Kalito

The MKS11 Plus is a genuine Voltronics product apparently manufactured specifically for a particular company here. The model number is unique to the company that requested the build. Through them I got the firmware and unbricked the device!

@Youda Just to be clear, I am trying to crimp a serial cable for a UP2500 to ICC and I note the pin assignment is different for this battery RJ11
GND RXD TXD GND Am I right to crimp RJ11 to DB9:
Null ---> 2 ---> 3 -----> 5  

@Youda Just to be clear, I am trying to crimp a serial cable for a UP2500 to ICC and I note the pin assignment is different for this battery RJ11
GND RXD TXD GND Am I right to crimp RJ11 to DB9:
Null ---> 2 ---> 3 -----> 5  

My Narada 8x200Ah lead acid batteries started showing signs of age after 4 glorious years of flawless backup and cycling. The natural choice in upgrade was lithium and I went for the SolarMD 7.4kWh battery with Data Logger. The Mecer 5KVA inverter is still going strong. It runs the lovely software I got from this forum.
 
Solar MD Data Logger has several outputs. I have connected the RS232 port on the Mecer to the like port on the Logger. It controls the battery settings on the inverter - sweet. SolarMD supports Voltronics Axpert inverters. I have CANBUS1 on the Logger connected to the SolarMD BMS CANBUS port. The Logger reads the battery through this connection and passes on the settings to the Mecer.

The Data Logger has two dry contact relays which can be programmed either manually or through an expression via the web or direct connection to the Logger using ethernet or as an AP. The data logger is connected to my home network wirelessly and logs data to the MyPower24 site.
I noticed that the battery charges by 11am and releases excess PV and only matches the house load PV. I estimated I was underutilising atleast 5kWh of PV. So I needed to add load. I have 10x Longi 430W monos. A 1.5HP sprinkler pump runs at 10am but for just 45min max. This is where the power of the SolarMD Data Logger comes in. The interface allows the setting of control of the relays by expression:

I wanted to trigger R1 by battery SOC% and to switch it off using PV power level. When the time is between 10:30 and 3pm check if SOC=>95%. If true then switch on R1. To R1 NC I connected Contactor 1 (C1) which is fed by utility power and C2 is fed by Inverter power. Both C1&2 have common output to which I have connected two loads; AC and Geysers. The Geyser line goes through a programmable Timer which ensures that the geysers are on between set time periods. C1 coil is connected to NC port of R1. C2 coil is connected to NO port.

The Load shift works like a charm! The comparison of the PV utilisation graph shows that on 30/09/20 before this loadshift circuit I was underutilising PV (Orange graph) but with load introduced after battery charge I am utilising the PV and the graph is a bell shape (yellow). I am storing excess PV as battery energy and as hot water. The battery energy used to top up when PV is flactuating is replenished after the load is shifted back to utility and the existing excess energy is drawn by the battery. Very impressed with the versatility of the SolarMD Logger.

I replaced my 5yr old Mecer 5KVA (4kW) hybrid with Victron Multiplus II 5KVA/70A Inverter/Charger and a Victron Smart Solar Charge Controller 250V/100A. The bus bar which comes with the SolarMD 7.4kWh lithium battery came in very handy. The SolarMD battery controls the Smart Solar via the SolarMD Data Logger CAN Bus2 to VE CAN on the Victron control hub, a CerboGX device (impressive little thing).
Victron's Energy Storage System (ESS) is set to Prioritise Battery life (SOC limit set to 40% for the kicks of it but would normally put it at 20%). Grid set point at 50W (will ideally not send anything beyond this to grid). The setup works like a gem and when the battery is full and its after mid morning a Load Shift circuit introduces Geysers and ACs to the inverter load to store excess solar as hot water. The 10 x 430Wp Longi monos give +5,000W on optimal solar day.
With the Mecer gone I have lost some monitoring on the SolarMD MyPower24 site but can still see the handy battery SOC info, estimated runtime and charging time. Victron VRM has all I need really. SolarMD Logger tells the Smart Charger how to charge the battery but does not pull PV data off it (I guess Victron didnt open this up). I use the Logger Relay1 and its smart customisable expression trigger to switch my Load Shift ON/OFF but its all based on SOC. With the Mecer I could use PV level to switch OFF (Oh well!).

I suppose your inverter had no CAN port! Older ones have RS232. UP2500 requires CAN coms. 

Indeed you can. You will get 5kWh of storage with +10yrs life vs the just under 2kWh and upto 3yr life of your gel batteries. UP2500 needs CAN port comms with your inverter if you wish it to dynamically control your inverter charging. 
 
 

I have two frames made out of 40x40 angle iron. That stuff is insanely useful. The important thing is to treat them with the right kind of paint/covering. My one frame is holding up very well. The other one is rusting and I plan on replacing it with an aluminium frame.

Decided to expand my PV by taking advantage of a north-facing wall. This called for some creativity on the mounting structure. The 6x JA Solar array turned out very nicely and well ventilated compared to the East-facing roof mounted Canadians.

For the support structure weilded some 50x50mm angle iron and fixed to the wall with some robots. 6m mounting rails with aluminium end clamps and mid-clamps hold the panels together neatly I think. The mid clamps leave nice spaces for ventilation

@Youda Just to be clear, I am trying to crimp a serial cable for a UP2500 to ICC and I note the pin assignment is different for this battery RJ11
GND RXD TXD GND Am I right to crimp RJ11 to DB9:
Null ---> 2 ---> 3 -----> 5  

Hi
See mine attached.
dbus-pvoutput new.py

By "SOC algorithm" I assume you mean the inverters display of SOC. That's almost completely useless, since it's based on voltage, and the LFP chemistry has too flat of a voltage versus SOC curve. But we did change it in 73.00e to display 0% at the cut-off voltage setting, and 100% at the float voltage setting, and linear in between, using compensated battery voltage readings. Patched firmware version 73.00c doesn't seem to have that "feature".
You are far better off ignoring the inverter's SOC display, and using the value from the battery's BMS (as read by ICC or other monitoring software), or from a battery monitor such as a Victron BMV.

We installed a Klip Lok roof. So the panels are mounted in a landscape orientation without a rail. Much easier and cheaper. 

Very impressive, Kalito! 
 

It is interesting. But there is one even more interesting aspect. The panel specs are based on 1,000W/sqm irradiance. So if this value in the field is higher the panel will inevitably over perform. So to resolve this dilemma I used the US Code of 1.56 factor. 9.53A X 4 X 1.56 = 60A problem solved. No more nuisance tripping - lol.

I agree absolutely with what has been said. I have 8x200Ah Naradas which are going into their fourth year. I had your dilemma and 4yrs on they are on SBU. I think I discharge them around 30-40%. They have served me some money and I am yet to see them start showing signs of age really. I have 12 x 260W panels and they are made to work to recharge them and run the load which is about your load. Hell, during the day the 1.5HP sprinkler pump is used to good use on free solar and the 1HP booster to overhead tank also runs to utilise the panels. Life is good.

Do you mean this plug:

It is an old British plug. Probably South Africa got power widely sooner than Zambia and right now it is hard to transition. It is a bad plug for several reasons tho:
Huge Sizes vary so often can't fit two plugs next to each other and the sizes aren't strictly regulation Ground pin is bigger than the live/neutral which is laughable stupid Spacing between pins are oversized for no good reason You can get fingers in there The new plug is a IEC standard if I'm not mistake:

This plug is actually pretty decent. It addresses all the points above and is backward compatible with the 2 pin Euro style plug.
UK/British plugs are just too big in my opinion and suffer from some of the same issues their older version does.
And frankly the EU plug is the worst plug I've ever encountered and I feel sorry for them. Bad design for so many reasons
US probably has the best plugs overall (although I think the new SA plug with ground is slightly smaller). The sizes are regulated, they are compact and un-switched.

If you ever need to know why anything in the world is the way that it is, ask the British. It's either their fault, or they are somehow involved in it anyway.

That's where a machine tests regularly that both sides of the PV array are floating electrically, i.e. there is no leakage to earth. This is a necessity in many jurisdictions, if the array voltage is hazardous. 
Extra Low Voltage. The hazardous voltage line has to be drawn somewhere, and it's usually called at 120 volts of ripple free DC, or 50 VAC. There seems to be a push towards even lower voltages, like 60 VDC. Lower than this is called extra low voltage, and while it can hurt a human with dry skin, it's unlikely to kill.
Over extra low voltage, it becomes low voltage, which is considered lethal. House power points are LV. It is possible to be rescued from contact with LV, and electricians train for this. 
There is medium and high voltage after that. 
So safely protocols vary depending on the risk. For low voltage (lethal) solar panels, it's possible to make say a roof silently lethal. Hence the requirement in many jurisdictions for insulation monitoring, and regulations about how persistent the alarm has to be, etc.
And if it keeps the government bureaucracy busy, so much the better (edit: from their point of view). But there is a legitimate safety concern too. 

I don't know about Australia but in South Africa anything below 1000v is termed low voltage and covered in South African Bureau of Standards low voltage installation regulations.
Needless to say, 240v @ 50Hz Ac (our standard wall outlet) is already crazy dangerous, never mind 1000v.
Medium voltage is up to 22kV, used for distribution in metropolitan areas. And anything above that is high voltage for large scale distribution.
All our cities have transformers shared by blocks of homes/businesses, Delta-wye configuration and depending where you live you almost always have either single phase (new areas) or 3 phase (old areas, especially Cape Town). Typical home breaker is 60amps (single phase) or 50amps (3 phase so 150amps total). Businesses typically have 80amp breakers (single or 3 phase)

@Coulomb I managed to update the firmware! I had to get a new USB to Serial and learnt a bit about how the chip in the adapter is important. If anyone has been having issues they can check the chips in their adapter using this tool from Prolific who provide the drivers for the adapter: http://www.prolific.com.tw/UserFiles/files/PL2303_CheckChipVersion_v1006.zip I had a PL2303 chip which Win10 will not work with. Prolific recommends PL2303 HXD or PL2303TA. The one I bought ended up being PL2303HXD

Smooth operation no issues:

 

Err, 38 - 17 = 21, so a bit more than double the current. The "bit more" was possibly because it was later in the morning, closer to solar noon. [ Edit: so it looks like this is a clone of an Axpert KS, a PWM model. ]
The sticker on the side is quite different to the Axperts, and they've gone to some effort to make the LC Display somewhat different in detail as well. I wonder if that's an attempt to escape prosecution as a blatant clone, or whether they merely used the same general specifications and designed their own from scratch?
My feeling is that it's a thinly veiled attempt to hide the fact that it's a total clone. [ Edit: actually, this one seems to be a hybrid model, it seems to be a more or less total clone with the ability to grid-tie somehow added. ]

I finally understand that question, it took a while to percolate through. It depends on which current you are using. Axperts report battery side current, not PV side current, so you need to multiply by battery voltage. If your inverter has a PWM charge controller, then the two currents would be the same. I would use battery voltage in that case, since PV voltage will be a square wave with battery voltage at the bottom and panel Voc at the top. Hopefully they are giving you the average solar charge current, not the peak charge current. These will be different during the absorb stage. 
If you had PV side current and an MPPT charge controller, then you'd needed to use PV voltage. In this last case, you'd get PV power, slightly higher than the solar charge power into the battery due to losses. 

With your current setup you have 60Volts x 25.68 Amps (8.56 amps per string x 3) = 1540 Watts available. 
PWM: 
The PWM will charge the batteries at Bulk charge (assume) 27.5 volts x 25.68 amps = 706.2 Watts. 32.5 volts x 26.68 amps can not be used as the PWM can not do anything with it so you will loose 876 Watts. Less than 50% reach your battery's. 
If all panels were in parallel,  the PVM will have 30 volts x 51.36 Amps  (8.56 amps per string x 6) = 1540 Watts available. The PWM will be able to pass 27.5 volts x 51.3 amps = 1410 watts -  internal losses,  to the batterys . In this setup you will loose only 2.5 volts x 51.3 Amps = 128.25 Watts that the PWM can not use. 
The last option is in line with the max charge current of the Unit. 

MPPT:
The MPPT will convert the access voltage into amps and sent 1540 Watts (available power) / 27.5 volts @ 56 Amps - small internal losses to the battery.   
 

It depends what you want to  achieve. These are standby batteries and so will not last with heavy cycling. With SBU you will make you system much more efficient.  You have noticed you are fully utilising your PV run loads and charging the bank. This is how I operate. In you case it does come with a cost in that your batteries would last longer in standby mode. You need to choose "Do I save my batteries for power outages or do I cycle them save more electricity and have a shorter lifespan for the batteries and replace them with batteries more suitable for my application when they start failing".