Hi,
Total beginner here and actually I dont even have any Victron gear yet!!!…… but I will be installing a 15kVA Quattro with 6 Pylontech US5000s in the next two weeks which I have been planning for over a year or more. I already have 6kWp of PV and a Solis inverter that will be staying in place (for now)
Anyway I cant wait to get my system installed and to start messing around with it and implementing some bespoke charging strategies. Im so excited I started messing around with Node Red over the last few days on my PC. From a year of looking at YouTube and lurking on this forum to get a charging strategy I want I think I will have to use Node Red.
Basically here in Ireland we have a Tariff from one supplier where we can import at 6cent/kWh between 2am and 5am. The rest of the day the import rate is 43cent/kWh. But here is the cherry, the feed in Tariff rate is 25cent/kWh!! all day long. So I want to maximise this differential as much as possible and force discharge my battery before the 6cent rate kicks in again. I might even be able to make money.
I know I don’t even have a system yet but using AI (Gemini) I vibe coded a fairly detailed Node Red Flow and even a dashboard. All I have to do is import this into the Cerbo and update with my new equipment references etc fingers crossed !!.
Anyway can you see any issues with what I have done…or is there any need to do this, would the existing ESS & DESS settings do what I want to do without the fuss of Node-Red. Am I wasting my time. It was a learning experience anyway no matter what and I got to know Node-Red a bit.
Here is the AI summary of my flow
Summary of the Master Control Flow
The flow works on a clear priority system, managed by two separate time-based triggers:
1. The Daily Storm Check (at 8 PM)
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Once every evening at 8 PM, the flow fetches the weather forecast for the next day.
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It checks if the predicted wind gusts will exceed your 100 km/h threshold.
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Based on this, it sets an internal flag called storm_mode_active to either true or false. This flag is the master switch for the entire system’s strategy for the next 24 hours.
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This automatic check will not turn off Storm Mode if you have manually activated it with the dashboard button.
2. The Master Controller (Every Minute)
This is the heart of the system. It runs every minute and makes a single decision based on a strict priority list:
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Is Storm Mode active?
- If the storm_mode_active flag is true, it ignores everything else. Its only job is to protect your battery reserve. It will force the battery to charge between 2 AM and 5 AM and then set the ESS mode to “Keep Batteries Charged” for the rest of the time, preventing any discharge until the storm has passed and the flag is cleared the next evening.
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If NOT a storm, is it the Time-of-Use window?
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Discharge Window (22:00 - 01:59): It will actively export power to the grid, constantly recalculating the power needed to hit your State of Charge (SoC) targets (25% then 5%).
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Charge Window (02:00 - 04:59): It will enable the Scheduled Charge to fully charge the battery from the grid at your cheap night rate.
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If none of the above, then Normal Operation:
- At all other times, the flow ensures all special schedules are disabled and sets the system to its default “Optimized” self-consumption mode.
Test Dashboard where I can manually trigger Storm mode or return to Automode, gives a few days weather as well
