kevinforestdude
New Member
If you have EG4 PowerPro / LL / LifePower batteries and Luxpower / EG4 6000XP,12k,18k inverter... you likely tried the EG4 monitor app.
Of course, you can sign-up for an account (if your Dongle plays nice, my green LED just blinks...) and access via https://monitor.eg4electronics.com/ ... but for secure remote access, you don't need that! Nor do you need SolarAssist payment (and buying a Raspberry Pi). No docker container running https://github.com/celsworth/lxp-bridge to forward MQTT to Home Assistant (although that project works and is very cool).
What if I told you, you can access this "Local Monitor" even via secure VPN?! Yes you can!
Dongle actually has 2 wifi networks:
- CLIENT: do "Dongle Connect" setup once to connect to your home wifi, dongle gets IP like 192.168.1.253
- ACCESS POINT: SSID = Serial number of your dongle, your phone would get IP 10.10.10.2
The "Local Connect" feature in EG4 Monitor has a hardcoded IP address of 10.10.10.1 port 8000... it assumes you are connected to the local SSID (eg: BC30500005), but obviously being physically near the inverter and connecting to the internetless AP is annoying... let alone impossible remotely.
I have the newer E-Wifi series starting with "DJ", either way they are basically cheap ESP microcontrollers.
Wifi Dongle:
Tutorial:
- Add an IP alias to your router/Linux ethernet interface of choice, eg: Pfsense
- Now everything connected to my OpenVPN server / home wifi knows how to talk to "10.10.10.1" virtual IP address.
- Create a port forward, from 8000 to the IP address of dongle on CLIENT (eg: 192.168.1.253) given from your house wifi.
- Don't forget to repeat for VPN interface and adjust any firewall rules if needed.
I tried all kinds of nonsense with bridges, IP tables, UFW, socat, SSH tunneling, static routes... but in the end, this was the cleanest solution. The Dongle will reply back on 192.168.1.x network but your phone with the app thinks it is coming from 10.10.10.1.
Physical Setup:
- 6000XP Inverter "BAT COMM" rj45 port --> EG4 PowerPro 280AH battery CAN bus rj45 port via regular shielded ethernet cable (no special pinout).
- RS485 port on battery can be connected simultaneously to your IOT device of choice with USB adapter (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B081NBCJRS) and homemade RJ-45 cable with pinout (Orange=2=A, Orange-White=1=B)
- Inverter has Setting 3 - BRAND = 6 (luxpower)
- Battery has CAN = P07-LUX and RS485 = P01-EG4. Dip Switches = ID1 (Down, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up)
-- Could likely switch protocol back to P0-EG4/LUX on battery (need to flip all switches up to 64 to enable write access) and inverter Brand = 0 (EG4), haven't re-tried.
- https://github.com/celsworth/lxp-bridge/wiki/Inputs confirmed it can also connect to port 8000 on the dongle to dump HOLD and INPUT registers.
- Confirmed I can also connect via ttyUSB0(RS485), dump battery cell voltages, etc
Everything "just works" with this setup... documenting here for those with Google Fu and future me (probably) when I forget.
I run this on an Lenovo laptop running AMD Ryzen 4450U APU, its very power efficient. With lid closed, CLI only, its pulling less than 10w from the wall while logging data via wifi, hosting docker containers, router, OpenVPN server... Plan on powering via 48V battery terminals -> USB-C charger once its off-grid with Starlink.
Of course, you can sign-up for an account (if your Dongle plays nice, my green LED just blinks...) and access via https://monitor.eg4electronics.com/ ... but for secure remote access, you don't need that! Nor do you need SolarAssist payment (and buying a Raspberry Pi). No docker container running https://github.com/celsworth/lxp-bridge to forward MQTT to Home Assistant (although that project works and is very cool).
What if I told you, you can access this "Local Monitor" even via secure VPN?! Yes you can!
Dongle actually has 2 wifi networks:
- CLIENT: do "Dongle Connect" setup once to connect to your home wifi, dongle gets IP like 192.168.1.253
- ACCESS POINT: SSID = Serial number of your dongle, your phone would get IP 10.10.10.2
The "Local Connect" feature in EG4 Monitor has a hardcoded IP address of 10.10.10.1 port 8000... it assumes you are connected to the local SSID (eg: BC30500005), but obviously being physically near the inverter and connecting to the internetless AP is annoying... let alone impossible remotely.
I have the newer E-Wifi series starting with "DJ", either way they are basically cheap ESP microcontrollers.
Wifi Dongle:
Tutorial:
- Add an IP alias to your router/Linux ethernet interface of choice, eg: Pfsense
- Now everything connected to my OpenVPN server / home wifi knows how to talk to "10.10.10.1" virtual IP address.
- Create a port forward, from 8000 to the IP address of dongle on CLIENT (eg: 192.168.1.253) given from your house wifi.
- Don't forget to repeat for VPN interface and adjust any firewall rules if needed.
I tried all kinds of nonsense with bridges, IP tables, UFW, socat, SSH tunneling, static routes... but in the end, this was the cleanest solution. The Dongle will reply back on 192.168.1.x network but your phone with the app thinks it is coming from 10.10.10.1.
Physical Setup:
- 6000XP Inverter "BAT COMM" rj45 port --> EG4 PowerPro 280AH battery CAN bus rj45 port via regular shielded ethernet cable (no special pinout).
- RS485 port on battery can be connected simultaneously to your IOT device of choice with USB adapter (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B081NBCJRS) and homemade RJ-45 cable with pinout (Orange=2=A, Orange-White=1=B)
- Inverter has Setting 3 - BRAND = 6 (luxpower)
- Battery has CAN = P07-LUX and RS485 = P01-EG4. Dip Switches = ID1 (Down, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up)
-- Could likely switch protocol back to P0-EG4/LUX on battery (need to flip all switches up to 64 to enable write access) and inverter Brand = 0 (EG4), haven't re-tried.
- https://github.com/celsworth/lxp-bridge/wiki/Inputs confirmed it can also connect to port 8000 on the dongle to dump HOLD and INPUT registers.
- Confirmed I can also connect via ttyUSB0(RS485), dump battery cell voltages, etc
Everything "just works" with this setup... documenting here for those with Google Fu and future me (probably) when I forget.
I run this on an Lenovo laptop running AMD Ryzen 4450U APU, its very power efficient. With lid closed, CLI only, its pulling less than 10w from the wall while logging data via wifi, hosting docker containers, router, OpenVPN server... Plan on powering via 48V battery terminals -> USB-C charger once its off-grid with Starlink.
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