I have three Epever charge converters each has a RSJ485 socket how to combine ?.

[Chadd]

Seasons greetings to you all : )

I have three Epever charge converters each has a RSJ485 socket.

Using a converter lead RSJ485 to USB and installing a computer program Solar Station MonitorV1.95 all works as it should, after the usual messing about that is : ).

The charge converters are in my workshop, I did a temporary extension lead on the RSJ side using 20 meters of cat5 cable.

It worked fine over that length of cable, so routing it to the laptop in the lounge, will allow me to see the battery charge state and outputs from the panels that feed that particular charge converter.

It appears that the computer program allows selection of more that one charge converter.

I could run three cables and use three RSJ to USB converters, but the laptop in the lounge is already supporting a lot of USB inputs.

I wonder if a network switch, would combine all three RSJ feeds from the charge converters, to feed down one cat 5 cable to the RSJ to USB converter, into one USB input on the laptop.

Then possibly select the different charge converters within the computer program.

Any suggestions welcome on ways to achieve the objective : )

God Bless Chadd.

 

[octal_ip]

I wonder if a network switch, would combine all three RSJ feeds from the charge converters, to feed down one cat 5 cable to the RSJ to USB converter, into one USB input on the laptop.

This won't work, as the EPEver controllers aren't using Ethernet to communicate. They use MODBUS over RS485 which can support multiple connected devices electrically, however I'm not sure if the EPEver software can communicate with each device in this way as they all need a unique address.
Can you see any options in the Solar Station Monitor software to configure and set the MODBUS address of each charge controller?

 

[Chadd]

Good evening octal_ip thank you for your reply, it answered my question perfectly.

Before I purchased the correct RS485 to USB converter, I tries one half of a cat5 Ethernet to USB extension device, that I use with the USB cameras on my satellite dishes.

It locked the computer up and damaged the USB converter, it did not damage the computer or the controller fortunately : )

I will as suggested look into the EPEver software to see if a unique address is possible for each one.

It is a pity that the software cannot display more than one converter at a time, maybe something else is available.

Thank you again Chadd

 

[octal_ip]

If you're tech savvy and good with a soldering iron you don't have to use their software at all. I have all my EPEver tracers separately reporting their stats to InfluxDB and Grafana through an ESP8266 and RS485 adaptor. This way I get beautiful real time and historical statistics without any of the limitations.
I can post my design and code if you'd like, but it's not for a beginner.

 

[Chadd]

Good morning.

I have been in electronics since 1961 and have a workshop full of renovated equipment, so the soldering iron is no problem.

Code is not my line but I can follow some of it, but often the terms used are not familiar so it is difficult to follow. to start with.

For instance I do not know what InfluxDB and Grafan are.

Certainly a look at it would be a start to see if I can follow it : )

Thank you Chadd

 

[octal_ip]

OK, I've uploaded the code and some basic documentation to GitHub:

GitHub - octal-ip/ESP8266_EPEVER_Tracer_Monitor: An ESP8266 based monitoring device for EPEVER solar charge controllers. Sends all statistics to InfluxDB/Grafana.

An ESP8266 based monitoring device for EPEVER solar charge controllers. Sends all statistics to InfluxDB/Grafana. - GitHub - octal-ip/ESP8266_EPEVER_Tracer_Monitor: An ESP8266 based monitoring devi...

github.com

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Symbioquine]

Just to add to what @octal_ip has provided, the RS485/Modbus protocol supports having multiple "slave" devices (the charge controllers) which a single "master" device (e.g. your computer) can talk to. RS485 connections have 4 pins - Pos, Neg, A, and B. Basically you would connect all the positive pins to each other, all the negative pins to each other, and so on with the A and B pins as well.

However, as @octal_ip has indicated, you first need to separately connect to each of the charge controllers with your computer via the Solar Station software and set the device id on each charge controller to a different id so that the master device (your computer, or in @octal_ip's case the ESP8266) can indicate which of the charge controllers it is talking to.

At that point, you could use the standard USB to RS485 adapter plus a custom cable/adapter and all the charge controllers should show up in the solar station software.

As far as the wiring there are two ways to potentially avoid needing a custom cable:

• The >50A Epever Tracer AN models have two RS485 ports so you can chain multiple controllers together that way
• Epever makes a device to help manage multiple charge controllers https://www.epever.com/product/pal-adp-accessories-parallel-adapter/ (but it only helps with the physical connection problem if you only have two controllers - beyond that you'd still need to do something like what I've described above.)

Alternatively, if you wanted to go the microcontroller/data-logging route as @octal_ip's post discusses, you can simplify by choosing a slightly different RS485 converter as I've discussed in my blog post on the topic which avoids the need for the logic level shifter.

 

[octal_ip]

Just to add to what @octal_ip has provided, the RS485/Modbus protocol supports having multiple "slave" devices (the charge controllers) which a single "master" device (e.g. your computer) can talk to. RS485 connections have 4 pins - Pos, Neg, A, and B. Basically you would connect all the positive pins to each other, all the negative pins to each other, and so on with the A and B pins as well.

However, as @octal_ip has indicated, you first need to separately connect to each of the charge controllers with your computer via the Solar Station software and set the device id on each charge controller to a different id so that the master device (your computer, or in @octal_ip's case the ESP8266) can indicate which of the charge controllers it is talking to.

At that point, you could use the standard USB to RS485 adapter plus a custom cable/adapter and all the charge controllers should show up in the solar station software.

As far as the wiring there are two ways to potentially avoid needing a custom cable:

• The >50A Epever Tracer AN models have two RS485 ports so you can chain multiple controllers together that way
• Epever makes a device to help manage multiple charge controllers https://www.epever.com/product/pal-adp-accessories-parallel-adapter/ (but it only helps with the physical connection problem if you only have two controllers - beyond that you'd still need to do something like what I've described above.)

Alternatively, if you wanted to go the microcontroller/data-logging route as @octal_ip's post discusses, you can simplify by choosing a slightly different RS485 converter as I've discussed in my blog post on the topic which avoids the need for the logic level shifter.

Nice, thanks for the tip @Symbioquine. I've ordered one of these RS485 adaptors and will test with my setup.

For my purposes I use a separate ESP8266 and RS485 adaptor for each charge controller. This way I don't have to connect them all together or manage device addresses. The ESP, level shifter and adaptor are only a few dollars, so it's not worth trying to connect everything together on the same bus.

 

[Chadd]

Thank you all for your excellent information : )

As soon as I get over the Christmas flue and can think again I shall act : )
Alanna and I had not even had a cold for tree years, and went Christmas shopping in Truro, which was a big mistake.

Both well into out 70s we should have taken more care. it is like a cross between a terrible hangover and depression, with sickness the loo and coughing added.

We no longer drink, but can remember what hangovers were like : )

God Bless you all and best wishes for the New Year when it comes