This is what I don’t understand. The controller is rated at 100/30
So that should be 100 volts in and 30A out. If two panels are in series then the voltage should be multiplied and the current should be the same. So…
Open Circuit Voltage is 38.9 x 2 = 77.8V <=This should be the absolute upper limit
And Short Circuit Amps = 14.31A <= This should be the absolute upper limit.
In both cases it’s no-where near what the controller is rated for. So shouldn’t there be zero limiting on the controller and shouldn’t there still be room to spare?
Than you can Not use ve.networking. It is a Network which Kommunikators between the Mpps and the smartshunt and synchronisises the mpps
The stepdown part in the controller devides the MPP Voltage so that the result is 14V. Because there is almost no energy loss, the current ist multiplicated with the divider of the Voltage. I think the MPP Voltage is 32,47V and the current ist 13,55A. The divider of the Voltage is 4,64 for two panals in series and 14V Battery voltage. The current is of 13,55 is multiplicated with 4,64. So it would be theoreticly 82,A at best conditiones and temperatures. This can only be reached for short timespans. But the regulater limits at 30A. For planning a powerful installation you have to look for the day with worst conditiones. Than divide the aspired power by the reached Module Power. The result ist dte amount of modules you need. The minimum quantity of controllers must be able to deliver the aspired current.
He can’t use a ve.smart bt network with the blue solars but if he has a cerbo and has the sccs and shunt hardwired they will still coordinate charge state etc and can use dvcc to share voltage and current etc.
The DVCC “managed battery charge voltage” is precisely that - an override for a managed (BMS) battery. It is not a general limitation. Without a managed battery the charge control shifts to the inverter’s settings which solar chargers will inherit.
You can set the sensor source (inverter or shunt) for current, voltage and temp in DVCC, this will then be used as the reference data for charging.
I have no battery comms, open loop, and no victron inverter connected. Rosie inverter load is just shown as dc load.
Dvcc doesnt include dc loads when calculating global charge limit, if enabled. However my sccs still co-ordinate fine in terms of switching from absorb to float, reducing output on certain trackers to match float loads etc. Via ve.direct and ve.can to cerbo. All sccs have identical charge settings.
Im not trying to limit voltage with dvcc, just share the shunt value with the sccs.
Is sccs a feture of the 450/100 chargers? In my installation is in DVCC a “SCS”. That is on. But i can not find a “sccs”. I have 6 Smartsolar MPPts of th 100V Version.
so in my installation too. I added a smarshunt to minus of the inverter, configured as ammeter “generic load”. So DVCC works fine.
Sorry I’m using scc as an abbreviation for solar charge controller there.
So in your case you could swap your smart solars for blue solars and they’d still coordinate like they do now. Coordination is not dependent on the “smart” version of the solar charge controller, when using hard wired comms to Venus os device.
This is a GREAT thread, many thanks to everyone for contributing to it!
On my setup my shunt has the special temperature sensor and the shunt is connected to the Cerbo using a VE cable. This means the temperature is ‘broadcast’ to all devices on the network. This works.
I’m still wondering whether to send back the 150/85 and replace it with several 100/30’s.
I’d prefer to use the cheaper non-Bluetooth models but then I need to buy a hub and I’m still not sure if you can configure them 100% through the portal.
I have to come back to this later as I’m getting pulled off the job today
Unfortunately, they split this wonderful topic. That’s what I get for thanking everyone for it !
Ok, So I returned the 150/85 controller and chose to get (3) of the 100/30’s, as recommended, but I got them with the Bluetooth option thinking that maybe, if I’m lucky, they can be on their own wireless network and sync themselves without my having to buy the VeDirect USB hub…
The question I have is this, the temperature sensor for the batteries is the special one that is run off the shunt. It puts the battery voltage on the VeDirect bus so that other devices (like the inverter) can make use of it.
So my hope is that the 3 controllers will make their own network, sync their charging, get the temperature from the VeBus and it will all work with DCC.
Something tells me this might not work. I’m guessing they will sync themselves but without the VeDirect cables and the hub, they won’t see the VeNetwork which I guess is necessary for being controlled by VCC and to see the battery temperature?
If anyone can shed light on that, I’d appreciate it!
Also, my three solar panels, which are brand new, appear to have their polarity reversed!
I took my bulk wire, put the right ends on the right cables (positive to red, black to ground) and when I connected my meter to check the cable, the polarity was wrong!
The only way to fix it was to make new ends and put a negative MC4 on the red cable and a positive MC4 on the negative cable. Connect them to the panel and check, normal polarity. How odd is that? It’s like the factory put the wrong ends on the wires.
Without a hardwired connection to your cerbo it wont even know those sccs are present. They won’t be part of dvcc and ignored for global charge limit if configured.
We ask in our guidelines to keep a topic to one subject, it had meandered into a general mppt discussion which makes it difficult to benefit others in future.
So my hope is that the 3 controllers will make their own network, sync their charging, get the temperature from the VeBus and it will all work with DCC.
If the chargers aren’t wired, with dvcc enabled, they will behave independently based on their own settings and readings.
Wired and smart networks do not mix, nor should they be mixed. Without a wired connection to a shared GX with the inverter, there will be zero sharing and coordination.
The various manuals are quite detailed and self-explanatory about these capabilities.
here has the shunt connection to the MPPts and transmits battery voltage and battery current. I have no temperature sensor. But it would transmit the temperature too. That works standalone.
I don´t believe it. Check it twice!! Test the voltage by a multimeter and compare the polarity with a battery!
Thank you RL - You’re helping me a great deal and it’s appreciated. That’s why I’m going with (3) of the 100/30’s and ordered up the USB hub last night. But it will take a while to get here so I will make the wireless network with the shunt for the interim.
I didn’t believe that the polarity was reversed on the panels either. But I made up the connectors with the + on the red cable the - on the black cable and they were backwards when I tested with the multimeter.
Edit: I must be thinking too much. The bulk connectors have a + and a - written on them. They don’t connect + to + they have to be connected + to -
There must be something wrong with me as I don’t get it. To me, you put the red cable into a + connector and it should mate to the + side of the panel. Either way, it makes no difference as long as red really is + and black really is -
look to a PV cable extension. The red cable (+) has a female connector at one end and a male connector at the other end. Both are plus! The same as at the black (-) cable. Both are minus. Therfore don´t look for such sighns! They may be muddled. Only the multimeter can identify the polarity by double testing with a reference (Battery).
