+1 for EG4. I have a EG4 6000xp inverter and PowerPro battery, would love to get some data to integrate into HE rules. They have an existing app and likely an API. Anyone feel free to take it on!
You are going to like the mindset built around the Victron product. Even with my low end module I am always pleased firing up the Victron app (bluetooth from phone to their device) to find not only helpful well presented data...but ALSO...the upgrade notices...and then the ease of doing such. It makes buying in to some other Solar Controllers seem like a dead end in comparison.
But seeing that information as i stand outside in the cold near the MPPT controller's location I ALWAYS think....sure would be nice to see some of this data in the HE environment and be able to be notified or act on the adjacent DC powered environment accordingly.
I guess the pricier Cerbo-S GX, VRM, and an API are steps in that direction.
I am really liking the victron equipment, I am hooked now. The Cerbo has a nice GUI that can be visually put on a Dashboard. Like this...
I am going to see what we can do about gathering the information over the local network for something more usable in the HE environment, I am not a programmer but @snell is going to do the heavy lifting when I get the system up and running properly.
I just purchased a new version Victron Multiplus and 100 Ah battery to use as a UPS for Starlink, HE and some of my network stuff, should be fun to get going.
Very cool.
Edit- Deleted my question to you. I just read up on this product. Didn't realize it was exclusively a monitoring & communications hub if you will.
Just an fyi that Victron makes much of the monitoring functionality of the Cerbo GX available for free via their Venus OS, which runs on a Raspberry Pi. The Cerbo GX can do more, but for basic online monitoring using a computer one may have just sitting in a drawer unused, it's hard to beat Venus OS. No idea about connecting it to HE (and I don't plan to try), but I thought someone might be interested.
Anyone else using Solar edge? Can't say I've done a heap with it in HE over my time, but would be interesting to hear if others have. There is a Community Integration.
So are you just saying you just wouldn't spend the time to get-under-the-hood on that, OR that you really wouldn't use such connectivity if it was built?
Asking because it seems like there's a handful of things that would be really nice to have available to HE for alert or action purposes.
Thanks for the other notes on Venus OS.
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I'm a tinkerer, but not a developer / programmer so I probably wouldn't have the skills, and definitely don't have the time right now.
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We're totally off grid (in Maine) and I actually have two PV / battery systems, one Victron (with an EG4 battery) and the other all EG4. The Victron is the little system (2.4KW) and it powers just my single-room office building. Because I have propane heat in that, the system produces more power than I can think of ways to use, so just very little reason to automate. I just look at VRM (Victron Remote Monitoring - or Management - I can't remember which) to make sure all is well, and it always is, and so I just smile and that's that. In a previous Victron system at another property I did use the generator start dry contact to tell me when to pull out the generator when the batteries got low (via a zwave sensor and Pushover) but we'd need a week of no sun for that to happen on this system, as we recharge even on cloudy days. I'll install a small mini-split in that building in the spring and use that for heat as much as I can next year, so maybe that will inspire me to figure out the Victron integration. Those little DIY mini-splits can't take the cold like our hyper-heat Mitsubishis in the main building so it'll use more power. We shall see...
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I DO wish I could figure out some automations for the EG4 system, which I monitor using Solar Assistant (that also runs on a separate Raspberry Pi). That 13.6KW system powers the main house, which is a 36x44 super-insulated barn (really a garage as no animals in it) with a nice living space above. We heat that living space with a heat pump, which isn't a challenge at all, even in Maine, in winter. We also have a mini-split in tuat garage space but the garage needs propane for the hydronic slab (which dries up snow melt quickly), and I'd like to use excess solar on sunny days to power an electric element in a buffer tank I'm getting ready to install, which will lower the amount of propane required. So, yeah, that I'll figure out but probably not this winter as I have too many other projects, and the building doesn't use much propane anyway (R43 walls, R65 ceiling and between floors, triple pane windows, etc). I designed it, and my builder says its the most energy efficient building he's ever built, so most of the energy conservation now is just to use excess solar.
In the next couple of years I may install an air-to-water heat pump for the slab so that the propane is backup only, but we have a whole additional building to build (much of it a through-winter greenhouse) so I'm chock full of projects (and still working for at least a couple more years, although I've cut back some there). I'm starting to play around with Home Assistant so must also figure out how much to use HE vs how much to use HA, and whether to combine them.
Anyway, sorry for the long answer. Hope you enjoy your Victron equipment. It's built like a tank!
WOW, an off-grid success story to be proud of. Quite an achievement given the locale.
Sounds like you have the mini-split solutions sorted out but I thought I'd drop this one here in case you find it of interest. This guy is addressing those folks that don't have the serious need to invest in a huge battery bank but could seriously benefit from solar.
The logic to cooling with solar when heat load is coincident with the sun (especially in less humid regions of the country), but still having the house power as an alternative, is right on the money in my mind. https://airspool.com/
Thanks for that info.
I am in the process of installing SolarEdge, 19.8 kW system, grid tie. That will be the main house power (the small Victron system powers my back shed right now). I downloaded the community integration for when the system is up and running. Still waiting on the installers to put the 44 panels on the roof.
I have a victron setup and it has mqtt for local access. I was able to connect and subscribe to N/# using
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sethkinast/hubitat-simple-mqtt/master/hubitat-simple-mqtt.groovy
to get all the data from it. I think it is just a matter of automatically creating child devices based on what is returned.
I got the start of a driver working. I connects on the lan to mqtt and gets the battery%
Made a post for it now that I have both local and web connections working.
I have a Hoymiles 10kw install and I wish there was a driver.
I would love to see my generation stats on my Dashboards.
There is one community API based driver that, with the correct dev knowledge, could be adapted.
Sadly, not my schtick anymore. Cobol/Pascal anyone? ![]()
I was having an evil thought though.
I could dip my virgin hand into AI and ask it to adapt that driver to the Hoymiles API and see what happens.
