Raspberry Pi

Moin,

seit drei Jahren läuft mein Halbinsel-Setup, basierend auf:

6kWp PV,

Multiplus 5000,

2x smart Solar 250/65

BMV702 und

ca. 30kWh OPsZ Batterie (Hoppecke)

sehr erfolgreich.

Ich habe Venus GX auf einem Raspberry Pi laufen und mein Monitoring hat nach anfänglichen SD-Karten Problemen nun seit über einem Jahr gut funktioniert.

Nun hat man ja immer neue Ideen und, mehr aus Lust an der Sache als auf Basis wirtschaftlicher Erwägungen, habe ich mir nun weitere 3,3 kWp auf einer Dachfläche installiert, die nach PV schreit.

Ich habe bereits vor einiger Zeit einen 48V DC- Heizstab (1500W in zwei Stufen je 750W) in meinen Pufferspeicher für Heizung und WW-Bereitung installiert. Direkter Anschluss an der Batterie über 2 Schütze. Hintergrund ist meine Pellets Heizung, die an warmen Sommertagen zur Brauchwassererwärmung läuft uns damit mein Wohnzimmer weiter aufheizt.

Da ich generell meine Heizungssteuerung auf SPS Basis neu aufsetzen möchte, möchte ich natürlich eine Regelstrategie für die Heizstäbe programmieren.

Ich wende mich an das Forum , da ich möglichst mit der einfachsten der vielen möglichen Lösungen starten kann.

Meine Bedürfnisse:

Datentransfer vom Raspberry Pi ( Venus ) oder den Einzelkomponentenauf die SPS ? (Siemens Logo oder S7, ich habe auch noch einen Wago 750 controller rumfliegen, aber ich würde lieber bei der Siemens Range bleiben.)

- Hier sind folgende Werte wichtig.

MPPT-State (Smart solar Charger)

Batterie Spannung (BMV)

ggf. Netzeinspeisung des Multiplus. Dies ist aktuell möglich, wenn die Anlage jedoch ohne Netzanschluss betrieben wird, ist das keine Option.

Grundsätzlich ist es interessant zu wissen, wann die Solarladeregler nicht alles aus den Modulen herausholen, was aktuell geht. Andererseits kann man auch den Batterie SOC nehmen und ein Zeitfenster festlegen, in dem theoretisch noch die Sonne scheinen könnte. Was ich nicht will ist der Betrieb der Heizstäbe aus der Batterie sondern lediglich (hauptsächlich) aus überschüssiger Solarenergie.

Die einfachste Regelung wäre eine Relaiskontakt am MPPT, der mir sagt, wann er mehr rausholen könnte. Dann könnte ich eine gewisse Zeitspanne für den Heizstab vorsehen. Wenn das Relais in der Zeit nicht abfällt, könnte ich die zweite Stufe auslösen und so lange laden, bis das Relais abfällt.

Gerne würde ich aber in Form eines kleinen Brain-Drain Eure Meinungen hören.

Beste grüße,

Mathis

I've been working on a Nodered integration that includes some Victron Equipment and would like to use the Venus OS on a Raspberry Pi 3b+ to simulate my final configuration for development and testing. Just a side note the Nodered server will be running on another RPi so the "Venus Large" build is not needed.

I've got a lot working, but still a lot that is not.

What works:

• RPi 3b+ with Venus OS 2.73
• Boot via Ethernet cable to connect
• Access to RPi using Victron Connect
• Access RPi using Remote Console either from local network or VRM
• Use remote console to set WiFi parameters and no longer need ethernet cable
• Enable VRM and see demo configs on the portal

What doesn't work that I need some help with:

• Access from local network with SSH. I've enabled Remote Console but still get either connection refused or no response when SSH'ng from my Mac
• Being able to enable VNC to access Linux console
• MOST IMPORTANT: Add additional devices (Inverters, MPPT Chargers, etc etc) to mimic my actual setup

If anyone can point my in the direction of how to enable ssh and/or vnc access, as well as add additional "virtual" devices I'd appreciate it. That way I can work on the other side, configuring my MQTT client to monitor the setup.

Thanks in advance,

Hi, I am new to the forum and I need some advice on a problem that keeps popping up with my SmartSolar 100/20-48 charge controller connected to a Raspberry Pi.

Let me start off by saying that I am running the latest stable firmware on the Raspberry Pi (v2.66). I have also connected my Victron 500A smart shunt and SmartSolar 100/20-48 controller (both are running latest firmware) to the raspberry pi thru a USB adapter on each. The smart shunt works perfectly, and is always connected and transmitting data.

My problem is occurring with the solar charge controller. It will stop sending data to the VRM portal randomly throughout the day and consistently over night. The only way to get data flowing again is to restart the raspberry pi. Then the cycle starts over again.

Could there be some setting I missed in the solar controller that is causing it to stop transmitting data?

Thanks for the help!

I'm trying to read register 800, Serial [char(6)] via Modbus. I'm not sure what this looks like, but I get "Serial: b'508c'" from the following code. Does this look right to you?

from pymodbus.constants import Defaults
from pymodbus.constants import Endian
from pymodbus.client.sync import ModbusTcpClient as ModbusClient
from pymodbus.payload import BinaryPayloadDecoder
Defaults.Timeout = 25
Defaults.Retries = 5
client = ModbusClient('10.186.47.212', port='502')
result = client.read_input_registers(800, 2)
decoder = BinaryPayloadDecoder.fromRegisters \
(result.registers, byteorder=Endian.Big)
Serial = decoder.decode_string(size=6)
print("Serial: ",Serial)

Thank you.

I’m monitoring my system with a RPi and keeping the data with MySql. How often should I query my system? Once a minute? Only when there’s a change from the last query? Thoughts?

I've been lurking here for a while and find the idea of running Venus OS (large) on a Pi an attractive option. However, my reading of the history (and documentation) of this impressive project has left me a little bewildered since there are so many options, some of which may now be obsolete.

I have N2K on my boat and have decided to replace some of my ageing electrical installation (from another dutch company :/ ) with the following: Multiplus II (12/3000), 2 x smartsolar MPPT, Smartshunt. My existing LiFePO4 is already protected by my own design BMS which speaks N2k.

It seems that I need to buy a bunch of Ve.direct to USB adapters and a Ve.Bus adapter. For the N2K, its unclear, I assume an available Pi hat - is data flow bi-directional? Will Venus OS pick up my BMS N2K messages and use them or will it prefer the Smartshunt values? Will the smartshunt values make it to the N2K bus so I can use them in my BMS (for comparison and backup)?

Sorry for the variety of questions :) Looking forward to a positive discussion.

P.S. I'm switching my purchasing decision towards Victron due to the open sourcing of Venus. I'm very grateful and find it very freeing to know that I can integrate whatever I want into my system now rather than being stuck with the straighjacket of closed systems offered by competitors

In my RV I am installing VenusOS on a Raspberry Pi 4 and that will go with my equipment. I have another RPI4 that will have a touch screen that I am thinking will also have VenusOS on it to view control the main devices as well as take input from my tanks. Is it possible to see the devices from the 1st RPI on the 2nd RPI GUI? If there are better options on the 2nd device that don't include installing VenusOS and not monitoring the tanks, I am open to that too.

I will have the following devices installed:

- SmartSolar MPPT 150/100

- MultiPlus 12/3000/120-50 120V

- Lynx Distributor

- 2 DIY 12V 310Ah LifePO4 Batteries with JBD BMS.

Hello,

I have one doubt about smartshunt...

I would like to use it in DC only sites, with just an MPPT and maybe a monitoring device (Venus or raspberry). In this situation, if I add a smarshunt to have SOC reading, can I create a bluetooth network and read it trough the MPPT (smart model) or do I need to also connect it via Ve.Direct/ USB to Venus/ raspberry?

Will it appear as a valid Battery Monitor in VenusOS if connected trough bluetooth to the Smart MPPT ?

I am in country with limited product availablity. I ordered for a client two Victron systems. Two BlueSolar MPPT, Two SmartShunts and two LoRaWAN. I realize now I should have purchased SmartSolar MPPT and BVM-712. I promised the client Bluetooth and Internet connection for their hotel. My distributor doesn’t carry SmartSolar, Bluetooth dongle or BVM-712. They do however have a BVM-702 but, doesn’t solve the Bluetooth and limited VE.Direct. I hope that Raspberry Pi could solve this issue. Any suggestions?

Hello,

does the new GX Tank 140 work with the Venus OS on the Raspberry pi? I have Firmware 2.66 on a Raspberry pi 3+ and I cannot see anything that has to do with the GX Tank 140. It's connected via USB.

Hi!
I have the Venus Pi, Smart Shunt 500 and the Smartsolar MPPT 100/30. All updated to the latest firmware and connected with the Ve. Connect USB cable.

When I plugged the solar into the Venus I could see it. Later on it has disappered. I think it happened after reBoot or firmware update. The MPPT has not the solarpanels connected yet, but is connected in the battery side.

The Smart Shunt is working correct

Any clue?

Hi,

I am newbie solar nerd, currently living off-grid with non-victron 24V system 7x285Wp(3S,2S2P) panels, 8x100Ah gel batteries in serial-parallel+2x220 victron gel, but it is time to upgrade because I "need" it.

I have place for 15 panels on my roof, so I am planning to upgrade to 48V with two strings (each 7x 450Wp mono panels) with SmartSolar MPPT RS, MultiPlus II-5000, 6x Pylontech US3000C

My first question :
my usual hourly consumption is only 500Wh, so would be more cost effective to add a smaller inverter before the MultiPlusII just to save some watts ?And yes I need the 4000W for some of the machines, but just for a few hours in a week. So can I turn on the power by automatic request on the MPII? If yes , how to do it setting-wise.
Scenario 1 : I am using my usual 500Wh but I want to do the laundry which eats 3500W at the start, so I need the power of MP-I

Scenario 2 :My batteries are below the low limit e.g.30%, so I want MP-II to turn on to charge them.

My second question :
Is Cerbo needed if I want to read multiple tanks and other measurements or it can be done directly just with RPi via com port?

HI

I am looking to gather the data in my Home Assistant Dashboard for the Orion-TR smart 12-12 30AD c-DC I know that the data is fed with the Bluetooth but Victron don't give us the possibility to connect to I was thinking adding an additional Shut at the output of the DC-DC with the Ve-cable

- It this feasible?

- Will it disturb the overall electrical system?

- If yes, will the additional shut be displayed on the RaspberryPI 7 inch screen?

- If yes, will it be possible the get the information via the MQQT mapping

[image]

I have a small solar remote off grid setup with a Victron 75/15 MPPT. While sun is limited in winter I have a DC timer hooked up for disabling the load during most of the day. To track battery voltage and solar yield, I have Venus OS on a RPi installed. While the RPi also consumes load, it is not connected permanently (so it is placed after the timer). This is no option. It would drain the battery. Same for 4G router, and some small DC equipement. I noticed that when the setup is ‘on’ I can see stats on VRM but that seems to only show data from within the on-time frame. Via VictronConnect I can also connect to Venus OS and the MPPT and within the MPPT environment I can see all 24h data. Do you know why this is not synchronized with VRM?

Or is there an option to do so? Hope someone can help!

12 volt 20ah Lifepo4 battery - 60w panel - DC timer - VRM - RPi - Venus OS - 4G router

hello and good morning,

my first Q on this forum!

have a system with a BMV700, a MPPT 100/30, 600W solar and 4XT105RE Τrojans and a 8KW diesel generator all working fine on a motorboat (there's also an alternator as well charging via Sterling advanced regulator).

Last season I replaced my Phoenix charger with a s/h Phoenix Multiplus 24/3000/70 with a firmware 14XXXX (will confirm that later on today and post a pic) and a single RJ45 socket on the PCB saying control (on it's lefthand side)

Anyway, my local installer helped me with a MK2-USB (as it turns out!) and VEConfig to set it up. All working fine, no issues.

Now, bought and setup a Raspberry pi 3B+ and 2 VE.Direct-USB cables, hooked them all up, setup my VRM Portal account and all's fine.

Having forgotten that he'd used a MK2-USB cable and having gone through all the literature on your site, I wrongly assumed I had a newer version VE.Bus compatible Multi and bought a MK3-USB cable wired it all up and unsurprisingly Venus doesn't read/know of the Multi :-(

So, after all this intro my simple Qs are:

A. is it possible to somehow connect this non VE.Bus Multi to Venus and get the proper functionality/reports?

B. what is the protocol used in this "control" RJ45 socket? any info/board/software that I could play with?

C. if there's no luck with A and B, is there any other (cheap) h/w I can add to the system to monitor AC consumption (well preferably generator in, system out)

I don't care about the remote control functionality, and using the boat installed home automation system I do turn off the multi when boat unoccupied for x hours, so I'm fine in this respect. What I want is monitoring AC usage only.

(I understand that the MK3-USB will either go to ebay or kept for my next Victron piece of h/w most likely a BMS for LiFePO4 in 2021 or 2022!)

cheers

Vassilis

Hi,

I’ve currently got a ‘Blue Sea 7603 - 10A BatteryLink Charger’ and an APC UPS. I purchased the Blue Sea because it can use AC shore power to charge two isolated battery banks with a 3 Stage 10A battery charger but also it can use DC power from the alternator to charge both the Start and the Auxiliary battery through an integrated 65A ACR (Automatic Charging Relay - Automatically combines batteries during charging, isolates batteries when discharging and when starting engines).

The problem with it though is that there is no monitoring or visibility of what's going on apart from a panel mount 'display' consisting of a couple of LEDs. I've recently had a problem with my Auxiliary battery not seeming to hold charge and I'm struggling to troubleshoot and having to use a multimeter, etc.

I recently learnt that the MultiPlus 12/500/20-16 has a second output intended for charging a starter battery albeit limited to 1A. Therefore would a MultiPlus and a Cyrix-ct be a suitable replacement for the Blue Sea and an APC UPS?

I've added a SmartShunt, VE.Direct to USB Interface (for the SmartShunt), MK3-USB (for VE.Bus on MultiPlus) and a Raspberry Pi with Venus OS to meet my requirement of greater monitoring and visibility of what's going on. However how will I know the status of the Cyrix-ct?

Is there a panel mount display which can interface to my configuration?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Regards,

Paul.

Hi all,

I am using a SmartShunt 500a with a Victron temperature sensor for my battery in a motor home. Now I want to monitor the voltage of the starter battery, too.

Can I connect the SmartShunt to the starter battery in addition to the temperature sensor? If not, what do you recommend?

The temperature is provided via VE.network for a SmartSolar MPP 100/50 controller. Also both are connected via VE.direct USB cable to a Raspberry Pi with Venus OS and 7“ touch screen.

Thanks!

Hi

I want to monitor the water level in a well 10m away from the raspberry pi. Until now I had 2 reed water level sensors connected on the digital input pins on the pi.

Because the sensors are quite unreliable (the connection) and wanted better precision I have mounted an ultrasonic sensor in the well and with a small arduino I know the exact water height.

I need to monitor the water level because the well is not very deep, the refill rate is slow and I want to remotely start the irrigation system - I don't want to run the pump if not enough water.

I was thinking of converting the ultrasonic output into a voltage to be fed into an mcp3208 adc but surely there must be a better way than all that data conversion and more locations for errors to be introduced.

Maybe serial communication between arduino and pi? Maybe using an esp module to publish the data somewhere on the web and fetch it on the pi?

Is it even possible to display that data on the victron GUI? Do the tank level menus show up only after activating analog inputs?

Does anyone have a better or simpler way?

I know it's a very specific problem but I'm stuck and my only hope is this community.

Sadly my python skills are non existent but I always thought that with enough determination and Google anyone can achieve impressive goals.

Any help would be appreciated and thanks for reading

Andrei

Good day

I am running ICC Monitoring Software on a Raspberry Pi, monitoring an Axpert Inverter, Victron SmartShunt via a VE Direct to USB cable. These monitoring works like clock work.

Yesterday evening, I have linked up a Victron Smart Solar MPPT 150/60 to my system and connected it up via a VE Direct to USB cable also to the Raspberry.

On ICC "Victron MPPT" is on, "Add Victron MPPT PV to Total PV" is On, "Use external Victron Battery Monitor" is On.

After restarting the Raspberry, ICC picked up the MPPT, showing the model, serial number, firmware version and battery voltage in the Victron MPPT tab. The battery data from the SmartShunt update correctly and around every second.

However it was dark and no PV data was shown. After the panels started to produce power today, I noticed that the ICC PV info updated very slowly and does not correspond with info shown on VictronConnect. The ICC Battery Voltage and MPPT Voltage update around +/- every 60 seconds incorrectly and the other values update like once or twice in the hour.

First, I thought the VE USB cable was faulty, swop the cables around between the SmartShunt and the MPPT and still no luck with the data feed from the MPPT to ICC. The SmartShunt updates correctly with any of the two cables.

On the MPPT, the TX port is set for Normal Communication and the RX Port is set for Remote On/Off, Smart Networking is enable between the MPPT and the SmartShunt.

Have spoken to ICC and he said that they have other clients with a same setup and on their systems both the MPPT and Battery values update fast and correctly and don't know what should the setting on the MPPT be.

Can someone assist me to get the MPPT data feed correctly?

I can read all the values that the datasheet says is available, like AC OUT Volts is what I expect at about 120.02v. But AC OUT Current (AC_OUT_I) just shows -1 or 0 for me.

I have some experience using VE.direct USB cable with a raspberry pi to read the metrics from the serial port for a BMV so I'm pretty sure I'm doing the basics right.

Example output, includes model and firmware if anyone is familiar with these:

['Checksum', '\xd2']
['PID', '0xA279']
['FW', '0114
['MODE', '2']
['CS', '9']
['AC_OUT_V', '12001']
['AC_OUT_I', '-1']
['V', '13541']
['AR', '0']
['WARN', '0']

When charging the battery to 100% with multiplus and mppt it finally reaches absorption point. After 1Hr of absorption it stops charging and starts to discharge the battery into the grid.

I tried different things to stop it from happening,

- update newest firware tot the multi,

- update mppt,

- even downgrade the venusOS to 2.22 instead of the 2.23 i was running.

- pull out the mppt cable(maybe it sends faulty values, but it wasnt)

- resetted all devices..

it keeps discharging battery to grid. I have no clue what to do next...for now i disconnect the mains to stop it. Anyone who has an idea?

thanks in advance, Tommas

---

Setup:

multiplus

mppt75/50

RaspberryPI with venus image (ESS-optimized w/ battery life, feed-in allowed, 35% min. SOC)

bmv700

LiFePo4 25.6V 7kWh battery with 2-wire BMS

in the multi charger tab set the next values: (27.60V / 8cell = 3,45V/cell)

[image]

[image]

the curve is a little strange because of disconnecting the mains to stop it.

hi all,

I´m planning to install an ESS with the components listed above.

Has anybody realized this configuration already and may support me or has an overview/schematic?

regards,
Thomas

Hi,

I have installed Venus OS on a Rasberry Pi 2 but it does not recognise any of my wifi dongles. Is there a way of installing suitable drivers? I remember doing this for Raspbian a while ago before it recognised them automatically.

I have a TP-Link TL-WN725N and a TL-WN723N dongles.

Regards

Paul

I have 2 MPPT controllers 1 connected to a Pi using the Victron usb cable. Do I need another USB cable connected to the second MPPT to report the state of charge for that unit or will the VE smart Network synchronise the charge across the 2 units and report the overall state of the system?

Help please ?

Set-Up is Raspberry Pi 3 with Venus OS publishing to vrm site and there is a USB GPS plugged into the Raspberry Pi 3.

This is in a stationary vehicle. Why do I see a Speed published on the VRM portal ?

[image]

Thanks in Advance
Robert

Have an MPPT 100/30 in Charge State Off, been disconnected for a while. It was turned off VIA bluetooth dongle and Victron APP on Android phone
I have recently reconnected the 100/30 in testing mode
I have connected it via a VE to USB to a raspberry pi with Venus OS
All is working except the 100/30 charge state is OFF and I can see no way to turn it on remotely via the remote console over https://vrm.victronenergy.com/

Is this just not possible or am I missing something ??

[image]

Hi all,

I want to use a raspberry as the venus device. I want to connect my MPPT 100-50, BMV712 with the VE-Bus and my Multiplus with the MK3 Interface.

But I want to use the normal remote control the digital multicontrol 200/200a too. Is there a way to connect all 3 devices (multiplus, multicontrol and MK3) at the same time ? As far as I know all three divices have only one RJ45 connector.

Thanks for help

Hoagie

Dear Tech Folk and @nebulight

I have a Solar Panel wired to an MPPT 100/30 NOT Bluetooth
MPPT 100/30 wired by USB to Raspberry Pi 3 with Venus
Also Smart Battery Monitor BMV-712 which is wired via Shunt to negative of battery one side and negative of appliances on the other site
BMV-712 Also wired to Raspberry Pi via USB cable
All USB Cables are Victron Made
Data is transmitted to VRM Portal
Devices show up in Venus OS

The battery is single 160AH deep cycle AGM Gel
This set-up is in a Small Motorhome with 285W Solar on Roof

I get no readings of consumption through the Raspberry Pi on the VRM Portal

Any ideas welcomed

Thanks in Advance

Robert

Hi All

Happy New Year

I was just wondering if there was anyway to connect the bluesmart ip22 charge to venus on rpi?

Thanks

Mark