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groningen avatar image
groningen asked

How to work with different load settings - Node Red? or ....

Dear All

I would like to "play" with some loads when I have available sun and do not wish the MTTP to throttle (idle).

My idea is to send any excess solar to the boiler element (depending on weather, temp, time, SOC, etc) and maybe a circulation pump. I was thinking, if during the day when the house is in "idle" any overrun from the MPPT can be directed to the element. Some sort of IFTTT concept.... if you know what I mean.

How would you go about this? I do not wish to be a burden on anyone, so if you have a good HOW TO START youtube video or ......, I would highly appreciate it as I can try to figure it out on my own.

I also assume that some sort of relay is necessary to activate the load (maybe AC2out is an option)?

I have heard of NodeRed (not sure what it can do or what is necessary) and grafana but as stated I am not sure how to go about this. Do I need HomeAssist? or ..... for the Victron equipment?


I guess in the end, I would like to (almost) go for a smart home approach.


As stated above, any help would be appropriated.


Kind regards


Grid - tied (230V)

2 x MP2 5000

Smart shunt

MPPTs x 2

Lynx

GX cerbo




Multiplus-IIMPPT Controllerscerbo gxNode-RED
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3 Answers
xsilvergs avatar image
xsilvergs answered ·

I would suggest you install Node-Red on a computer and learn what can be achieved.

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groningen avatar image
groningen answered ·

@xsilvergs


Thanks for the suggestion. I am new to the victron community (equipment) so it is a bit of a learning curve for me (but fun).

I checked some you-tube videos and would I be right to say that I need to install Home-assist and NodeRed on a device (PC, Rasberry, etc)?

Do you perhaps have a link or PDF that gives "training" on a very basic level (just to get the hang of it). Obviously I wish to integrate this to my MP2 for loads so this would be my direction.


Kind regards



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xsilvergs avatar image xsilvergs commented ·
I would just install Node-Red to keep things simple. Do you have a Windows or a Linux PC or an old RPi?


I don't use Home Assistant or Windows but have N-R running on both Linux Mint (PC), Raspberry Pi running Raspian and an RPi running Venus Large.
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groningen avatar image groningen xsilvergs commented ·
@xsilvergs


Yes Windows, but maybe I should get a RPi to keep on permanently.

I got a very "basic" video on Youtube that explains the steps (Need to do a layout myself), but they use a dedicated controller to operate the input/output signals (commands).

I am still not fully sure how to integrate this in the VRM/Ve-Bus/etc platform (Victron) but this will be FAR in the future.

Thanks for all the help so far. If you have any tricks or ideas, please do not hesitate to send a massage. Also, I am doing this in my spare time, so progress is slow.





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usernamepasswordbs avatar image
usernamepasswordbs answered ·

You have a couple of relays available on the various Victron devices in your system already which you could use.

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