From office UPS to whole house... my journey

[KevinC_63559]

Seems having a personal journey thread is encouraged here, so here goes...
(apologies for duplicate info from my earlier threads)

So a couple of months ago we got hit with a 37 hour power outage. After watching solar develop over the past 50ish years (since my Dad first brought home a solar sensor he controlled our drapes with in the 70's) I elected to actually start the journey. I came up with a multi-phase plan, mostly to spread out the spend!

Phase 1: Replace my office computer UPS with a solar grade 12V inverter/charger and some LiFePO4 batteries. 12V because I have a number of 12V devices on my desktop that could be connected to 12V batteries (USB Charger, ancient Heathkit GC-1000, a voltage monitor, etc.)
Phase 2: Wire up the entire office, likely with 240V tech so avoid having to rewire breakers
Phase 3: Add solar MPPT chargers to Phase 2
Phase 4: Wire up the house with 240V for peak shaving
Phase 5: Add solar to the house

I should note that I live on a 121 acre farm with no inspections. I'm also competent to work with 240V wiring having done my own house (to code of course, just no inspections requested or offered) and a 2000amp data center next to my office (which is about 500 feet from my house - its a short walk to my man cave!).

Below is a log of my journey!

 

[KevinC_63559]

Early February, 2024: Time to get up to speed with current tech. First stop was DIYSolarForU.com, mostly from previous searches. I was initially very impressed with their systems in no small part because of their FCC certificates. I figured if they cared enough to be 18db below the required levels of emissions, they probably had the rest right. Liked that they were USA sourced and built as well. They advertise a 5 year warranty but a 40 year design life.

Alas, 48V MPPT controllers are not yet available, and 150Voc max is rather limiting with todays panels. Really didn't want to limit myself to 24V, or to have to replace parts later on to get to 48V (big on "buy once, buy right").

Independent of the charger/controller I learned about LiFePO4 batteries - clearly the choice going forward. Got really confused by pricing however. A few solar shops I use to keep tabs on where charging $900 for a 12V100A LiFePO4 battery. Saw some with Bluetooth BMSes (which I had to learn about) on Amazon for more like $150 plus $30 shipping. Ordered one of these to play around with. (Please note, price varies, as does availability - BMS can not be communicated with via a Cerbo, its Bluetooth only, any warranty implied is probably useless and require returning the batteries to China... if the company is even around when you need to. e.g. There are "First experience throw away" units - useful if your not sure your going any further).

Found this forum during that educational period, and noticed Victron brand gear had a good rep. As did CurrentConnected as a retailer. Dropped some notes to both companies. Victron was a bit curt, but suspect that is just a national thing from where they are. CurrentConnected was very helpful. Sold.

Mid February, after some initial indecision, and endup up ordering a Victron Multiplus II 12/3000/120 along with some cabling, fuses, fuse holders, etc.

Ordered a matching LiFePO4 battery just to discover the price jumped $30. Annoying, but read it was important to stick to one brand. Later learned that rule doesn't really apply for batteries in parallel as much as it does for those in series. Still, had become familiar with the available Bluetooth apps (XiaXiangElectric and Overkill Solar both work well on my iPhone), and bought the same unit to be consistent.

 

[KevinC_63559]

End of February - parts from Current Connected arrived. Everything hooked up as expected and somehow to my surprise, worked right out of the box so-to-speak. I did have a couple of day delay because I did not realize the Victron Multiplus II required ferruled AC connections. That was a tool I needed to order, but things went well once that arrived a few days later.

Once I powered the Multiplus up it quickly cycled through its charging phases, being at Float within an hour or so. I was thrilled to see via the BMS app that the cells were being balanced and when all was done, had a nice delta of around 0.035 volts (from memory, but I believe anything at or under 0.05V is considered fine). For reference, my voltage display showed a starting voltage of 13.3 volts and finished at 13.7 volts.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Next day, after allowing things to settle, I did a full quick UPS test, unplugging the AC input from the Multiplus. Nothing blinked, PC continued to run, no complaints from Alexia, lights over my office plant stayed on, all good.

Hooked up the MK3-USB cable I had bought along with the unit and downloaded the Victron Configure application. Double checked all the settings Current Connected pre-configured for me and tweaked a few per my battery specification. For instance, I lowered the charge current to 40amps, since my batteries consider 0.2C "normal" charge current (2x100x0.2 = 40 amps).

Initial test were with everything spread out on the floor - just for easy access in case of a surprise fire! Fan on the Victron rattled a bit when the batteries where charging (its otherwise silent), but I suspect that be solved when its mounted correctly. I figured it could survive a few minutes on its side... (and it did).

Spent the rest of day getting everything mounted under my desk and (somewhat) cleaned up:



So far, only one small issue: I don't have enough bottom clearance to remove the bottom cover screws. Currently the unit is hanging on its bracket, and at ~45lbs, its not going anywhere. But it would be nice to remove the bottom cover and secure the unit through the two holes provided. Thats just no going to happen. Unit has plenty of top clearance for heat to escape, and its offset by 1.5 inches from the wall except at the top bracket and bottom resting support. So its should be able to suck in air just fine, and the fan on the top has more than the 4 inches required per the specs for cooling space. Note a lot of those cables are just office devices and unrelated to the Victron system. I do have enough room that I could expand the system to 4 parallel batteries, but I don't see the need. As setup, it appears I could be using my computer, and have the wife watching the TV, for over 4 hours. If I joined her, my PC would go to sleep, and we could probably watch TV for 8+ hours - or at least until the Internet went away. But that (internet going away) will be solved in Phase 2.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Spent last night thinking about a Cerbo, probably a -S vs. the full GX. I'm not fond of the idea of having my private electrical system accessible from the Internet, but kind folks here pointed out I could do a Grafina based local server equivalent to Victron's VRM system. That sounded like a better fit for me. I had intended to buy a cheap ($250-$300???) laptop so that I could move the MK3-USB cable between future systems, but having everything connected to my LAN sure felt better. For the cost of the laptop, I could get started with Cerbo gear.

Woke up this morning to some kind soul pointing out that Victron supported the Open Source world, and that I could emulate a Cerbo (with limitations) via a Raspberry Pi, if I was interested in doing that....

Well... I have around a dozen Pi gathering dust. Been using them to control cybercoin mining devices since 2014. A quick search revealed (6) Pi 3b units. Reading the provided pages, this appeared like it would work just fine. Spent some time tracking down one of the families MicroSD -> USB adapters, downloaded the image, burned it, hooked up the Pi to a spare HDMI capable monitor, to a keyboard, a mouse, and to the MK3-USB cable. Applied power and waited a few minutes. Saw the Pi boot, and eventually drop the monitor into Root. Docs informed me that if I removed /etc/venus/headless the system would use the HDMI port for its primary display.

Fortunately know enough about unix that the file was quick to locate and remove. One little hickup - root is mounted as read-only by default, so couldn't remove the file! A quick "mount -o remount,rw /" command later and that was solved. Rebooted and was greeted with:



How cool! It really could not be easier.

Fooling around a bit it became clear that the OS is expecting a touch screen. Fortunately, one can just load the VictronConnect application on your phone and connect it to the Pi. At that point, the app acts like a touchscreen for you. Bit freaky to touch your phone and see the monitor respond identically.

Found a 7" HDMI touchscreen monitor on Amazon for $37. Ordered one of those and a shorter 2' HDMI cable. I'll mount the monitor on my wall and place the Pi below it.

Oh, implied in the above: The mouse is useless with this system, and the keyboard is only usable if your in headless mode and doing root things. SSH is not started by default (not sure its even installed), so having an open root account isn't a big deal. Suspect I'd need to reburn the original image and reboot into root to set a password - probably should have done that just as good practice - but not going to worry about it for now.

Next step is to see if the generic $37 touch screen works as expected. Delivery is expected next Wednesday so will report then.

 

[KevinC_63559]

I should also point out that the Raspberry Pi solution was a "fun little project". I already had the MK3-USB cable ($68) that I bought so that I could use VC-Configure. I already had the Pi, storage cards, monitor, cables, Pi power supplies, Pi case, etc. So this was really just a free Thursday afternoon project. Still was cool to see it all come together and work without issue.

For this starter system, with "dumb" batteries (no VE-CAN), no MPPT controllers (VE-Direct I believe) and only the MK3-USB as input, it makes sense. If I had a more complicated system, say a 240V dual inverter configuration (my phase 2 project), with CAN based batteries, a Cerbo GX would make more sense.

I have to admit, I'm curious about the $37 touch screen and wonder if it would work with a Cerbo. The Victron GX Touch just seem a bit overpriced. Hopefully HDMI is just HDMI and it will work. Time will tell.

 

[Brucey]

I should also point out that the Raspberry Pi solution was a "fun little project". I already had the MK3-USB cable ($68) that I bought so that I could use VC-Configure. I already had the Pi, storage cards, monitor, cables, Pi power supplies, Pi case, etc. So this was really just a free Thursday afternoon project. Still was cool to see it all come together and work without issue.

For this starter system, with "dumb" batteries (no VE-CAN), no MPPT controllers (VE-Direct I believe) and only the MK3-USB as input, it makes sense. If I had a more complicated system, say a 240V dual inverter configuration (my phase 2 project), with CAN based batteries, a Cerbo GX would make more sense.

I have to admit, I'm curious about the $37 touch screen and wonder if it would work with a Cerbo. The Victron GX Touch just seem a bit overpriced. Hopefully HDMI is just HDMI and it will work. Time will tell.

Please share the link to the $37 touchscreen if it works out. I'm planning on a cerbo-s with two sccs, a shunt and an inverter connected via three ve directs and a vedirect to USB. That should leave me one free USB port assuming I don't go to a USB hub.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Please share the link to the $37 touchscreen if it works out. I'm planning on a cerbo-s with two sccs, a shunt and an inverter connected via three ve directs and a vedirect to USB. That should leave me one free USB port assuming I don't go to a USB hub.

HERE you go! Note that its caseless, but appears to have 4 mounting points. Might be fine for directly screwing into the wall, perhaps with some spacers, might not. Will find out and post the results. There were several others, just search for '7" touchscreen' to see the list. Saw another one for a few dollars more that did not say it was caseless that also had mount points, but appeared to be VERY similar: HERE. Look at the images on the first one, and watch them hook up a Pi in the video of the 2nd one. Not sure there is any substantial difference.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Friday update:

Its International Women's Day - guys, buy your gal some flowers!

Mine got 16 Guine Fowl chicks - but hey, that is what she wanted. (Life is different on a farm)

So today I fooled around with Docker on my web server and eventually got it up and running. Downloaded the Victron stuff from Github and got everything launched, but alas, it does not appear to be pulling data:



It does see my unit (renamed to "PC UPS"). Hmmm, maybe time to restart the Pi? (Following life rule #1 (at least for computer people): When in doubt - reboot!) and:




Yeah!

BTW - found my iPad makes a great VictronConnect platform. Nice size touchscreen. Did stumble a bit before I figured out the obvious: Use the arrows to navigate the menus. Trying to scroll via the touchscreen kinda, almost, maybe works - the arrows work perfectly. Other obvious things that took me awhile, the menus are a lot deeper that the 4 items that get displayed.

Have my niece from California visiting for the next week, so may not have much time to fool with Grafana, but hope to customize that screen and get some data tracking going. In particular, curious what the power draw is at night when my PC is sleeping. This should be able to tell me.

In any case - all data is local, behind my firewall, so hopefully not exposed in any way to the Internet.

 

[KevinC_63559]

1am... but making progress:




Some weirdness. The incoming amperage and wattage was displaying until I forced the inverter on (by unplugging the unit). They have not returned. AC out is also clearly wrong. But that is a job for tomorrow. Night all!

 

[KevinC_63559]

Spent some time trying to figure out why the Grid power is reporting 0. Its not Grafana, I'm seeing the same thing if I direct connect the MK3-USB to my PC and crank up VE Config or VictronConnect. Tried doing a VE.BUS reset via the Cerbo Pi, which reset the Multiplus II, but same problem.

The unit is clearly drawing from the grid, since its in Float mode right now and I'm typing this via my ~300W PC that is fed by it.

I've asked on the Victron Community page.

Oh, figured out one needs to do a "docker compose restart" command in ones /etc/local.d/local.start file in order for the docker containers to restart after a server reboot. Just starting docker alone is not enough (it starts, but all containers are left in a stopped state).

Anyone figure out how to do this directly, without using docker? Feels like I have a bit less control than I normally like. For instance, unsure if docker images will every get software updates? I think the Grafana part would be easy enough - just export the dashboard and reimport to the native system. Unclear how to deal with the database though (and its feed from the Cerbo).

Oh, speaking of updates, the sample Grafana dashboard is using obsolete panels. Clicking Edit on each one will prompt you to upgrade - easy enough, just takes a bit of time.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Dexter at CurrentConnected came through, on a Saturday night no less. Apparently the Current Sense plug had shorted. Inserting an appropriate size probe solved the problem instantly.


(old photo, but you can see it in the lower right corner)

 

[KevinC_63559]

Put it back together and:



Working as expected! (power a bit higher than usual since the charger is running in Absorb mode).

BTW - Until I feel like tweaking it a bit more, that is my Grafana customized screen (on my own web server, comfortably tucked behind my firewall - so no VRM security concerns).

 

[Nobodybusiness]

Alas, 48V MPPT controllers are not yet available

I must be misunderstanding what you are saying.

As far as I know there are several 48v MPPT controllers available.

 

[Brucey]

I must be misunderstanding what you are saying.

As far as I know there are several 48v MPPT controllers available.

He saying this company doesn't make them. Threw me off initially as well.

Solar Charge Controllers and accessories

MPPT Solar Charge Controllers - Made in USA with USA Components Highest Performance - Get every last Watt from your panel

www.diysolarforu.com

 

[KevinC_63559]

Sorry about that folks. Yes, I was specifically referring to the Sol Buck Boost MPPT charge controllers sold by diysolarforu.com (no "m").

 

[KevinC_63559]

Spent a chunk of yesterday trying to get my head around Peak Shaving. I started with the concept that limiting AC In would achieve what I wanted, but this Phase 1 system simply doesn't draw enough power to work with that. Apparently the minimum setting for my unit is 9.7 amps and to test functionality I'd have to be able to go down to around 3 amps. (My system only draws about 50 watts at night, around 300 watts when my PC is not in sleep mode, at 450 watts with the PC on and the TV on, at least for a few minutes, since the PC goes back into sleep mode after 20 minutes of inactivity).

Most of the time was spent reading and watching Youtubes on Victron Assistants, with a side bar on using a real Cerbo's relays to move functionality from the Multipluses to the Cerbo, eliminating the need to reset the Multipluses and/or configure them via VE Config. Using the relay makes sense, especially since I only have deskside computers, no laptop I can haul around.

I'm not sure I have the Assistants figured out though. I understand I can control based on multiple criteria, like SoC and Wattage. Wasn't clear if that is an "AND" function or an "OR" function, I think "OR". However, the control seems to be to either run off of AC or run off the Inverter - which is not what I'm trying to do. I want to run a base current off grid AC, and supplement with battery power when that is briefly (a few hours) insufficient, then recharge the batteries with demand drops below the base current setting. Suppose I should post over on the Victron Community pages and see if someone can clarify for me. Of course, would welcome feedback here - this is a friendlier group!

Tomorrow the $37 7" touch screen is suppose to arrive. I'll be plugging it into my RPi "Cerbo" unit to see if it functions. Will have to wait until Phase 2 to see if it works in place of the $370 Victron touchscreen with a real Cerbo.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Spent a chunk of yesterday trying to get my head around Peak Shaving. I started with the concept that limiting AC In would achieve what I wanted, but this Phase 1 system simply doesn't draw enough power to work with that. Apparently the minimum setting for my unit is 9.7 amps and to test functionality I'd have to be able to go down to around 3 amps. (My system only draws about 50 watts at night, around 300 watts when my PC is not in sleep mode, at 450 watts with the PC on and the TV on, at least for a few minutes, since the PC goes back into sleep mode after 20 minutes of inactivity).

Most of the time was spent reading and watching Youtubes on Victron Assistants, with a side bar on using a real Cerbo's relays to move functionality from the Multipluses to the Cerbo, eliminating the need to reset the Multipluses and/or configure them via VE Config. Using the relay makes sense, especially since I only have deskside computers, no laptop I can haul around.

I'm not sure I have the Assistants figured out though. I understand I can control based on multiple criteria, like SoC and Wattage. Wasn't clear if that is an "AND" function or an "OR" function, I think "OR". However, the control seems to be to either run off of AC or run off the Inverter - which is not what I'm trying to do. I want to run a base current off grid AC, and supplement with battery power when that is briefly (a few hours) insufficient, then recharge the batteries with demand drops below the base current setting. Suppose I should post over on the Victron Community pages and see if someone can clarify for me. Of course, would welcome feedback here - this is a friendlier group!

Tomorrow the $37 7" touch screen is suppose to arrive. I'll be plugging it into my RPi "Cerbo" unit to see if it functions. Will have to wait until Phase 2 to see if it works in place of the $370 Victron touchscreen with a real Cerbo.

Quick search to related questions on Victron Community indicates the logic is "OR" based.

Questions to the Victron Community page posted here.

 

[KevinC_63559]

OK - received the $37 touch screen. First photos, because everyone likes photos:





Unit came with a small bag of screws, mounting brackets (kinda), a micro-usb to usb-a cable, and an HDMI cable. Really didn't expect that HDMI cable with a $37 unit and wasted $10 ordering separate one. Amazon returns are a pain out her in no-man-land, so will just add that to my stock. Note it came with zero paperwork/instructions.

First effort was straight plug and play: Plugged in the HDMI cable, plugged in the +5V in to my USB charging block, and hesitantly tried the Touch connector to one of the free Pi USB ports. Pi booted up and I had the expected # root prompt. System came up with the display in 640x480 mode, which is fine for text.

Hooked up a USB keyboard to the Pi.

Remounted root read/write ("mount -o rw,remount /") so that I could set a password ("passwd"), just because the paranoid in me demanded it. Modified /etc/ssh/sshd_config and changed the listening port for the same reason. Rebooted and confirmed I can SSH into the Pi. (which allows me to use a real screen an keyboard!). Note you could enable this via VictronConnect by turning on Remote Support. I'm not sure of the implications of doing so, so did things by hand.

Remounted root rw, and removed /etc/venus/headless so that Venus would use the unit for a display. Rebooted.

Along the way, discovered the unit powered up just fine via the Touch in micro-usb connected to the Pi, so drawing power from the Pi... that's fine, one less cable.

Relogged in and cranked up "top" just to see what was what:



Note the first entry with the 640x480 line... there be a hint!

Alas, didn't get any further. Time to hit the web... Should note two problems: 640x480 instead of 1024x600 - which honestly is not a biggie, and the touchscreen is flaky. I get some response from banging near the top, but no level of control.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Quick note, the Victron GX Touch 5" uses 800x480 resolution, the 7" (which we are trying to emulate) uses 1024x600 - so if we can get that resolution working, perhaps other things will fall into place. (e.g. "Fix what you know is broken first").