Hi there, this is my system. I recently upgraded my 10-year old (12V) experimental ESS system. I am still impressed with how the Victron battery did well over those ten years. But a few months ago it was time to remove the old system and install a new one. This time in 48V!
Here are some photo’s. Also including Tippy the canine electrical inspector.
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Hi @Margreet
Nice.
But…
It’s OK to keep all those in such enclosed environment, without any ventilation?
Multiplus and MPPTs are a big source of heat.
And high temperatures are not OK for electronic components, not to mention the battery…
Just my 2 cents…
Alex
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Considering Margreet is Victron staff, I have very high confidence that all the bases have been covered in what is a super compact and tidy system.
I’m just saying, hope no offense taken…
I was just doing some math and in worst case scenario we have 3000W from Multiplus and 5000W (50Vx50Ax2) from MPPTs.
This is 8000W and with a efficiency loss of about 5%, we have 400W in heat.
In such small enclosed space, 400W heat generation will raise the temperature to 60-70 deg.C in no time…
But who knows, maybe it’s a system for demo purposes and when it works its door is always open and then all the above is irrelevant.
Don’t ever close the door…
If you look at the photos closely, you can see the base is elevated and there is an air inlet grill on the bottom under the dog. Then look at top right of cabinet to see an outlet. Probably a small quiet computer fan mounted there. Looks like another inside the top left side too. I do something similar and seldom see temps much higher than ambient.
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I like it.
Needs to be painted blue, and have a flashing light on top.
Kinda like this > TARDIS
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Indeed, I missed that… 
In that case it’s OK.
Even more if a fan is mounted there to perform a forced flow.
I think you could fit a few MVA in a tardis, without any ventilation 
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Thanks for all the replies and insights 
The enclosure gets about 10 degrees above ambient. I have a Ruuvi sensor in the top of the unit and I have been monitoring the temperature.
It is a steel cabinet, a lot of cooling happens that way as well.
There is an air inlet at the bottom and two air outlets on either side at the top. The one on the left sits behind the Multi and aligns with the air outlet of the Multi, so when its fan is on, it will push the hot air out of the cabinet. The air outlet on the right will get an extraction fan should the temperature get too high. It is winter here at the moment (Sydney) so I have some time yet.
But, in saying that, the previous system was housed in the same enclosure. it lasted 10 years and performed quite nicely. Temperature was not an issue there either.
This is the temperature data of the last 24 hours:
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Very neat and compact installation.
Do you get an issue with heat build up in the enclosure?
Do you intend fitting thermostatically controlled fans in the future to ventilate the enclosure?
Hi Tony,
At the moment the heat is not an issue. But I am monitoring it.
When I add a fan, I will conenct it to the programmable relay of the MultiPlus and make it turn on as soon as the fan in the MultiPlus is on. That is a lot easier that getting a thermostatically controlled fan.
Hi Margreet,
I hadn’t thought of controlling the cooling fan using the programmable relay in the MultiPlus. That’s a very neat solution, saving the cost of a thermostat, and will hopefully be much more reliable in the long term.
Yes, it works well. My previous system operated successfully for 10 years using this method, maintaining temperature without any issues. The only caveat is that if it’s a Multi used in an ESS system, you’ll need to use assistants to manage the programmable relay. Specifically, you’ll need two assistants: one to turn the fan on and another to turn it off.
If it is not an ESS system, the programmable relay is configured in the Virtual Switch tab.
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Hi @Margreet,
Is your box placed indoor or outdoor? What is the max humidity that you would recommend?
If I use an IP66 box, like https://www.se.com/nl/nl/product/NSYCRN64200P/spacial-crn-deur-met-montageplaat-600x400x200mm-ip66-ik10-ral7035/, and only place a Multiplus II 3kVA 230V inside, is it okay not to have ventilation?
It is indoors (in my workshop), and for the humidity levels, see my earlier posted temperature graph.
The maximum humidity for MultiPlus units is 95% non-condensing. This means the units can handle relatively high humidity levels, provided there is no condensation. Condensation can occur with sudden temperature drops inside the equipment or when there are large day/night temperature differences. However, there is some buffer, as a working system generates its own heat.
Nice setup… And compliments to the control supervisor… 