diy solar

diy solar

Monitoring software for Growatt-MPP Solar inverters

Update - Solar assist is working on adding "Popular Growatt" to there list, (4 months) hooked up my SPF-6000T-DVM to raspberry pi4b and let them capture data, also sent them the Growatt - Growatt PV Inverter Modbus RS485 RTU Protocol doc, also am testing the new PV Keeper 2.0a - received from Growatt today, so far so good, stable and shows more data than v2.0 from 2 months ago, waiting for sun to come up to see if "charge current/amps" populates, will keep you posted, can send you file whatsapp me search Joe Boykey or can attach it in PM, Joe.
View attachment 53910
where do you get the 2.0a ? i can only find 1.0 and 2.0 on the site
 
I added the a because they call the older version and new version 2.0, the Inverter load% is moved over 1 Column to the left like in the pic above and load discharge has been deleted from previous 2.0, It's much more stable, Joe.
 
Yes. I've actually only been able to get the dongle to connect once.
If you have set the correct server set, I found that during testing when I shutdown the inverter it will not always auto connect. Here is the normal behavior I have observed that 100% reconnects. Hit the reset button on the dongle, it will flash red- blue. Wait a few seconds hit the reset again this time you want to see red, green then blue. If that sequence occurs it has always reconnected to the web service.
 
Last edited:
I added the a because they call the older version and new version 2.0, the Inverter load% is moved over 1 Column to the left like in the pic above and load discharge has been deleted from previous 2.0, It's much more stable, Joe.
How about a update on the newer version of PVkeeper, still stable?

I have had crashing problems since day one with PVkeeper, tried all the suggested cures to no avail. Now, today, a Cust Svc manager at Growatt supplied me the updated PVkeeper program which also crashes, seems actually worse than the original PLUS no battery discharge current displayed anymore which is a MAJOR drawback.

PVkeeper never crashes during the night or when charging at medium or low currents but when the charge current gets over 40amps for a half hour or so it crashes every time. The inverter itself continues working properly. Due to this behavior, I strongly suspect the problem is in the inverter itself, its communication hardware dropping the USB connection, not the PVkeeper program.
 
How about a update on the newer version of PVkeeper, still stable?

I have had crashing problems since day one with PVkeeper, tried all the suggested cures to no avail. Now, today, a Cust Svc manager at Growatt supplied me the updated PVkeeper program which also crashes, seems actually worse than the original PLUS no battery discharge current displayed anymore which is a MAJOR drawback.

PVkeeper never crashes during the night or when charging at medium or low currents but when the charge current gets over 40amps for a half hour or so it crashes every time. The inverter itself continues working properly. Due to this behavior, I strongly suspect the problem is in the inverter itself, its communication hardware dropping the USB connection, not the PVkeeper program.
Same here, it's probably interference from the inverter, could try a shielded cable, gave up and now use this - works perfect with Pi4b and a 1 time $58 software fee - Solar Assistant, works off lan, wifi direct or the cloud, Growatt compatible and they are working on making my gyll batteries talk to it, now using battery emulator, it can update real time and stores data on the Raspberry Pi, Joe.
1628043614265.png
 
Same here, it's probably interference from the inverter, could try a shielded cable, gave up and now use this - works perfect with Pi4b and a 1 time $58 software fee - Solar Assistant, works off lan, wifi direct or the cloud, Growatt compatible and they are working on making my gyll batteries talk to it, now using battery emulator, it can update real time and stores data on the Raspberry Pi, Joe.
View attachment 58725

Went to Solar Assistant website and they still do no show Growatt on their list of compatible inverters. Do you have to contact them and ask?
 
They have it, Pierre is the Man, purchase it - be sure to change to US dollars, $58, download image, download Belenda Etcker, burn image to a decent sd card, i use 64gig x10, boot pi to it with network cable, register software, email - SolarAssistant <info@solar-assistant.io> and let them know you have growatt and they will update your card thru network. Let me know if you have any issues, easier to setup with lan connection to the internet, then wifi if needed. The software updates automatically from then on, what brand batteries you have?
1628073631259.png1628073671646.png
 
Last edited:
They have it, Pierre is the Man, purchase it - be sure to change to US dollars, $58, download image, download Belenda Etcker, burn image to a decent sd card, i use 64gig x10, boot pi to it with network cable, register software, email - SolarAssistant <info@solar-assistant.io> and let them know you have growatt and they will update your card thru network. Let me know if you have any issues, easier to setup with lan connection to the internet, then wifi if needed. The software updates automatically from then on, what brand batteries you have?
View attachment 58757View attachment 58758
I sent a email to them earlier about Growatt being compatible. Its great news that it is compatible now !! PVkeeper is horrible, like a 3rd grade science fair project. I would probably buy the software with the RasPi from them, hopefully they would config it before shipping. I would use a cable connect to the internet, no wifi.

How long have you had this running now? I want to be sure its not the inverter comm itself that is dropping connection.
 
Forgot to describe batteries in my prior reply. I have 8pcs, 4S2P, of Powersafe 170ah AGM batteries. This gives me a total of 340ah @48V Hopefully the solar assistant does a much better job of estimating battery state than PVkeeper did, that was totally useless.
 
Solid, has never disconnected, also you can connect by browsing the Ip address and connect locally, if you want to try it out, pm me email address and i'll set you up a Veiw account, you can log in and view my system - now, Joe.
 
Solid, has never disconnected, also you can connect by browsing the Ip address and connect locally, if you want to try it out, pm me email address and i'll set you up a Veiw account, you can log in and view my system - now, Joe.
How are you connecting the Raspberry Pi to the Growatt inverter .. via the USB (the one used for the dongle) or via the RS?
 
How are you connecting the Raspberry Pi to the Growatt inverter .. via the USB (the one used for the dongle) or via the RS?
I believe the only option is with the USB interface right now. Don't think it makes much difference in the end, pretty sure all the I/O signals come from the same chip in the inverter. (using the CP210X driver, which is for that chip made by Silicone Laboratories) USB, RS485 and RS232 are all serial data formats so there is no advantage to one over the other for purposes of monitoring a Growatt inverter.

After looking at Solar-Assistant closely and verifying the standard release now supports Growatt, I got the software. I ordered a RasPi 3B+ with case, SD card and power supply from amazon for $79, it will be here tomorrow. Solar-Assistant is light years ahead of anything offered by Growatt and well worth the money.
 
Back
Top