I can't believe it's taken me this long to find this forum/thread, I've been doing it by myself on a set of 3 Deye Inverters (I think they're Sunsynk rebrands or vice versa?). 

I am looking to optimise my battery storage/grid export implementation from an efficiency standpoint. Having 3 inverters sitting active the whole time is wasteful when a single inverter being active covers 99.9% of my house's normal power consumption needs. (I have the 3 inverters because I'm on Octopus Agile in the UK so I need to pull as much from the grid I can in as short (cheap) period of time).

I can use the node-red interface to modify essentially every useful Modbus register with the exception of ID 417 which controls the inverter Parallel settings. I want to edit this register so I can disable (turn off) inverters (I have relays hooked up to the power buttons on the undersides), enable/disable parallel, then switch on only the inverter(s) I want running (essentially the minimum for the load/grid charge power I want at any given time). According to the tech at Deye (who replies once in a blue moon) this is possible (he's shown me vague and blurry modbus messages confirming this), but I can't get it to work, or at least I don't know what state(s) the inverters need to be in for it to work.

Can anyone who has more than one inverter running in parallel see if they can write register 417 (clearly with the inverters switched off/disabled to prevent damage) and have the changes reflected in a subsequent read? (For this I'm trying to read/write 1026 (dec) 0402 (hex) to this register for parallel off, and 1027/0403 for parallel on, which matches the Deye tech's values).

Well up for a conversation with anyone about this, it's good to find some like minded people! :D


 

Welcome tjs000 ,

I would suspect that it may have something to do with the format in which you are trying to write the settings. Maybe if you try the process the other way around, you may be able to get an answer from DEYE on how to set it up manually and then just write those settings back to the inverter. 

Firstly I would have a look at Bloubul7's Node Red flows and see if it currently reads the 417 registery settings (I would guess that it doesn't) and then rewrite the flows to just read the 417 registry. Store the setting so you can write them back when necessary.

I would then try and set up the inverter manually to switch off the unused inverters, if you can get that to work then read the 417 registry again to see how the settings are changed with the unused inverters switched off and then save those settings.

The 417 registry is marked as R/W so you then should be able to just switch between the settings by writing the settings that you have stored.

Good luck. 

Hi Sc00bs, 

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty sure the format is correct. I have requests/registry reads in my flow(s) already, and the values I'm trying to write are the ones that changing settings on the touch-screen results in on the inverter.

Switching the inverters on/off using the button at the bottom doesn't change any of the parallel settings, the only way I've found to do this is using the Parallel Settings screen in the advanced settings menu. With Parallel off (on the master), value is 1026, and on is 1027. On inverter 2 (slave) it's 2048 and 2049, and on inverter 3 it's 3072 and 3073.

I can observe/read register 417 changing when I change the settings on the touch screen, but writing the registry with these values changes nothing. I read/write values using the same methods on every other registry I've tried, but 417 does/will not change. 
 

The flow is a bit of a mess, but until I can turn Parallel on/off, I get all the info I need from other sources (other power monitors, BMS interfaces, spoofing Battery SoC, the on/off button relays etc), so this is purely for testing..

I have just installed a Sunsynk 5kw 1P and came across this thread started by @Bloubul7 and the other one started by @Sc00bs and looks to be exactly what I'm after as I'm already running Home Assistant with some smart switches and lights around the house.
Thank you to all who have been involved in this.

I would like to get clarity on something please. Am I correct that I can plug-in the RS-485 to USB adapter into my HA box and do all this from the same device?
I gather I would still run the MQTT output from the flows and then get HA to read the MQTT from itself so I use various values from the inverter to trigger things in HA?

My HA is running on an Intel NUC, Celeron with 4Gb RAM, do you think it will cope with this extra load?
I have a 20m USB cable, with signal booster in the middle, running from where my inverter is to the cabinet where the NUC is. I had that USB cable from my old Infinisolar inverter to a PC running Solarpower for a while with no issues so hoping it will work for the RS-485 so I don't have to try run a new LAN cable.
I do have a Pi I could use closer to the inverter but am trying to avoid that if possible if I can just run it from the NUC...

1 hour ago, RhysMcW said:

I have just installed a Sunsynk 5kw 1P and came across this thread started by @Bloubul7 and the other one started by @Sc00bs and looks to be exactly what I'm after as I'm already running Home Assistant with some smart switches and lights around the house.
Thank you to all who have been involved in this.

I would like to get clarity on something please. Am I correct that I can plug-in the RS-485 to USB adapter into my HA box and do all this from the same device?
I gather I would still run the MQTT output from the flows and then get HA to read the MQTT from itself so I use various values from the inverter to trigger things in HA?

My HA is running on an Intel NUC, Celeron with 4Gb RAM, do you think it will cope with this extra load?
I have a 20m USB cable, with signal booster in the middle, running from where my inverter is to the cabinet where the NUC is. I had that USB cable from my old Infinisolar inverter to a PC running Solarpower for a while with no issues so hoping it will work for the RS-485 so I don't have to try run a new LAN cable.
I do have a Pi I could use closer to the inverter but am trying to avoid that if possible if I can just run it from the NUC...

I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be able to work. As long as the RS485 converter doesn't mind the long USB cable. Which rs485 USB do you have? Had problems with the one mentioned in the previous posts, and ended up with a Pi Zero and a 485 hat. Cpu load on the nuc is of no concern. 

14 minutes ago, jacauc said:

I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be able to work. As long as the RS485 converter doesn't mind the long USB cable. Which rs485 USB do you have? Had problems with the one mentioned in the previous posts, and ended up with a Pi Zero and a 485 hat. Cpu load on the nuc is of no concern. 

Great, thanks @jacauc will continue with the setup.
Yeah, I got the same RS485 that was mentioned to have issues, before I found the mentions of the issues, going to give it a try anyway but will get another one if it is a problem, will short connect it to a Pi if needed for testing to confirm if it works or just my long USB cable as a problem.

4 minutes ago, RhysMcW said:

Great, thanks @jacauc will continue with the setup.
Yeah, I got the same RS485 that was mentioned to have issues, before I found the mentions of the issues, going to give it a try anyway but will get another one if it is a problem, will short connect it to a Pi if needed for testing to confirm if it works or just my long USB cable as a problem.

I mean it works, just not perfectly. 

2 hours ago, RhysMcW said:

I have just installed a Sunsynk 5kw 1P and came across this thread started by @Bloubul7 and the other one started by @Sc00bs and looks to be exactly what I'm after as I'm already running Home Assistant with some smart switches and lights around the house.
Thank you to all who have been involved in this.

I would like to get clarity on something please. Am I correct that I can plug-in the RS-485 to USB adapter into my HA box and do all this from the same device?
I gather I would still run the MQTT output from the flows and then get HA to read the MQTT from itself so I use various values from the inverter to trigger things in HA?

My HA is running on an Intel NUC, Celeron with 4Gb RAM, do you think it will cope with this extra load?
I have a 20m USB cable, with signal booster in the middle, running from where my inverter is to the cabinet where the NUC is. I had that USB cable from my old Infinisolar inverter to a PC running Solarpower for a while with no issues so hoping it will work for the RS-485 so I don't have to try run a new LAN cable.
I do have a Pi I could use closer to the inverter but am trying to avoid that if possible if I can just run it from the NUC...

Hi Rhys

It will all run on an Intel Nuc Box running HASS with the suplimentary apps installed. Home Assistant brings everything together and provides connections to most IOT devices, MQTT for direct current values in HA, Node Red for the Automations & linking to the Modbus connection on the inverter, Influx DB for storing all the time based data that it gathered by Node Red and Grafana for being able to format the data in a graphical way that is easy to understand and customise.

The flows that Bloubul7 wrote have been updated and are being maintained by Jacauc on his Guthub page  https://github.com/jacauc/SunSynk-NodeRed to include the feed from NR into the MQTT running on HA.

 It took a little time for an "average joe" like me, to wrap my head around, and a LOT of youtube videos on Node Red and Home Assistant, but in the end it is reasonably easy to understand the basics once you understand how everything links together. 

If you get stuck just give us a shout 🙂  

 

 

I have been thinking of trying out a Waveshare RS485-Ethernet converter for my connection to the Inverter as it would allow me to move my NUC from out of my garage next to my inverter. 

Has anyone else tried one of these out? 

https://www.waveshare.com/rs485-to-eth.htm 

I have one lying around so will give it a bash in any case and see if it works better than the USB - RS485 adapter

On 2021/06/10 at 10:54 AM, tjs000 said:

Hi Sc00bs, 

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty sure the format is correct. I have requests/registry reads in my flow(s) already, and the values I'm trying to write are the ones that changing settings on the touch-screen results in on the inverter.

Switching the inverters on/off using the button at the bottom doesn't change any of the parallel settings, the only way I've found to do this is using the Parallel Settings screen in the advanced settings menu. With Parallel off (on the master), value is 1026, and on is 1027. On inverter 2 (slave) it's 2048 and 2049, and on inverter 3 it's 3072 and 3073.

I can observe/read register 417 changing when I change the settings on the touch screen, but writing the registry with these values changes nothing. I read/write values using the same methods on every other registry I've tried, but 417 does/will not change. 
 

The flow is a bit of a mess, but until I can turn Parallel on/off, I get all the info I need from other sources (other power monitors, BMS interfaces, spoofing Battery SoC, the on/off button relays etc), so this is purely for testing..

Hi TJ 

On the Modbus document that I have, it has the 417 Register marked as R/W so strange that it cannot be written to. 

Maybe someone else who has more experience with Modbus can comment, can only guess that there may be some other setting/value that needs to be changed to allow that value to be written. 

Good luck, keep us posted please. 

 

 

sunsynk_modbus - no chinese.docx

22 minutes ago, Sc00bs said:

Hi Rhys

It will all run on an Intel Nuc Box running HASS with the suplimentary apps installed. Home Assistant brings everything together and provides connections to most IOT devices, MQTT for direct current values in HA, Node Red for the Automations & linking to the Modbus connection on the inverter, Influx DB for storing all the time based data that it gathered by Node Red and Grafana for being able to format the data in a graphical way that is easy to understand and customise.

The flows that Bloubul7 wrote have been updated and are being maintained by Jacauc on his Guthub page  https://github.com/jacauc/SunSynk-NodeRed to include the feed from NR into the MQTT running on HA.

 It took a little time for an "average joe" like me, to wrap my head around, and a LOT of youtube videos on Node Red and Home Assistant, but in the end it is reasonably easy to understand the basics once you understand how everything links together. 

If you get stuck just give us a shout 🙂  

 

 

Thanks @Sc00bs, yeah I've been running HA for a while now, previously on a Pi 4 but changed to the NUC about a month back, with NodeRed. I use NodeRed for the logic and HA for the pretty UI with buttons etc to trigger NR flows.
It also took me a while to get into HA and NR but really like it now so looking forward to having some decent inverter data do do more. My previous Infinisolar and ICC was very flaky and the MQTT from the ICC was down more than up so couldn't do much with the data.
I did read through the thread you started and saw the mention of the Github by @jacauc which I have downloaded, thank you @jacauc for putting that together.

Happy to help. Unfortunately NR flows are not very good on a platform like github because of all the coordinate values, but it does the job I guess. 

Been looking at getting a NUC. Where did you buy it from and are you happy with the performance? 

Want to run all of the above on it, and maybe plex media server also. 

2 minutes ago, jacauc said:

Been looking at getting a NUC. Where did you buy it from and are you happy with the performance?

I found it on Facebook but actually got screwed a little. The post stated it was one of the i5 models but when I got it home and powered it on I discovered it was actually the Celeron version, so if you do look at one second hand make sure you get the model number off it's base sticker and Google that model to confirm its spec.
Even though it's only the Celeron CPU (with 4Gb RAM) it is significantly better performing than the Pi 4 (with 4Gb RAM) so still very happy with it, I may just upgrade the RAM to 8Gb though as I see HA likes using RAM so want to give it some more. It's not super heavy on RAM but if you drop into the shell in the OS and run "top" you can see it uses what it gets, which is not a bad thing (Linux based OS's handle memory great compared to crappy Windows) but I'm sure it would benefit from some more.

44 minutes ago, jacauc said:

Happy to help. Unfortunately NR flows are not very good on a platform like github because of all the coordinate values, but it does the job I guess. 

Been looking at getting a NUC. Where did you buy it from and are you happy with the performance? 

Want to run all of the above on it, and maybe plex media server also. 

I got am I5 slightly older version for R1500 on Facebook, is way faster than a Pi3 and loads more space, 16gb ram and a 256gbSSD

Question regarding InfluxDB...
I had added MariaDB to HA when I was pulling data via MQTT from ICC, does InfluxDB replace that as the DB now?
I don't need the historical data in MariaDB so not worried if I lose the data.

1 hour ago, RhysMcW said:

does InfluxDB replace that as the DB now?

guess it does, read the InfluxDB documentation and saw the details to get HA using it...

4 hours ago, Sc00bs said:

I have been thinking of trying out a Waveshare RS485-Ethernet converter for my connection to the Inverter as it would allow me to move my NUC from out of my garage next to my inverter. 

Has anyone else tried one of these out? 

https://www.waveshare.com/rs485-to-eth.htm 

I have one lying around so will give it a bash in any case and see if it works better than the USB - RS485 adapter

Yes, I have used the waveshare wifi unit as my first attempt and didn't have any issues. The polling rate was slightly slower than the Raspberry Pi though.  But we are talking miliseconds

Edited June 18, 20215 yr by Bloubul7

Hey @Bloubul7. Do you have any experience setting up monitoring of Pylontech batteries with Node Red that you can share with us? I'd like to get individual sets of data from each of my batteries in my battery bank, which the BMS doesn't report to SunSynk, so hoping to get it directly from the batteries themselves. 

On 2021/06/24 at 10:42 AM, JuanH said:

Hey @Bloubul7. Do you have any experience setting up monitoring of Pylontech batteries with Node Red that you can share with us? I'd like to get individual sets of data from each of my batteries in my battery bank, which the BMS doesn't report to SunSynk, so hoping to get it directly from the batteries themselves. 

Took a while to figure it out, but managed to slap a solution together, for anyone who is interested:

 

On 2021/06/18 at 5:32 PM, jacauc said:

RS485 converter doesn't mind the long USB cable

RS485 is supposed to be able to run for *LARGE* distances, so I'd suggest, run a single twisted pair of RS485 to the adapter at the computer....

1 hour ago, Kalahari Meerkat said:

RS485 is supposed to be able to run for *LARGE* distances, so I'd suggest, run a single twisted pair of RS485 to the adapter at the computer....

I had the long (20m) USB cable for when I originally had a PC connected to the Infinisolar for monitoring etc with the PC sitting inside instead of in the garage with the inverter.
I have tried the RS485 at the Sunsynk and using the long USB, and did get data, but have now pulled a CAT6 LAN cable, about 15m, which is connected to the Sunsynk BMS RS485 port then connected to the RS485-USB plugged into my NUC running HA. From what I read the spec on those RS485-USB adapters and they state that the RS485 side can run up to 1200m...

Note that I have the cable in the BMS RS485 port on the 5k Sunsynk and not the port labelled just as RS485. I had originally tried the RS485 port but I get zero data from it...

Now that I am getting data from the inverter into InfluxDB viathe Node Red flows, thanks again to all, I just noticed that the PV1 and PV2 current seems to be "incorrect", unless I'm not understanding...
As example, a few minutes ago the reading for PV1 power was 174W and PV1 volts was 232.7v and at that same data-point the PV1 current was stored as 7A.
My understanding was that watts/volts=amps so 174/232.7=0.747A so seems to be needing to divide values received by 10 - or am I missing the plot here?

I do see in the flows, the node named Solar_PV1_Amps has calculations that include "/ 1", so should that not maybe be "/ 10" ?

Just tried that, edited the node and changed the "/ 1" to be "/ 10" but then I get 0.07A for those same values so clearly not as simple as I thought...

Edited July 1, 20215 yr by RhysMcW
adding additional comment

5 minutes ago, RhysMcW said:

Now that I am getting data from the inverter into InfluxDB viathe Node Red flows, thanks again to all, I just noticed that the PV1 and PV2 current seems to be "incorrect", unless I'm not understanding...
As example, a few minutes ago the reading for PV1 power was 174W and PV1 volts was 232.7v and at that same data-point the PV1 current was stored as 7A.
My understanding was that watts/volts=amps so 174/232.7=0.747A so seems to be needing to divide values received by 10 - or am I missing the plot here?

I do see in the flows, the node named Solar_PV1_Amps has calculations that include "/ 1", so should that not maybe be "/ 10" ?

That's what I have done. I think temperature values are also tenfold 

2 minutes ago, jacauc said:

That's what I have done. I think temperature values are also tenfold 

thanks @jacauc, that pointed me in the correct direction...
My temp values are correct so I looked at the formula for them, I was on the correct track, you need to leave the first line as "/ 1" but change the other two lines to be "/ 10" in node Solar_PV1_Amps and Solar_PV2_Amps, then you get the values I expect to see...

I've really been enjoying being able to get live data from the inverter...

I finally got to look at the NodeRed dashboards that @Bloubul7 put together. I noticed that on the System Settings dashboard that all seemed to pull correctly from the inverter except for the Grid Charge and Use Timer buttons, which remained off even though there should've been some on.
Digging into it a little and adding some debugs I noticed that, for the Grid charge settings, I was getting a return value of 5 for those on my actual inverter settings were on and a value of 4 for those that were off.
I've changed the function nodes "For_GC_Z(1-6)" line 3 from "if (a == 1 ) {" to now be "if (a == 1 || a == 5) {" and now the System Settings dashboard buttons for the Grid Charge all show as per my inverter settings. I left in the check for value of 1 just in case things change and also useful if this gets into the flow code on @jacauc GitHub and value 1 is still valid for some/most.

For the use timer I was getting a value of 255, which corresponds to the "sunsynk_modbus - no chinese.docx" (thanks @Sc00bs) for address 248 which shows "0 Disable" and "0xFF enable", so I've changed the function to check for a value of 255 instead of 1.
Now the Use Timer button on the dashboard also shows as on...