How to have Multiple Victron Solar charge controllers To communicate with each other ?

[Kcdaniels]

I have two Victron 100/50 SCCs and one 100/20 SCC...each 100/50 is connected to one 395 watt qcell panel for a total of 790 watts..
The 100/20 is only used to connect ground panels or my 200 watts panels from my truck topper roof..

I'm Close to finishing the install of a Victron multiplus 12/2000/80 inverter...

So my question is one....I can look at the Victron app and see what each controller is doing but it would be nice to see everything at one screen...

What is the most 'cost' effective way to do this ? Also I guess I missed it where on the new multiplus doesn't have Bluetooth... So you have to buy a Bluetooth Module to do this for the Victron multiplus ?

I have looked at the Victron site but I must be missing the info I looking for...

Thanks for any help to get me in the right direction ?

 

[rmaddy]

Curious why you have a 50A controller for a single 395W panel on a 12V system. 395W / 13.5V is about 29A. You could easily use a 100/30 for that one panel. You could put both panels on a single 50A SCC. It will be slightly over-paneled but if your panels are flat mounted on some sort of RV then it may actually be a good match.

That aside, there is no way to see all of the SCCs as a single unit via VictronConnect. The next step up is to setup either a Cerbo GX (expensive) or a Raspberry Pi (much cheaper) with VenusOS and a display. But I'm not sure how well the user interface shows multiple SCCs since I only have one myself. With that setup you can make use of VRM and that provides ways to see all of your solar on one screen.

If you wish to see your MultiPlus on your phone in the VictronConnect app then you do need the Bluetooth dongle.

Edit: So it turns out that with all of the SCCs setup on the same VE.Smart Network, VictronConnect will show the total networked wattage when looking at the details for any of the SCCs. By far that is the simplest solution.

 

[Kcdaniels]

Curious why you have a 50A controller for a single 395W panel on a 12V system. 395W / 13.5V is about 29A. You could easily use a 100/30 for that one panel. You could put both panels on a single 50A SCC. It will be slightly over-paneled but if your panels are flat mounted on some sort of RV then it may actually be a good match.

That aside, there is no way to see all of the SCCs as a single unit via VictronConnect. The next step up is to setup either a Cerbo GX (expensive) or a Raspberry Pi (much cheaper) with VenusOS and a display. But I'm not sure how well the user interface shows multiple SCCs since I only have one myself. With that setup you can make use of VRM and that provides ways to see all of your solar on one screen.

If you wish to see your MultiPlus on your phone in the VictronConnect app then you do need the Bluetooth dongle.

I went with another controller because I was told in another post that I couldn't put the two panels in series on one 100/50 but could connect the two panels in parallel....I didn't want to go that route... Plus I got a great deal on the 2nd 100/50?

Well I don't know what a "Raspberry Pi" is.. ? so I guess ill just have to make do to the time being....

 

[rmaddy]

I went with another controller because I was told in another post that I couldn't put the two panels in series on one 100/50 but could connect the two panels in parallel....I didn't want to go that route.

I agree you can't put two 395W panels in series on a single 100V SCC. You would need the 150V version. But you could easily put the two panels in parallel on the one 100/50. Way easier and cheaper than using two SCCs. BTW - having two SCCs effectively means your two panels are in parallel since the two SCCs are in parallel. So you actually did go that route. You just did the harder and more expensive way.

Well I don't know what a "Raspberry Pi" is.

It's a tiny little computer board. You can get the Raspberry Pi, touch screen display, and power supply for well under $200. It was about $110 a year ago when I got mine. There are several easy-to-follow step-by-step guides on Youtube for setting up everything you need to work with your Victron gear.

 

[Kcdaniels]

I agree you can't put two 395W panels in series on a single 100V SCC. You would need the 150V version. But you could easily put the two panels in parallel on the one 100/50. Way easier and cheaper than using two SCCs. BTW - having two SCCs effectively means your two panels are in parallel since the two SCCs are in parallel. So you actually did go that route. You just did the harder and more expensive way.


It's a tiny little computer board. You can get the Raspberry Pi, touch screen display, and power supply for well under $200. It was about $110 a year ago when I got mine. There are several easy-to-follow step-by-step guides on Youtube for setting up everything you need to work with your Victron gear.

Thank you for the explanation.... On the 2nd controller.... Its a done deal now..? plus I look at it as a back up if one fails...

 

[HRTKD]

Two Victron Smart MPPT can be networked using the BMV-712, Smartshunt or CerboGX. The first two are the easy options as it is done through Bluetooth. There is a network icon in Victron Connect for those two devices that will lead you through the process of networking the MPPT.

 

[Kcdaniels]

Two Victron Smart MPPT can be networked using the BMV-712, Smartshunt or CerboGX. The first two are the easy options as it is done through Bluetooth. There is a network icon in Victron Connect for those two devices that will lead you through the process of networking the MPPT.

So if I use the "smart shunt" l can monitor my total panel wattage from both controllers ?... Now I can monitor the Individual wattage from the controllers but I want to see total wattage combined Can the smart shunt do that ?
I find all these options a little confusing..??

 

[HRTKD]

So if I use the "smart shunt" l can monitor my total panel wattage from both controllers ?... Now I can monitor the Individual wattage from the controllers but I want to see total wattage combined Can the smart shunt do that ?
I find all these options a little confusing..??

As I recall, with the controllers networked you can see total PV output on one screen when looking at either solar charge controller.

 

[Kcdaniels]

As I recall, with the controllers networked you can see total PV output on one screen when looking at either solar charge controller.

When you say "networked" do you mean thru the smart shunt ?

 

[HRTKD]

When you say "networked" do you mean thru the smart shunt ?

Yes.

 

[rmaddy]

I'm fairly sure you do not need a SmartShunt to network the two SCCs. Just setup both SCCs to use the same VE.Smart Network in VictronConnect. No SmartShunt or BMV-712 needed. Easy enough to try since you have the two (three actually) SCCs already working. Give it a try.

 

[krfish]

I see you are running the Bluetooth versions of charge controllers. You can pair Victron Blue Tooth devices together with the steps below:

• Open VictronConnect, connect the device, and then navigate to Settings and select VE.Smart Networking.
• Click Create Network, enter a name.
• Click Save and wait for the 'OK' to show up.
• Go back and navigate to the Solar charger, then click Settings followed by VE.Smart Networking followed by Join Existing.
• Now select the network which you created at the previous step.
• When everything is working OK, you will be able to see that the VE.Smart Networking page of the Solar Charger is receiving data. Also the network icon will be shown on the main page.

 

[Kcdaniels]

I see you are running the Bluetooth versions of charge controllers. You can pair Victron Blue Tooth devices together with the steps below:

• Open VictronConnect, connect the device, and then navigate to Settings and select VE.Smart Networking.
• Click Create Network, enter a name.
• Click Save and wait for the 'OK' to show up.
• Go back and navigate to the Solar charger, then click Settings followed by VE.Smart Networking followed by Join Existing.
• Now select the network which you created at the previous step.
• When everything is working OK, you will be able to see that the VE.Smart Networking page of the Solar Charger is receiving data. Also the network icon will be shown on the main page.

Thank all of you for your responses !!!!... I'm going to try your suggestion and will come back and let you you know how it worked...
Thanks..?

 

[Kcdaniels]

I see you are running the Bluetooth versions of charge controllers. You can pair Victron Blue Tooth devices together with the steps below:

• Open VictronConnect, connect the device, and then navigate to Settings and select VE.Smart Networking.
• Click Create Network, enter a name.
• Click Save and wait for the 'OK' to show up.
• Go back and navigate to the Solar charger, then click Settings followed by VE.Smart Networking followed by Join Existing.
• Now select the network which you created at the previous step.
• When everything is working OK, you will be able to see that the VE.Smart Networking page of the Solar Charger is receiving data. Also the network icon will be shown on the main page.

Success !!!!!! O boy I'm a happy camper... It worked...here is a screenshot.......

 

[rmaddy]

That's cool that VictronConnect will show the total wattage from all of the networked SCCs when looking at the details of any one SCC.

 

[Kcdaniels]

Yep it was worth getting up this morning I learned something new today...??

 

[HRTKD]

I don't think that feature was available when I installed my MPPT in 2020. That's a good firmware upgrade from Victron if that's the case.

 

[Kcdaniels]

I don't think that feature was available when I installed my MPPT in 2020. That's a good firmware upgrade from Victron if that's the case.

Absolutely ....nice to see the individual stats along with the total on one screen....I will install a smart shut though down the road...

 

[krfish]

I love this forum, and I was glad I could contribute a little to get you setup.

 

[Kcdaniels]

Yeah man....this is a very helpful forum with a lot of good people.!

Thank you very much for the help!!!!