diy solar

diy solar

JBD BMS Wi-Fi Module

I was initially using ESP8266 boards with SoftwareSerial and it was flaky. I now have an ESP32 board mounted to each battery pack and they publish the info via MQTT and it's working well. I now use hardware serial for the BMS comms and just connect directly to the BMS port with no added hardware other than a small 12v-3.3v module under the ESP32 . I printed small clips that screw to the battery box and the boards slide into them.
The Pi4 is running the servers and reading from my Renogy Rover and publishing that via MQTT also. Still working to get a nice Grafana dashboard. The layout format capabilities leave a lot to be desired.
Very cool! My dash is still a work in progress, here's the main panel:

1635425257519.png

The sun is not hitting the panels atm so I'm not producing much. I have a dynamic panel for each battery pack:

1635425370964.png

I'm still a novice in Grafana and definitely need to spend more time with it. Also, my "capacity" gauge is based on voltage vs coulomb counting, so it's not very useful.

I'd be interested in what you come up with ... always looking for new ideas
 
This is my desktop dashboard. I don't know if there is a way to have the top right menu selections sit over the top of the panels but the large blank space on the right side is pointless. If I adjust the window width (Chrome) it just shrinks everything. I just want it to grow to suit the available space. I can put a more panels over there but that just makes a larger dashboard which won't work as well on my laptop. Managing a different dashboard for every display is just extra work. I also have one for displaying on my phone but it just stacks all the panels in a single column
 

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This is my desktop dashboard. I don't know if there is a way to have the top right menu selections sit over the top of the panels but the large blank space on the right side is pointless. If I adjust the window width (Chrome) it just shrinks everything. I just want it to grow to suit the available space. I can put a more panels over there but that just makes a larger dashboard which won't work as well on my laptop. Managing a different dashboard for every display is just extra work. I also have one for displaying on my phone but it just stacks all the panels in a single column
I like it ... all in one view

Yea, I have the same prob with the black space on the side. When I display my dash on my phone it also stacks all panels single column.
 
I like it ... all in one view

Yea, I have the same prob with the black space on the side. When I display my dash on my phone it also stacks all panels single column.
Good to know it's not just me :) Even if I switch display modes there's still the black hole on the right.

Working on a Pi w/touchscreen now for a kiosk display in the trailer
 
Good to know it's not just me :) Even if I switch display modes there's still the black hole on the right.

Working on a Pi w/touchscreen now for a kiosk display in the trailer

Cool! I may pick your brain on that after you're done as that's my next step on this.

I have 4xSunny Island 6048s and my RPI is the controller for them (I have a can/485 hat in it), so I'm really thinking about maybe a RPI cluster - just in case the SD card (or HW) dies. Not sure how that would work with a display. Hell, I might just stick with the KISS rule and keep an extra PI on the shelf w/an SD card - a lot less time involved lol (isn't that what they call "technical debt?")!

I took a few pics the other day:

 
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Cool! I may pick your brain on that after you're done as that's my next step on this.

I have 4xSunny Island 6048s and my RPI is the controller for them (I have a can/485 hat in it), so I'm really thinking about maybe a RPI cluster - just in case the SD card (or HW) dies. Not sure how that would work with a display. Hell, I might just stick with the KISS rule and keep an extra PI on the shelf w/an SD card - a lot less time involved lol (isn't that what they call "technical debt?")!

I took a few pics the other day:

That's a big system! My setup is 2x 4s 280Ah packs with a 3000w PSW inverter and 640w of panels on the roof of the fifth wheel trailer.

I moved the Pi OS and apps to an SSD and removed the SD card. I had loaded it all up on a high endurance SD but in the end I figured easier to use an SSD. I've already got a few SD's that are corrupted from logging with a Pi. My last monitoring system ran for a few years before the card failed when I tried to update the OS recently. It's only running for 4 months in the winter so actual usage was probably not much more than a year. I think the SQL db was about 2gb
 
+1 raspberry pi in default config writes semi-frequently to boot disk which, if boot disk is a normal SD card for photos, not high endurance, many people have observed failures in that sort of situation.

very smart to use an SSD which will almost certainly outlast even a high endurance SD card by a lot.

cheers
 
I'm still trying to figure out why the different BMSs won't communicate over the ESP01/esp-link, maybe it's a power issue? The spikes can interfere with serial communication?

I found the 'fully kiosk' browser app, which has neat features (use camera & mic to detect movement to wake up). I have an old tablet stuck on the wall by the system in the garage. I like the charts to show what has been happening recently, usually set to show the last 3 hours, vs. just the current state of the system.

Screenshot_20211028-221517.png
 
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Hi,

i use one JDB SP10S020-L8S-60A for my 24v Akku.
so I would use this nice project to bring my data to nodered.
but soldering I have to left hands….?
is there any possibility to buy one of this adapter pls?

regards
Jens
 
I found that using a playlist will fill the black void on the right of the screen. However you also need to redesign the dashboard to work with the playlist mode. You can have multiple dashboards in a playlist and cycle them on a timed basis or just the one and no rotation
 
Got a Pi running so I can show the playlist. This is TV mode that leaves the menu bar across the top. I'll make up more dashboards to show battery details

OK so thats cool! I'm definitely going to have to set something like that up - I need a running monitor/dash in solar room for a quick view of the status.
 
OK so thats cool! I'm definitely going to have to set something like that up - I need a running monitor/dash in solar room for a quick view of the status.
Thanks. I already had a Pi3B and 7" touchscreen sitting around from when I had written a Windows IoT app to monitor my old system that broadcast UDP packets. I need to go through all the steps I used to build the s/w packages as I tried 3 or 4 ways until I finally got one to work and there was some adding and removing packages at the end to get it to display
 
Thanks. I already had a Pi3B and 7" touchscreen sitting around from when I had written a Windows IoT app to monitor my old system that broadcast UDP packets. I need to go through all the steps I used to build the s/w packages as I tried 3 or 4 ways until I finally got one to work and there was some adding and removing packages at the end to get it to display

My current "BMS" controlling my Sunny Island is a Pi3B with a 485/CAN hat - it was my "proof of concept" to see if I could get it working. Here's is a pic:


I'm going to replace it with a Pi4 with an SSD and a screen (maybe even get fancy and get a key/mouse!). I'm going to start ordering parts for that project in the next few weeks. If you find your notes on the steps involved, please PM me.
 
Got a Pi running so I can show the playlist. This is TV mode that leaves the menu bar across the top. I'll make up more dashboards to show battery details

By the way, add &kiosk to the end of your URL for grafana
 
By the way, add &kiosk to the end of your URL for grafana
I'm not using the kiosk mode right now. When I start up the Pi display I get the regular Grafana desktop menu and then pick Playlist and can run in either of 3 modes. The TV mode lets me have the menu for changing the time period or stepping through the playlist while only losing the space of the small bar across the top.

I used this info for setting it up https://desertbot.io/blog/raspberry-pi-touchscreen-kiosk-setup but at the end I only got a blank display. I made a bunch of changes and ended up getting it to work. Removing kiosk mode might have been one of them
 
Joe, I sent you a PM - give me a call.

Also per your screenshot, set Conn LED to disabled. Also, disable MQTT. I haven't used that yet and honestly I don't know if it will interfere with the console I/O.


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By the way, this EXACT situation happens on my work laptop (running win10) when I try to connect using Virtual Serial Port + JBDTools. It sends and I see activity, but it doesn't receive. I'm on the same Wi-Fi network as the module/BMS. When I try the same thing from my desktop on the same network, it works perfectly. I had assumed it was windows firewall or one of the 8000 "security" agents running on my laptop so I just didnt use it again.

Honestly, you might check your firewall and add VSP
Hi, I have the same situation, I know the esp-01 is working, tested with console + usb-> serial adaptor, can connect and create vport as your description, I can connect by usb-> serial (BMS-> jdbtools) so the component parts look good. when I connect JBD port to esp01 (with external 3v3 psu for esp) the port creates, but no tx traffic. I have tried on a win10 m/c work domain... ok maybe firewall, so I tried an old win 7 machine, all the tests repeated, and still it won't play.

one thing I did notice using the AMS3117 psu, with the 14v from the BMS uart port it will fire up the regulator, but repeating the same with the ESP on the board and the AMS shuts down. maybe trying to draw too much current from the uart port. so I will persist with the external 3v3.

Did you get any progress with this?

Thanks Ian
 
Hi, I have the same situation, I know the esp-01 is working, tested with console + usb-> serial adaptor, can connect and create vport as your description, I can connect by usb-> serial (BMS-> jdbtools) so the component parts look good. when I connect JBD port to esp01 (with external 3v3 psu for esp) the port creates, but no tx traffic. I have tried on a win10 m/c work domain... ok maybe firewall, so I tried an old win 7 machine, all the tests repeated, and still it won't play.

one thing I did notice using the AMS3117 psu, with the 14v from the BMS uart port it will fire up the regulator, but repeating the same with the ESP on the board and the AMS shuts down. maybe trying to draw too much current from the uart port. so I will persist with the external 3v3.

Did you get any progress with this?

Thanks Ian
Hi,

After a lot of head scratching, I have concluded there is something about the voltages sent out by the BMS on its' TX line. only one way to find out, I got out my oscilloscope and did some measuring of the waveforms on both TX and RX at the BMS. These measurements were taken using a sparkfun USB-Serial adaptor with 3v3 jumper set, then GND, Rx & Tx of the adaptor connected to a breakout board to allow connection of 'scope probes, then onto the LithiumBatterypcb.com BMS, in this case a 'SP5S001-4S-60A-Lifepo4-UART'.

The VCC pin on the uart gave approx 3v2 (on the scope) this is my reference point, the data from the adaptor to the bms was about 3v3, and the data from the BMS to the adaptor approx 1v7... perhaps not enough to register on the ESP2866?

Thought this update may help someone

Ian
 

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Thanks Ian for looking into that. I wonder if my 14s bmss have this issue. They all work fine with the bluetooth dongle, but no luck yet with the ESP01/ESP2866 wifi dongles. Two other 10s bmss are working good over wifi. I have a scope but not so familiar with it, so I should give that a shot.

Next step, level shifter on the tx from bms to bump it up to 3.3v?
 
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