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diy solar

Solar Assistant Versus PowerView Pro (for use with Sol-Ark)

I am not sure either but I am much more confident that since the SOK uses the Canbus port and SA uses RS485 port they should both work together and the Sol-Ark will communicate the battery status to SA as well as Powerview.
Before I can comment further, I will need to dig deeper. I don't want to mislead anyone.
 
no matter if I use the Sol-ARk's external Wifi/DB-9/RS2323 connector or the internal RS485 port, I will need a waterproof enclosure for the SA/RaPi running SA. The enclosure cannot be metal as that will prevent the RaPi Wifi from working. Will also need +5V to power the RaPi. Its looking like I may need to take the RS232 or RS485 cable throught the stucco of the garage wall (where the Sol-Ark is mounted) to the interior of the garage to where the RaPi would be situated.

My only other thought is that the DB-9 that connects to the Sol-Ark Wifi dongle supplies power to the dongle. Maybe I can make a waterproof plastic enclosure to house the RaPi and "hang" it off the DB-9.

Anybody have a pinout for that Sol-Ark DB-9?. Problem is I do not know how much power the DB-9 can supply. I'm using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W to run SA. Its probably going to draw at least 5V @ 100mA.....
 
no matter if I use the Sol-ARk's external Wifi/DB-9/RS2323 connector or the internal RS485 port, I will need a waterproof enclosure for the SA/RaPi running SA. The enclosure cannot be metal as that will prevent the RaPi Wifi from working. Will also need +5V to power the RaPi. Its looking like I may need to take the RS232 or RS485 cable throught the stucco of the garage wall (where the Sol-Ark is mounted) to the interior of the garage to where the RaPi would be situated.

My only other thought is that the DB-9 that connects to the Sol-Ark Wifi dongle supplies power to the dongle. Maybe I can make a waterproof plastic enclosure to house the RaPi and "hang" it off the DB-9.

Anybody have a pinout for that Sol-Ark DB-9?. Problem is I do not know how much power the DB-9 can supply. I'm using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W to run SA. Its probably going to draw at least 5V @ 100mA.....
There are lots of times when I play around with stuff to make it do what I need it to do.
When it comes to a $6000 piece of equipment I just don't take those chances even if I know it will work.
All it takes is two wires touching for a split second and you might have a dead port or worst.

You could get a case like this:Amazon Pi Case
 
yeah, used to be a network architect..

one does , what one knows ;)
I also want to chime in here. It is definitely best to isolate your inverter from the rest of your network. Its most likely your computer will get hacked first, but that also means access to everything on that network. Same thing goes to say, those that can access the inverter online, with little smarts can access your home network too. Meaning your inverter. Always keep your home network isolated from IoT if you can.
As Baisjo mentioned, I too am using a firewalla gold for my network. IoT devices are in constant contact with their vendors, 24/7/365. Even a simple thing like a security camera.
But hey, I am also in the IT world, so I too can agree 100% here.
 
Currently installing a SA15 replacement for an SMA. I need 30 days of hourly downloadable data ( solar production and kWh load usage). Can I do this with Powerview or Solar Assistant? I need to be able to import this data into Excel. I have been using another data logger (TED monitor) for years but it uses CTs on both my incoming load panel and the SMA output. I see no way to attach any CTs with the SA15 to measure PV production. My load center CTs will stay the same. Sol Ark says I can only download 7 days of data at a time. Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
Both the Sol-Ark 12K outdoor and 15K units use the same (CAN-BUS) port for CAN and serial communications.

Batteries that use CAN for communication will work with Solar Assistant with a Y splitter as Solar Assistant uses serial communications on that port but different pins.

If your battery uses serial communications then you can't have both battery and Solar Assistant as they can't be connected to the same wires/pins on the same port.

Regarding home network security: infiltrating a home network to upload a custom firmware onto your inverter to do bad things with it sounds like a high effort low impact exercise for any hacker. This is not the low hanging fruit someone would go after. I would not worry about it too much. Same goes for your average home network with iot devices. Let me break the news to you: you're not that interesting to anyone.
 
If your battery uses serial communications then you can't have both battery and Solar Assistant as they can't be connected to the same wires/pins on the same port.
Solar Assistant says you are able to just use a RJ45 splitter. Its documented on their website.
 
Solar Assistant says you are able to just use a RJ45 splitter. Its documented on their website.
Yes, to split the physical connector into two separate plugs and you can run CAN on one and serial on the other. But you can't hook up three things on the same serial wire, it doesn't work that way. I'm pretty sure Modbus doesn't allow it.
 
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