butter_fry
New Member
The IoT world is really wide open these days and I'm surprised I'm not seeing more systems that people have integrated with their solar setups.
So.. I'll start.
I've been building solar setups for years, and have some pretty funky "Solar Generator" boxes that came before the time of LFP and the IoT revolution. They're quaint now... but still work.
A few years ago I bought one of those PVC inflatable hot tubs. I ran it for a 6 months or so and the power bill was eye popping.... so down the rabbit hole I went.
It was a long journey of writing a Hot Tub controller in PHP, then tossing that out for Home Assistant a year or so later. What I ended up with is a Solar Powered, LFP battery run, A/C backed, LPG Heated automatic hot tub system.
The interface is basic, but only limited by my desire to not put too much time into it. I'm always tweaking it, but it's been stable now for a few years.
The Solar parts are the following:
- Victron 75/15 mppt
- Victron Smart battery monitor Bluetooth thingy
- 400w of mix and match panels in a 24v series
- A RPi3 that runs the Victron VenusOS / connected to the MPPT via USB for control/data collection
- A RPi4 that runs home assistant and a ton of other home automation stuff
- I'm using 8x 40a LFP pouch cells in a water tight container, backed by heating pads.
- For a simple transfer switch, Home Assistant monitors pack voltage. When the batteries are drained it flips on a simple IoT switch to a 24v power supply. Not a charger, or anything. Just a simple 300w 24v power supply that runs the system and levels up the batteries till they get charge from the panels in the morning. Super simple and effective.
- A (now) older Daly BMS w/o temp monitoring
The data that HA uses comes via the Modbus interface that the Victron system provides. It's basic, and these days I wouldn't have to go with Victron, but it's been lights out perfect since Installed it. Victron was the only company making anything just a few years ago that I could pull data from and could trust.
I don't attempt to run the OEM heater/pump unit of this small setup. It's upward of 14a with everything going. It only gets used for short bursts when the main LPG gas heater is running. Mostly for pump augmentation and flow. I even hacked the touch panel circuit board, so that a 8 channel IoT switch can interact with the buttons, simulating button presses. All 8 channels are used, and it's hidden inside the heater unit behind the touch panel. That allows me to interact with the unit via home assistant as if I was physically pressing the various buttons in-person.
The rest of the hot tub is all automated with little motorized valves to direct water flow to either the oem "Egg" (as I call it) heater/pump unit. Or when very quick heating is required to the Instant Hot Water camping heater and secondary pump. This will heat the tub from ~90 to 104f in less than an hour. I had to get the flow just right, as to not literally boil the water. The problems arise in the fact that these hot water heaters are designed to heat COLD water. Hot Tub water is already hot, so one of the only ways to regulate heat is to pump as much through it as possible to keep the time in heater down, thus manageably cooler water output.
It also includes a hot water shower as you can see from the photos. There is a servo attached to the gas dial on the heater. When the shower on button is pressed, the system samples water temps and sets it at a nice hot outdoor shower temperature. When the shower is done, the servo flips back over to low-heat mode that the tub uses.
In all, the system idles at 15w or so. When heating it's around 220w. like I said, really basic but this is more about what we can do in monitoring and interacting with the solar controllers and setups these days.
there is a bunch more.. but that is for a different forum. Thought I'd share the solar bits. Ask me anything or if you need advise I've probably crossed that bridge in the Solar > IoT trail in the past few years.
-Butter
So.. I'll start.
I've been building solar setups for years, and have some pretty funky "Solar Generator" boxes that came before the time of LFP and the IoT revolution. They're quaint now... but still work.
A few years ago I bought one of those PVC inflatable hot tubs. I ran it for a 6 months or so and the power bill was eye popping.... so down the rabbit hole I went.
It was a long journey of writing a Hot Tub controller in PHP, then tossing that out for Home Assistant a year or so later. What I ended up with is a Solar Powered, LFP battery run, A/C backed, LPG Heated automatic hot tub system.
The interface is basic, but only limited by my desire to not put too much time into it. I'm always tweaking it, but it's been stable now for a few years.
The Solar parts are the following:
- Victron 75/15 mppt
- Victron Smart battery monitor Bluetooth thingy
- 400w of mix and match panels in a 24v series
- A RPi3 that runs the Victron VenusOS / connected to the MPPT via USB for control/data collection
- A RPi4 that runs home assistant and a ton of other home automation stuff
- I'm using 8x 40a LFP pouch cells in a water tight container, backed by heating pads.
- For a simple transfer switch, Home Assistant monitors pack voltage. When the batteries are drained it flips on a simple IoT switch to a 24v power supply. Not a charger, or anything. Just a simple 300w 24v power supply that runs the system and levels up the batteries till they get charge from the panels in the morning. Super simple and effective.
- A (now) older Daly BMS w/o temp monitoring
The data that HA uses comes via the Modbus interface that the Victron system provides. It's basic, and these days I wouldn't have to go with Victron, but it's been lights out perfect since Installed it. Victron was the only company making anything just a few years ago that I could pull data from and could trust.
I don't attempt to run the OEM heater/pump unit of this small setup. It's upward of 14a with everything going. It only gets used for short bursts when the main LPG gas heater is running. Mostly for pump augmentation and flow. I even hacked the touch panel circuit board, so that a 8 channel IoT switch can interact with the buttons, simulating button presses. All 8 channels are used, and it's hidden inside the heater unit behind the touch panel. That allows me to interact with the unit via home assistant as if I was physically pressing the various buttons in-person.
The rest of the hot tub is all automated with little motorized valves to direct water flow to either the oem "Egg" (as I call it) heater/pump unit. Or when very quick heating is required to the Instant Hot Water camping heater and secondary pump. This will heat the tub from ~90 to 104f in less than an hour. I had to get the flow just right, as to not literally boil the water. The problems arise in the fact that these hot water heaters are designed to heat COLD water. Hot Tub water is already hot, so one of the only ways to regulate heat is to pump as much through it as possible to keep the time in heater down, thus manageably cooler water output.
It also includes a hot water shower as you can see from the photos. There is a servo attached to the gas dial on the heater. When the shower on button is pressed, the system samples water temps and sets it at a nice hot outdoor shower temperature. When the shower is done, the servo flips back over to low-heat mode that the tub uses.
In all, the system idles at 15w or so. When heating it's around 220w. like I said, really basic but this is more about what we can do in monitoring and interacting with the solar controllers and setups these days.
there is a bunch more.. but that is for a different forum. Thought I'd share the solar bits. Ask me anything or if you need advise I've probably crossed that bridge in the Solar > IoT trail in the past few years.
-Butter
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