Ludolf Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 Hi guys, was wondering if anyone have experience with the solar assistant and is it recommended over the ICC software? Like most Pi/icc users im having issues with the system. Software keeps restarting leading to loss of trends etc. My ICC software is the centurion solar version, so no updates available. Please assist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MdF Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 Its horses for courses I suppose in this debate. I started out with the SolarMan app but found that to be too clunky and limited with data availability. Was looking for something more real-time to manage my system. Did a search on this forum and the first one that came up was Solar Assistant. Did the research and found it to be what I needed. Ordered online and the kit was delivered within a day as advertised. Took me all of 15min to install the Pi and get it running and have never looked back. I was upgraded to the beta version which included the Power Management tab being activated for my Deye inverter and that allowed me more control over the System Work Mode feature remotely especially when loadshedding struck again. Support has been good too. I have subsequently looked at the ICC software but am very happy to be with Solar Assistant. MdF Jurie Vorster and 87 Dream 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludolf Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 Are you using it with pylontech batteries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MdF Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 6 minutes ago, Ludolf said: Are you using it with pylontech batteries? No I am not. MdF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludolf Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 Okay so back to your installation and experience, do you experience any software reboots or “hanging ”, loss of trends at all? I understand that people tend to blame the pi’s power supply and overheating and im sure these points do play a role but my personal opinion is that the main cause for the issues would be the ICC software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MdF Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 Ludolf, as I said, I have no experience with the ICC software. When SA has "hung" there is no loss of trends or data. It is simply there when the Pi does com back online. Yes, I have also read that the Pi does have power supply issues by possibly "going in to sleep mode" or that it does get a tad too hot. Maybe try running a small USB fan to keep it cool? MdF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 I swapped from the centurion solar software to the "official" ICC software and my problems improved. The other things that really helped and you should maybe consider before buying again were 1. Buy cheap heatsinks from takealot or communica and stick them to the processor and USB chips. Then add a small fan blowing over them. 2. Buy a proper 2 amp PI power supply, whatever software you use this will help. 3. I set the pi to reboot every 24 hours using sudo crontab -e then adding 0 6 * * * /sbin/shutdown -r now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludolf Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 Thanks John, will do the heat prevention exercise as its cheap and there is nothing to lose. (How many heat sinks are we talking about?) What I am going to do on the power supply side is have a dc-dc converter fed off the batteries directly (obviously fuse protected) to have a decent amperage on the supply and also not have the dips if the inverter switches between utility and alternative supplies. Solar assistant offers 1 month free trial, im going to give it a shot on a different SD card to see what the system has to offer. I will report back on this discussion after the exercise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 I think I used 3 heat sinks but they are a couple of rand each. Please let me know how it goes RE Solar assistant. its always nice to see real world opinions MdF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MdF Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 1 hour ago, John said: I think I used 3 heat sinks but they are a couple of rand each. Please let me know how it goes RE Solar assistant. its always nice to see real world opinions Has anyone thought of using or has installed one of these micro dual fans for the Pi? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MdF Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 2 minutes ago, 87 Dream said: After the proper power supply used which to my knowledge is USB 3.0 which is Qualcomm type of charger I fitted, the device never repeated it's hanging. Could you perhaps provide a link to said power supply unit you used? MdF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isetech Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 My advice ... buy the complete solar assistant unit ... it may seem a little expensive compared to the software only. I have experience many challenges trying to make a plan to get sites up and running ... the complete unit I purchased from solar assist ... was delivered the next morning ... I installed it on site connected it to the inverter ... it has been running since ... I can log into it at any point ... no issues. All the other units I have tried to make a plan have had issue in some way or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
system32 Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 I've been using an RPI4b with 4GB RAM for 18 months: Pi.Hole/DNS/DHCP PPPoE router nftables firewall Samba NAS mqtt server PostgreSQL server Grafana Home-Assistant vnStat monitoring smokeping WireGuard Using Docker to contain the apps. No reboots or lockups in 18 months. The trick is to use an official Raspberry RPI4 power supply. I've just started using an old RPI3b (1GB 1.2Ghz) for SolarAssistant - for 6 days (was on for about 2 weeks before) - also no problems - using original RPI3b USB power supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebrsa Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 I have been using ICC from Manie of ICCSoftware since it was a Windows program. My Raspberry Pi boards and official Pi power supplies come from Pishop who are local official distributors. Never have any problems with hardware and software hanging. Inverters are 2 parallel Axpert MKS 5Kva/4Kw inverters. Battery is 240AH 48V LiFePO4 DIY with Smart ANT BMS. A Victron BMV700 battery monitor is connected to the RPi. All this is working flawlessly so I have about 5 years of experience using ICC and have no hesitation in recommending it. Not sure what the latest version (ICM) licence costs are but the ICC version is valid until 2063. From information on the ICCSoftware website it would seem that ICM is required for Deye/Sunsink so better check licencing costs and validity with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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