Multiple channel energy monitor

[lysp]

Hi,

I've been searching around for something, but unable to find anything that fits.

While there are plenty of inline watt meters (showing volt/amp/watts and other measurements), I can't seem to find ones that allow monitoring of multiple channels.



I'm basically trying to find some equipment that you can attach to multiple 12v sources or loads to be able to monitor what's going in and out of each part.

One way would be to install 5-10 of those meters - but doesn't seem very effective or user friendly.

Is there a pre-built device that does this?

Alternatively is there a DIY (microcontroller/Arduino) board that can handle multiple channels? I've found a few ICs, but most can't handle high amps (over ~3a).

 

[svetz]

Digikey has some multichannel current sensors, but $$$. You could use some current transducers to act as a sensor for the amps running through the wire, then use a microcontroller to read the current transducer. Wouldn't need to be a blazing fast processor, but if you wanted a lot of transducers you'd need a corresponding number of analog pins. If you do a DIY build, please post lots of pictures!

 

[lysp]

The more I look at it, the more it looks like it will need to be a DIY with a Pi/Arduino running it.

Never played with electronics before, so looks like I might need to start.

 

[svetz]

Be sure to check the chip has enough ADC pins and they have the fidelity you need.

 

[flywire]

https://github.com/rin67630/Soft-Power-MPPT is multichannel

 

[rin67630]

Hi,

I've been searching around for something, but unable to find anything that fits.

While there are plenty of inline watt meters (showing volt/amp/watts and other measurements), I can't seem to find ones that allow monitoring of multiple channels.

View attachment 35445

I'm basically trying to find some equipment that you can attach to multiple 12v sources or loads to be able to monitor what's going in and out of each part.

One way would be to install 5-10 of those meters - but doesn't seem very effective or user friendly.

Is there a pre-built device that does this?

Alternatively is there a DIY (microcontroller/Arduino) board that can handle multiple channels? I've found a few ICs, but most can't handle high amps (over ~3a).

The INA3221 is an I2C three channel chip providing for each channel voltage and current. You can operate several devices on an I2C bus.
The voltage limit is 26V and the current depends on the shunts that you are using. It does not need any analog input, so you may use also the ESP32, which ADCs are far from being one of the best.