I can’t find any reference to a MultiPlus (or MultiPlus-II) supporting VE.Can other than maybe via a VE.Bus to VE.Can adapter.
Was mentioning “MultiPlus” in that line a mistake? Its very confusing to me, because a few seconds later (when discussing that VE.Can solves a number of the VE.Bus problems) is the line “However, there’s only a very limited number of products: the Multi RS and the Inverter RS“.
What am i missing here?
RP.
guystewart
(Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager))
2
Hi,
It is a confusing phrase and it was almost cut.
We have two existing systems of parallel synchronisation.
VE.Bus for MultiPlus, MultiPlus-II, Quattro, etc al
&
VE.Can for Inverter RS. There is limited support for parallel sync on Multi RS (it disables the AC input and effectively runs as Inverter RS via software).
There is no way to get VE.Bus MultiPlus synced via VE.Can.
Thanks for the fast reply Guy.
So to check my thinking is correct;
There are two types of sync; between parallel units (your phrase is “parallel sync”) and between a system and its AC input (for example grid or gen) (is this called “grid sync”? or “network sync”?).
I’m guessing that the feature that keeps 3-phase systems locked at 120 degrees is lumped in with “parallel sync”
I’m guessing that the features that make Microgrid work are part of the grid sync code?
I’m still confused by why the product line named “Multiplus” was allowed to remain in the phrase you used in the video: “VE Can synchronization provides some benefits - however, there’s only a very limited number of models in the VE Can range; the MultiPlus and Inverter RS” - or are you talking about a sync other than “parallel sync”, because MultiPlus certainly do the “grid sync” feature.
BTW … Great work shipping Microgrid - i bet that has been a lot of dev work, congrats.
guystewart
(Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager))
4
Parallel sync is different to phase sync (which includes 3 phase and split phase), but similar in many ways and programmed using the same tools.
Multi RS supports phase sync over VE.Can with full features, but not parallel sync.
Parallel sync over VE.Bus requires equal resistance on the DC bus and AC bus between units,
DC Bus resistance can vary between units for VE.Bus phase sync.
That’s an example of the differences.
These factors also play into Microgrid, because the frequency is used to control the active power demand, but is also used to maintain phase separation.
There is a section in the Microgrid manual on this, but the short answer is in Microgrid there is a greater consideration required to balance phases compared to a VE.Bus system without Microgrid (where phase separation and individual phase voltage isn’t affected by phase load imbalance.
If I get more complaints about that section of the training video I will remove it.