We are trying to measure the energy consumption of individual air conditioners, using one ET112 for each and collecting the data through a CCGX but we only get one displaying. Is this not possible?
asked
Is it not possible to use multiple energy meters (ET112) on one CCGX?
I have more than one energy meter in my system. One is assigned to measure grid, the other is assigned to measure PV power. Some people have three meters if they have PV on either side of the Multi / Quattro.
Did you make sure that the meters have different MODBUS ID's or is each one on it's own RS485 - USB interface?
They are all on separate RS485-USB cables via a USB hub to the CCGX.
Do you see the input from each ET112 on the screen? I would imagine the maximum is 3 (if you assign 1 to mains/genset, 1 to PV and 1 to load)?
I'm trying to give instructions to my colleagues in Haiti who are setting it up, so unfortunately I can't see the CCGX screen. I only see what comes up on the VRM portal. There I get the same data for "grid" and "AC consumption" and no data for "AC genset" and "battery power" and "PV yield". Where do we assign the ET:s to different functions?
I think I've realised how I can do it. Tomorrow, I'll have the "remote console" switched on and try from here.
I would be interested to know how you do it. I saw screenshots of menus in Venus OS where meters can be added. Not sure if that is also where you specify what they measure? I don't have a monitoring system myself - trying to determine if it makes sense to invest in my situation
The energy meters that are connected to the Venus system are not intended to be used for monitoring various external loads.
The data from connected meters is intended to be used by the system for calculating grid usage, preventing grid usage or backfeed, measuring solar yield and generator usage. They form part of the Venus system, you cannot assign a meter a role for an individual load such as an air conditioner because that data is not useful for the system.
Maybe it will be possible to modify the VenusOS to do what you need and have meters visible which don't contribute their data to the system.
Thanks for your comments! I have now managed to configure the two energy meters yet connected to the CCGX so that I can see them separately. I have one as "grid" and one as "PV inverter" and that works fine - also as a summation as "AC consumption". Maybe the third one will not work for the summation, but I guess I should at least be able to see the three separate measurement series, which is enough.
I like doing things "outside the box" (in this case the CCGX boxes…). But it's a pity that the CCGX can't just treat the input from different sensors as separate input if you wish. It's a great hub for data collection and transmission to the portal. We ended up using this in a field project in Haiti after the other monitoring system we brought there failed in many respects (mostly in remote communication). We have one "proper" solar system with batteries where we use the "normal" features of the CCGX. But in this system we only have DC - and discovered that the best way to measure DC loads was to connect more BMVs. Works fine (except that there is a little bit of a problem in keeping the BMVs apart in the CCGX, ie. which is monitoring what). Then we have a solar PV setup (three separate arrays) that powers aircons directly (no batteries). There, we set up three BMVs for DC load monitoring plus an ET112 for monitoring the additional AC input to one of the (hybrid) aircons. Unfortunately, we had to use the significantly more expensive BMV 700H there since the voltage is up to 300V from the (8) PV panels (I can't understand why the 700H is sooo expensive). Then finally, we wanted to monitor some "normal" aircons connected to the AC grid. This is where the current question came from. We bought some more CCGXs and up to three ET112 for each for different locations in the field site (just assuming that it could handle any number of ETs....). So, this last installation has nothing whatsoever to do with the normal CCGX system use. But luckily it seems to do what we want.
Hello, Erik,
I was very happy to read your blog entry. Currently I am in a student project in cooperation with Engineers without Borders. We would like to digitize a off grid college campus. Do I take it right from your block entry that you had the possibility to read the consumptions of the three ET112 meters individually in the VRM portal?
Best regards
Eike
Does anyone have more ideas around this? We have the ET on one Victron RS485 to USB cable each - connected to a USB hub and then to the CCGX.
