The "Meg" Build

[houseofancients]

Trying to get the inverter communicating with the battery, but found no info online, nor did I find anybody who has even done communications from the Trophy Battery to the LV6548. After reaching out to Dan at Trophy, he said that the Pylontech protocol the Trophy battery uses is incompatible with the LV6548.

I bought the battery because in the manual it states it can communicate with Deye (Sol Ark) and Voltronic (MPP) only to find out it does neither of them. I asked Dan to please update his Manual, because that's pretty upsetting.

Now I'm trying to just figure out how to read battery SOC without going outside, opening up with compartment and looking at the battery screen. Expecting to spend another $100 on a Shunt, or something. *sigh*

hi dan,

as i understand , this battery has a seplos bms in it, maybe you can verify this.
if this is the case, that a look at the model number ;
if this states 10c ; this is the (older) CANBUS version, which can communicate with deye/sunsynk/sol-ark, but need a deye firmware version to do so.
this can be requested at seplos support, but i would let trophy take care of that.
it cannot communicate with you eg4/mpp-solar/voltronics inverter

if it states 10c , it has the (older) rs485 version of the seplos bms.
this can communicate with you lv's, but needs to be setup correctly in the bms as pylontec , and you need a proper cable to communicate.

alternatively, you could order the seplos 10e bms at seplos, which supports both rs485 and canbus on the same interface.

if you have multiple batteries you'd have to replace one, as it can act as a master for both the 10c and 10d versions

 

[Lt.Dan]

hi dan,

as i understand , this battery has a seplos bms in it, maybe you can verify this.
if this is the case, that a look at the model number ;
if this states 10c ; this is the (older) CANBUS version, which can communicate with deye/sunsynk/sol-ark, but need a deye firmware version to do so.
this can be requested at seplos support, but i would let trophy take care of that.
it cannot communicate with you eg4/mpp-solar/voltronics inverter

if it states 10c , it has the (older) rs485 version of the seplos bms.
this can communicate with you lv's, but needs to be setup correctly in the bms as pylontec , and you need a proper cable to communicate.

alternatively, you could order the seplos 10e bms at seplos, which supports both rs485 and canbus on the same interface.

if you have multiple batteries you'd have to replace one, as it can act as a master for both the 10c and 10d versions

I thought this battery had a seplos BMS in it as well, but when I spoke with Dan on the phone, I mentioned I had a DIY Battery with the Same Seplos BMS, and he stopped me very quickly and stated that it was DEFINITELY not a Seplos BMS. Despite it being an IDENTICAL looking screen, DIP Switches, and even the CAN/RS485 ports. He would not say what BMS it was. I wonder if he is having them copied to his own specs by another manufacture?

Either way, he seems very uninterested to find a alternative solution with me. His response it to just "Buy a Solar Assistant, as it has more info". But the RV does not have internet connection when actually being used, and I'm not trying to add any more cost to the system. I'd rather it just do what its advertised to do.

Shoulda' bought an SOK, which natively speaks to both with no special anything hindsight is always 20/20 right?

 

[duunoit]

Ian shows how to set up solar assistant without internet in this video:

 

[Lt.Dan]

Yes, I use that at my home as well, but i also don't want to add any more cost to the system. All in Solar Assistant is like $180. I'd rather buy a Victron Smart shunt just to be able to read SOC.

 

[Sanwizard]

Yes, I use that at my home as well, but i also don't want to add any more cost to the system. All in Solar Assistant is like $180. I'd rather buy a Victron Smart shunt just to be able to read SOC.

Solar assistant also works with Victron. I am getting fed up with all the comms issues, and may just put all the batteries in parallel and use the MPPT in the MPP inverters to control charging based on voltage, with the victron for overall SOC.
That worked well with my JK/Heltec BMS'sand LV6548.

 

[houseofancients]

I thought this battery had a seplos BMS in it as well, but when I spoke with Dan on the phone, I mentioned I had a DIY Battery with the Same Seplos BMS, and he stopped me very quickly and stated that it was DEFINITELY not a Seplos BMS. Despite it being an IDENTICAL looking screen, DIP Switches, and even the CAN/RS485 ports. He would not say what BMS it was. I wonder if he is having them copied to his own specs by another manufacture?

Either way, he seems very uninterested to find a alternative solution with me. His response it to just "Buy a Solar Assistant, as it has more info". But the RV does not have internet connection when actually being used, and I'm not trying to add any more cost to the system. I'd rather it just do what its advertised to do.

Shoulda' bought an SOK, which natively speaks to both with no special anything hindsight is always 20/20 right?

well, there's one option that would give clearity real fast.
open the thing up and take some pictures, especially of the stickers inside.

 

[Lt.Dan]

well, there's one option that would give clearity real fast.
open the thing up and take some pictures, especially of the stickers inside.

I dont want to ruin my 10 yr warranty is my issue. So long as there isn't a tamper proof sticker or something. Ill take a look when I get home

 

[medic149]

Trying to get the inverter communicating with the battery, but found no info online, nor did I find anybody who has even done communications from the Trophy Battery to the LV6548. After reaching out to Dan at Trophy, he said that the Pylontech protocol the Trophy battery uses is incompatible with the LV6548.

I bought the battery because in the manual it states it can communicate with Deye (Sol Ark) and Voltronic (MPP) only to find out it does neither of them. I asked Dan to please update his Manual, because that's pretty upsetting.

Now I'm trying to just figure out how to read battery SOC without going outside, opening up with compartment and looking at the battery screen. Expecting to spend another $100 on a Shunt, or something. *sigh*

I just purchased Solar Assistant from Watts 24/7. I think it will give state of charge. Look into it or email Ian at Watts.

 

[Sanwizard]

well, there's one option that would give clearity real fast.
open the thing up and take some pictures, especially of the stickers inside.

Andy at offgridgarage just uploaded a good overview of the Seplos BMS comm details.

 

[Sanwizard]

Andy at offgridgarage just uploaded a good overview of the Seplos BMS comm details.

Here is the link:

 

[Lt.Dan]

Here is the link:

Just watched this video. Looks like I just need to get 2x 10E BMS's and make this all easy lol.

 

[Sanwizard]

Just watched this video. Looks like I just need to get 2x 10E BMS's and make this all easy lol.

Yeah, I may need 7.

 

[houseofancients]

Yeah, I may need 7.

actually 1 ..
just to act as a master

 

[GSXR1000]

solar assistant is pretty cool and keeps data for a long time. I even added a touch screen to mount in my RV... not the cheapest solution

 

[Sanwizard]

solar assistant is pretty cool and keeps data for a long time. I even added a touch screen to mount in my RV... not the cheapest solution

Its less expensive if you do the software only version and buy your own raspberry Pi.

 

[Lt.Dan]

Its less expensive if you do the software only version and buy your own raspberry Pi.

With prices on Raspberry pi right now, its hard to beat the $180 that Solar Assistant charges for the Orange Pi. And theirs includes a DC power supply as well.

Solar Assistant now says that the Orange Pi is powerful enough to run a HDMI output. Anybody test this yet? Would be awesome to not have to have a separate PC to login to. I could mount it in the trailers control panel and not need any internet or special connections etc.

The Orange PI 3 LTS is a new board that was released beginning of 2022. It's the first board where we have added the option of HDMI screen output because it's powerful enough to provide a fast responsive interactive experience while performing real-time monitoring of multiple solar devices.

 

[Sanwizard]

With prices on Raspberry pi right now, its hard to beat the $180 that Solar Assistant charges for the Orange Pi. And theirs includes a DC power supply as well.

Solar Assistant now says that the Orange Pi is powerful enough to run a HDMI output. Anybody test this yet? Would be awesome to not have to have a separate PC to login to. I could mount it in the trailers control panel and not need any internet or special connections etc.

Holy crap. I just looked at the prices for the Pi 4 kits I bought last year I bought my Pi 4 for around $35. Its now over $200! Wow, glad I bought the 2 when I did! Joe did that I guess.

 

[Lt.Dan]

Holy crap. I just looked at the prices for the Pi 4 kits I bought last year I bought my Pi 4 for around $35. Its now over $200! Wow, glad I bought the 2 when I did! Joe did that I guess.

Yep, supposedly the chip shortage cut supply pretty bad, and when everybody heard that the Pi's would go up in price, the demand skyrocketed and they are now selling for $150 +/-.

I have 2 Pi's at home, 1 not being used, but its in a really nice Argon M.2 case with a 500gb M.2 SSD. Kind of a waste to use it on a resource sipping Solar-Assistant lol.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

hard to beat the $180 that Solar Assistant charges for the Orange Pi. And theirs includes a DC power supply as well.

General question I have. Mostly on topic but probably should have a separate thread to discuss- not looking to discuss here and derail- but is there a thread (that I didn’t find) that details configuring/equipping for Solar Assistant using commodity devices?

Basically using things like Epever 4215AN, dumb bms batteries (btrpower; needs a CT or something on the load side; Epevers track the charging fine), and Giandel/QZRELB et al mid-shelf inverters?

That would save me a ton of time on the learning curve. While I don’t “need” solar assistant it would be desirable for me from the “hobby” component of my offgrid experiment. I just don’t even know if it can do it without using its compatible AIOs.
Thanks

 

[Sanwizard]

General question I have. Mostly on topic but probably should have a separate thread to discuss- not looking to discuss here and derail- but is there a thread (that I didn’t find) that details configuring/equipping for Solar Assistant using commodity devices?

Basically using things like Epever 4215AN, dumb bms batteries (btrpower; needs a CT or something on the load side; Epevers track the charging fine), and Giandel/QZRELB et al mid-shelf inverters?

That would save me a ton of time on the learning curve. While I don’t “need” solar assistant it would be desirable for me from the “hobby” component of my offgrid experiment. I just don’t even know if it can do it without using its compatible AIOs.
Thanks

Probably best to head over to their website and review the list of compatible devices. https://solar-assistant.io/
As for the dumb BMS on DIY batteries, solar assistant can read your SOC from a Victron shunt directly using a VE bus to USB cable.