energy systems sounds like a lot of effort.
Did you maybe consider integrating into HA as an alternative to building everything from the ground?

2 Likes

This is not only for Victron, we started with Victron but we plan to extend to Deye, Felicity Solar and other brands once we get the proper funding from the EU. The goal of this project is to achieve total separation from cloud based services and add SCADA integration. In the EU there are some laws passed and some other will follow to improve the cybersecurity of prosumers. A prosumer is a person which produces energy with powers up to 400kW (200kW in other EU countries) which if a foreign state entity wants to destabilize the power grids he can do it because for most chinese brands they are controlled by chinese state controlled companies.

This is not just a hobby project it will be production ready for commercial use (residential or industrial), we can talk more on this if you want. But for now the project is working with Victron products until we achieve Release Candidate status and get more funding. Everything it’s aimed to security and own hosted data for independence.

1 Like

I could see the argument for this if the Netherlands was considered a possible hostile country.

I think I’d be more interested in one for Fox, Growatt or Tigo tbh.

Good luck with the project though.

First of all, I think it’s a very good idea that Victron comes up with a solution for this given the current geopolitcal situation. As the CTO of an Dutch-owned and independent datacenter in the Netherlands and Victron enthausiast I would love to test and give feedback. I would also love to see some form of choice in the cloud provider if VRM is used. For instance US tech giant vs European owned DC. But first things first, I suppose. I’d love to talk about that as well, obviously.

follow this thread, we will integrate other products too as soon as we get some funding.

Hi Alex, thanks for the interest you can get in contact with us using the contact form from codershyve dot com

1 Like

Not saying the above, but anything that is sending from inside a packet to the outside world, will create a router punch through hole.
And a service like VRM logger is sending packets to the outside world. Not to mention the two-way-communication daemon…
In that moment you are exposed and the guys at the other end could do whatever they want, because the route to your inside world is opened.
This is the way things work, because otherwise you can’t have simple services like web browsing and mail.

For sure, many knows this, but this is the way and the reason that many of the attacks start with a click on a link inside an email and/or message.
When you check your mail, you open the door to the outside world for getting the mail, at your discretion.
Supposing this is secure, in the mail that comes it’s a link. Now, when you press that link, again at your discretion, by curiosity or fear, you’ll open again the door to the outside world, from where you’ll bring/download into your world/computer, without knowing, the malicious code.
And once inside, that code can, in its turn, without you knowing this time, to open the door to its friends and/or send your personal data.

Victron and other inverter companies have the code already on your computer or on your local network devices.
And by sending packets to outside world, they keep the door open to your universe…
This is why a local thing for logging and controlling is much better to have.
And the access to the inside network, in turn, to be only through a much controlled way, through a VPN for example on a (maybe) different computer in your local network. And from there, through a different layer of security, that only you can control, to access the inverter/power supply devices.

1 Like

you can contact us using the form from codershyve dot com, thanks