October 29, 20214 yr I thought hooking up a Pi3B+ with solar assistant would be a lot easier this time ... well you know what thought did. So we back to struggling with a what should be a simple task. You got to solar assistant ... download an SD card image ... flash it ... register the site (SD card) ... connect the raspberry Pi to the inverter and switch it on ... follow a few steps and bingo you have remote viewing. If only it was that simple. I can create a solar assistant wifi access point ... I can find it on the device on the local network. The frustrating part is maybe there is just one step I am missing ... the problem with solar assistant ...it feels like you are on an island on your own ... they sell you the device the software and even the cables ... but dont expect any support .. .you are own your own. I have an email address ... a contact number ... but nobody is home Unable to connect to monitoring device. Please check device internet connection.
October 29, 20214 yr I've always had a really good experience with them and can't say that I've ever had the feeling of no support, it might take a day or so but was always addressed. Have you tried to restart your pi? I've had an experience with a pi where it updated but didn't restart properly. I restarted it and bingo I was up and away.
October 29, 20214 yr Author I suppose if you only use solar assistant for DIY applications ... its not a problem if the response time for the product is 1 or 2 or 3 or more days. I am trying to setup another unit on site for a customer ... It is most likely a step I missed or a silly thing ... but as I said ... not having technical support when you are on site ... very frustrating. For example if I have a technical issue with a product from electromechanica or IDS ... you pick up the phone call the technical support ... if the person who answers the phone doesnt know the answer to your query ... they redirect you to a higher level technician. Maybe I shouldnt be using solar assistant for commercial use ?
October 30, 20214 yr Author It turns out he was "out the office" yesterday ... he did respond to my email at 11:55 last night ... as pointed out by 87 it is better to make arrangement with him prior to attempting a setup. A challenge most of us one man operations face ... I loose many customers for this same reason. Once again the issue is on my side ... due to lack of "technical knowledge" of the equipment.
October 30, 20214 yr Author So lets make it easier for others who like me are not so Technically advanced with PC's and stuff. Lets start with the basics and I mean the bare bones. The cable which links the inverter to the laptop or Pi ... this applies to both watchpower and solar assistant. The RS 232 to USB cable Before you do anything ... plug in the serial to USB cable and make sure the driver for the cable is up to date. go to my device manager ... ports and find the USB serial port If this part is not setup correctly it will create many frustrating hours and you can blow bubble till the cows come home and you will not be able to communicate with the unit. Click on the port and check the driver and the port settings ... something to note you cant set the bits per second at 921600 if the device you are going to connect with ... is only capable of 57600 ... so make sure you are aware bit rate. For example ... I am currently testing the serial port connected to a metrel power quality analyser ... the transfer rate is only 57600 ... I can see that it will link using com 1. Open the powerlink software ... configure the communication settings and make sure they are the same ... and bingo I can hear the ping as the unit connects and starts downloading. Unfortunately I dont have an "axpert" inverter in my workshop they are all on sites ... so I cant run through the setup ... but at least I know the cables are setup up correctly.
October 30, 20214 yr Author I had a pile of "non" working usb to serial adaptors ... today after doing the checks ... they are all communicating with the test device on the work bench ... wish I knew this 10 years ago. Something else I noticed ... it is best to default the usb adaptor ... it should got 9600 ... then check the device you want to link ... in some cases the device can link at 115200 however you might need to reduce the speed to get it to communicate ... then make sure the com is the same and it should work. New license for the next site purchased ... time to download the new SD card image and hopefully that will go with out a glitch ... now that we have sorted out the card reader issue.
October 30, 20214 yr Author one last thing on serial cables ... make sure it is setup device manager ... the software you are using on the laptop and just as important the device you are linking to the laptop ... if any one of these are not the same ... have fun trying to link the device.
October 30, 20214 yr Author I have older RCT inverters connected using that method ( as in the pic) those units are connected and setup using watchpower ... then I linked solar assistant for remote viewing ... they are working no problem. The one I am busy with at the moment is a SOL-1-AX-5KP ... there is a micro USB port.
October 30, 20214 yr Author The inverter I am referring to is already 2 years old (as per the model number above) ... is the USB on this model functioning ... or is it as I read somewhere ...for future use? So much easier when everything works ... downloaded the new image from solar assistant ... flashed using a functional card reader this time ... popped it into the Pi and busy setting it up ... ready for site. Something I noticed ... the site is the Pi ... not the SD card ... is that correct ...so no matter what SD card I fit into that Pi ... it will always be referred to as that site ... I had to register the SD card.
October 30, 20214 yr Author A question with regards to operating online ... I have a site which has many power dips and swells ... is there a way to lock the inverter in an online status permanently so that it doesnt switch or "bypass" ... so that the power coming out the inverter is always a pure clean sine wave? Like a UPS ... you get get online units and standby units.
October 30, 20214 yr Author That is where I saw the note ... page 5 of the inverter user manual 17. Reserved for future use (micro usb) ... hence all hassle trying to get the USB to serial connected Product Overview 1. LCD display 2. Status indicator 3. Charging indicator 4. Fault indicator 5. Function keys (Please refer to operation chapter for the detailed operation) 6. Power on/off switch 7. AC input 8. AC output 9. PV input 10. Battery input 11. Circuit breaker 12. Remote LCD panel communication port 13. Parallel communication cable (only for parallel model) 14. Current sharing cable (only for parallel model) 15. Dry contact 16. RS-232 communication port 17. Reserved for future use
October 30, 20214 yr Author It is recommended that a 2 amp power supply is used for the Pi. The operating online ... I referred to was the inverter power/bypass ... we have a very unstable power supply on one of the sites ... voltage drops to as low as 150 VAC ...which results in all sorts of issues ... however when the inverter "online" it produces a pure sine wave ... ideal for dips and swells. What happens when you have these dips (as low as 150 VAC and swells (270VAC) ... it destroys components sometime straight away ... sometimes it could take a week ... a month or a year to eventually fail completely.
October 30, 20214 yr Author Finding a Pi3B+ is proving to be a challenge ... having the WiFi capabilities makes it easier to setup if the inverter is in the garage or outbuilding ... if you have a network cable at the inverter no WiFi module is required ... my demo Pi is a 3B+ ... however the WiFi module is faulty ... I thought plugging in a USB WiFi adaptor would resole the issue. I didnt resolve the issue ... so I have the Pi next to the router while I set it up. I probably requires a driver ... I dont know how to setup a WiFi adaptor on a Pi used with solar assistant .. .maybe one of the smart tech fellas can assist?
October 30, 20214 yr Author Next step ... the site is registered. Configuration - general complete Network settings - status UP next - inverter model -axpert connection - usb direct Battery - use inverter values next step - connect ... I need to go to site and plug the pi into the inverter. lets hope it is as simple as pressing the connect button. any tips on pairing the Pi to the mecer king inverter ?
October 30, 20214 yr 5 hours ago, isetech said: A question with regards to operating online ... I have a site which has many power dips and swells ... is there a way to lock the inverter in an online status permanently so that it doesnt switch or "bypass" ... so that the power coming out the inverter is always a pure clean sine wave? Like a UPS ... you get get online units and standby units. Use option 10: Operation mode Online. (default is auto) To be sure it stays that way: set option 23 to Bypass Forbidden.
November 2, 20214 yr Author After all that cabling setups and wasting time ... it turns out the micro USB in the mecer king works ... but not that simple ... Tried a few times with different cables no luck ... eventually I got the cable I use for my garmin to connect ... it was as simple as plugging in the cable going to solar assistant scrolling down to connect ... tap connect ... by the time I got back to the workshop ... it was online. Thats when it already started getting interesting ... the battery cutout voltage set by the installer 43 VDC ... as per the other thread ... eeeeish ... lets hope the AGM 240 amp/hr batteries are not already damaged thanks to Eskom stage 4 load shedding ... first setting adjustment ... cutout voltage reset from 43 to 48 VDC. 45 minutes ago load started on the site ... the battery voltage graph shows the same affect as the RCT inverter on the other site ... as the grid voltage drops ... the battery voltage drops from 54 VDC to 50 VDC ... then flattens out at 50 VDC ... battery indicator on the dashboard shows 26 %. It is going to be interesting to see the trend of the batteries and whether or not they will keep the house powered for the rest of the load shedding. There are 4 x 240 amp/hr AGM batteries ... a couple of months old.
November 4, 20214 yr Author Living and learning ... The new Pi arrived yesterday afternoon ... its time to swop out the test unit which is up and running on site. What I have learnt is that you cannot just pop an SD card out and put it into a different Pi. I got a new SD card ... flashed the site download to the card ... basically registered the new setup (Pi and Sd card) ... plugged in the lan cable ... found the "site". I can see solar assistant in WiFi setting on my phone. Logged in and went to edit ... setup the new SSID and password and walla ... it should link to the Wifi ... if only it was that simple. A message pops up ... cannot connect to joe soap network ... do you want to connect to solar assistant ... and so we go round and round. Lets see what happens to today. We know the micro USB cable is a power and data cable (used my garmin cable) ... we know the unit links to the mecer king and we know the Wifi card on the new Pi works because we can see it in Wifi settings on my phone ... I know I have the correct SSID and password ... made sure by disconnecting and reconnected using the same password. I need to figue out simple way to setup solar assistant. Sourcing a Pi3B+ is also a challenge ... contacted a company they loaded the unit for me ... added it to basket ... they added an additional 6 units ... by the time I went back to order the other 6 ... "out of stock"
November 4, 20214 yr Author two and half hours of frustration ... eventually the Pi linked to the WiFi ... and boy did I try everything. I even took my laptop from my office to site so that I could eliminate any other issues ... like the old netbook (site PC) software. Checked the WiFi SSID ... password ... verified the password on the laptop and the phone ... then again on solar assistant and again and again. The when I entered 10.0.0.5 ... I could see the Pi was linked to the mecer inverter ... just not the WiFi The property does have a fibre line. Eventually I just left the laptop with the tab "please wait" open ... after 10 minutes I tried to link using to solar assistant from the phone ... it logged into the site ... I went back to the laptop and restarted it ... it is now linked ... what the issue was ... I have no idea. Another concern with solar assistant ... inviting people to view the site ... sent an email ... the customer opened the attachment ... it worked ... then logged out and tried to view the site in the morning ... put in the email address and password ... a tab pops up "forgot password" ... got an email and rest the password ... but now the customer has full admin rights to the site and can make adjustments. What have I learnt ... A lot ... not much anyone could teach me about setting solar asssitant and all the challenges that come with it ... "if you dont just buy a complete unit with everything loaded" ... if you have lots spare time and patients go the DIY route. Order the USB micro cable for the axpert king inverter while you about ... you dont want to be sitting like a fool with a power only cable plugged in between the inverter and the Pi and the cable doesnt have data cables connected. Make sure you have the Pi and SD card for the site. Setup everything in your office or at home ... makes sure you understand the process ... be it WiFI or lan connection. Check the WiFi module on he Pi works ... another reason you could sit like a fool waiting for it to connect ... been down that road already ... at least I know to use the lan connection when testing with that Pi.
November 4, 20214 yr Author For the record ... I am not trying to put you off solar assistant ... It is a good product once you have it setup and linked ... I see there are regular software updates which tells me they are fixing or improving the product. I have no affiliation to solar assistant other than than buying the software ... would I recommend the product from the experience ... the service is a bit slow ... but once up and running ... it works. I am still going to start scratching the MQTT side of it as soon as I have some spare time ... looking forward to it.
November 5, 20214 yr Author Good news ... the new Pi is installed and solar assistant is up and running ... shut the system down to tidy up the installation ... switched on once completed ... logged into solar assistant and everything reconnected and operating. Stage 4 Load shedding kicked in from 14.00 till 16.00 ... now to monitor the system and see how we can optimise the settings. I think we going to be upgrading to a hybrid inverter soon.
November 6, 20214 yr Author Why remote viewing ... at the time (around 2-3 years ago) of installation I believe the installer with limited knowledge and resources attempted to install what he considered the best bang for buck ... and we all know that solar technology is improving and dropping in price at such a rate that at the time it may have been considered a standard budget system ... not having a remote viewing ...is like an electrician arriving at your house with a duspol tester ... after telling him that the thermographer has noted you are experiencing high temperatures on your neutral which could be caused by harmonics ... thanks to all the old technology electronics in your building ... he will be able to tell you the power on but thats about it. What happens in many cases ... a person may want a solar system installed for load shedding only ... but after a year or 2 they realise that load shedding is not happening all day ... everyday ... so they start looking at the system and see it as a money pit ... something which requires maintenance and upgrades ... especially if at the time there was a budget consideration ... so the lead acid route would have saved a buck or 2 ... and then went and spent way more than they should have on the AGM route ... thinking it was a better long term solution ... boy has that backfired on many people ... spending as much as R6-8000 per battery ... and as I have personally experienced ... battery failures in as little as 2 years ... and as expected ... when I contacted the battery company who supplied the battery ... as I mentioned "battery failure" ... the next sentence was "do you have a temperature probe in the battery compartment?" ... the answer was no and so the fight started. Then you start doing a little research ... reading articles ... watching a few hundred youtube channels ... and realise that you need to start looking at the system settings ... 1 incorrect setting could cut your battery life by as much as 80% (a thumb suck figue) for example the battery cutout value ... from what I have read ... setting a lead acid battery cutout below 45 VDC ... you might as well send in the loan application for a new battery bank.
November 6, 20214 yr Author Now that I can see the trends ... resetting the battery cutout voltage to 48 VDC ... might be cutting it a bit close ... the battery went down to 48.1 VDC just as the power returned after 2 hours of load shedding. what was interesting to note is the response of the AGM batteries to the standard lead acid batteries. The AGM's (240 amphr) are brand new and the lead acids (210 amphr) are 3 years old. When the lead acid trend reaches 48 VDC ... it drops like a stone ... but the AGMs are still trending level ... I am going to drop the cutout voltage to 46 just to watch the trend ... I wan to see where the AGMs start to drop significantly ... will create the same constant 1000 watt load.
November 9, 20214 yr Author Solar assistant related queries: A question with regards to the IOS platform and solar assistant ... I have the latest version of IOS. The problem ... I cant view the charts ... all that happens is I get rolling "loading grafana" If I go to one site using my laptop using windows 10 ... no problem. Second problem ... what I believe might be related to the 2.4 and 5 Ghz wifi. When I attempted to connect the Pi3 to the wifi network it tooks forever and eventually I just logged in using the laptop and it worked ... even though it showed that it had no completed the connection. Everyday when I attempt to log in to that specific site ...some days it works and other days it shows this message: "Unable to connect to monitoring device. Please check device internet connection." Anyone lese experiencing these issues?
November 9, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, isetech said: Everyday when I attempt to log in to that specific site ...some days it works and other days it shows this message: "Unable to connect to monitoring device. Please check device internet connection." I had this issue in the beginning too and it was suggested here that the Pi be moved to somewhere where it is not in contact with the batteries or close to the cables of the installation. Interference from the electrical installation was cited as the probable cause of affecting the wifi connection. I simply moved the Pi to about a meter away from all the equipment and connectivity has not been a problem since. Also check the quality and strength of your wifi where the Pi is located. The further suggestion to this was that if moving the Pi did not work, then use an ethernet connection. I have not gone that route yet as it would be over 30m of cable to trunk and moving the Pi to where it is now seems to have resolved the issue. MdF
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