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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image
mvader (Victron Energy) asked

Venus OS v3.10~32 available for testing

UPDATE 2023-09-01: This thread is now closed, see here instead: https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/228708/venus-os-v31032.html



Good morning!

Per just now, a new pre-release of v3.10 is available, v3.10~22.

Detailed change log below, but first more details and screenshots of the v3.10 highlights:

  1. Solar and wind priority for boats, vans, and other systems with a shore power connection.
  2. New ESS "Self consumption from battery" setting
  3. New Marine MFD HTML5 App
  4. Generator improvements: CoMap integration, a resettable service interval counter and autostart-disabled alarm.


Here are the details for those highlights:


1. Solar and wind priority for boats & vans

The new Solar & wind priority gets to work when plugged into shore. It then ensures that solar & wind power are used to charge the battery, while the shore power is only used to prevent the battery from becoming too deeply discharged.

Its a new installer setting in our range of inverter/chargers, and a new charger mode: Sustain. Here is a screenshot, also note the graphics in the battery icon:

1690869884140.png

For further details, see the Solar and wind priority draft manual.


2. New ESS "Self consumption from battery" setting

This setting allows for ESS to only use battery power for essential loads. This is relevant for ESS systems with (a) a grid meter, (b) quite significant non-essential loads, (c) Feed-in disabled. The setting allows battery banks to be sized to get critical loads through the night, without the battery being discharged into the non-essential loads.

Screenshots of the new setting, first one shows the default, all system loads:

1690870064759.png


And here the other, new, option: only critical loads:

1690870065236.png



3. Completely renewed Marine MFD / HTML5 App

1685824333731.png

(click for large)


And here a more extended system, with more tanks, and more energy sources:

1685824162825.png

(click for large)

Note that above two screenshots are taken from the design files, it might differ a bit from actual implemenation.

These are screenshots taken from the new implementation, but there I'm not able to now have them embedded in actual look on a marine MFD like above:
1685821774230.png


And white mode:

1685821833984.png


And for comparison, here is a screenshot of the old version:

1685823688829.png



4. Next, there are three more improvements related to Generators

  1. adds support for ComAp generator controllers. Integration via ethernet/ModbusTCP; using the ComAP CM Ethernet module.
  2. adds resettable down counting service interval for generators
  3. add an alarm when generator is not in autostart mode for more than 10 minutes. This is to help prevent systems shutting down because during service someone had to enable manual mode; and then forgot to put it back to auto mode. The alarm is optional and can be enabled from generator start/stop settings.


Here is a screenshot on how to enable this on a CoMap generator controller.

1685821985137.png

(click for large)


The data that is being read from the controller is:

  • AC Power, Voltage, Current and Frequency and Energy
  • Engine speed, coolant temperature, Oil Pressure, Load percentage, Operating hours and starter battery voltage.
  • Status (init, stopped, error, preheat, and so forth)
  • Auto-start status (off, manual, auto, test)

We'll later publish a list of ModbusTCP registers.

For the developers amongst you, the driver that reads that data is public; commit here. And we'll be looking to integrate other popular generator controllers as well. In case anyone can help; or has a generator with for example DSE or Deif, then please post some details (which model / modules for example) and perhaps it can be of help. A large part of the work is figuring out which model is the popular one, which is the right protocol to use, and so forth. As you can see in that commit, the actual integration is not that much code.


Then, onto the other two new features, service interval and autostart-is-off-alarm:

Here is how the new service interval is visible in the menu:

1685822170349.png


Here is how to configure and reset the new service interval:

1685822077955.png


Here is how it looks when the interval is exceeded:

1685822143912.png


Still open for this is to show this, for a whole fleet, on VRM.


The new autostart alarm setting:

1685822305012.png


Short explanation when enabling it:

1685822326891.png


Alarm notification:

1685822341197.png


Introduction to Venus OS beta testing & how to join/install

In case you don't know what this message is about, please start with reading this link, which explains the Venus OS beta program. Venus OS is the software running on all our GX devices, such as the Cerbo GX.


How to post an issue?

By posting an answer below. Do please keep all findings organised: one answer issue per issue. So first check the existing threads if your issue has already been seen. And if it does, add a comment saying "me too". And preferably some more details. And in case its not listed yet, add a new Answer.

Note that Answers and Comments are two different things on this portal.

Lastly, before posting issues, preferably first revert to the latest official release (v2.93), to double check if the issue you're seeing was present there as well. Regressions require a different treatment than other issues and bugs.

And include information about the results/differences in behaviour in your report.


Running, Node-RED, Kevin’s GuiMods or other add-ons?

Then please at least say so in your bug report.

GuiMods and other 3rd party add-ons: don’t report your gui issues here. Do it elsewhere instead.

Changes made by us often cause a compatibility issue with the GuiMods; and these betas report pages are for official firmware only.


Changes v3.10~31 and v3.10~32

ModbusTCP:

  1. Make the ESS max discharge current a signed integer
    • This is so that -1 can be set, which is needed to disable the limit
  2. Add MppOperationMode registers Individual Trackers on RS devices
    • adds registers 3731 t/m 3734 for MPPT RS
    • adds registers 3169 t/m 3172 for Inverter RS
    • adds registers 4605 t/m 4608 for Multi RS
  3. Add registers for reading- and resetting generator service interval: Registers 3510 (32-bit) and 3512


Other:


  1. Dynamic ESS beta: Correct a situation in DynamicESS where it locked out charging/buying under the DESS MinSoc.
  2. Further improve vrmlogger stability in case of storage issues, to enhance remote diagnostic options.


Venus OS Large:

  1. node-red-contrib-victron v1.5.0
    • Adds a custom input and output node. This is an extremely powerful new tool in the Node-RED tool box, which I’m sure many will enjoy. Here is the summary, also in the documentation:
    • The input node allow to read from and the output node allows to write to all found dbus services and paths. This obviously comes with a risk, as not all services and paths are supposed to be written to. So only use the custom output node if you have read the documentation and know what you are doing. Also note that used services and paths might change, so there is no guarantee that a node will remain functional after a Venus firmware update.
    • So, enjoy, but be careful!


Changes v3.10~28, 29 and ~30

  • Fix connection issue with ABB meters
  • Further developments on the new MFD/HTML5 app.
    • Add 'time to go', voltage and amps to batteries
    • Make the Batteries Overview component bigger
    • Show tanks with missing remaining and total capacity
    • Add support for all tank measurement units
    • UI improvements: change icons and make them bigger, increase text size and line height based on screen size, decrease box padding on smaller screens.
    • Fix battery names not showing on Garmin in certain splits
    • Fix missing spacing on Furuno due to unsupported CSS properties
    • General layout and spacing improvements
    • Change the breakpoints for box components.
    • Add padding for phases.
    • Remove hidden overflowed text in Boxes.

  • Fix issue causing GX Touch 50 showing the wrong resolution in case the GX device can't read the resolution data from the display. Note that this only fixes it for the GX Touch 50, not GX touch 70. What it does now is use GX touch 50 resolution by default, rather than some much larger resolution. In case you have such issue, remove/re-insert the HDMI plug a few times, that is known to solve it. And otherwise, RMA.
  • Improve vrmlogger fallback in case storage is corrupt.
  • DVCC / Managed batteries: add per module diagnostics, so that technicians and support personall can more easily identify, especially remotely, which battery module has an issue. There are currently no battery makers yet that support this.
  • Improvements for EM300 and EM500 meters in case using them for single phase systems, with their main measurement on L1, + piggybacking an inverter on L2.


Changes v3.10~26 and ~27

  • Developer only: changes to mqtt, introducing heartbeat topic. Further details will be added to the mqtt issue, and see meta-victronenergy as well as dbus-flashmq commitlog


Changes v3.10~24 and ~25

  • Internal changes


Changes v3.10~23

  • Fix bug where sometimes, consumption from a Multi-RS is not correctly logged to VRM
  • Add support for upcoming Victron Energy Meter (VM-3P75CT)
  • Few Modbus-TCP additions:
    • Add 32-bit registers for ESS/Hub4 setpoints. This is for systems larger than 32kW, using external control. The existing registers were only 16-bit.
    • Add registers for PreferRenewableEnergy and Generator selection. This allows using modbus-tcp to force a charge cycle on a system with Prefer Renewable Energy enabled. Indicating that a generator is running, or reading the state of generator selection has been added as well.


Venus OS Large:

  • Update SignalK server from signalk-server v1.46.2 to v1.46.3
  • Update signalk-venus-plugin from v1.29 to v1.30.2


Changes v3.10~22

  • Finish work for the new "Solar and wind priority" feature, for boats, vans, campers and other systesm with a shore-power connection. More details on that feature here.
  • Add new ESS setting that allows for ESS to only use battery power for essential loads. This is relevant for ESS systems with (a) a grid meter, (b) quite significant non-essential loads, (c) Feed-in disabled. The setting allows battery banks to be sized to get critical loads through the night, without the battery being discharged into the non-essential loads. Thank you @Warwick Bruce Chapman for your help in that!
  • Prepare for Dynamic ESS in VRM, the next step that is coming after our Node-RED implementation of Dynamic ESS.


Changes v3.10~21

  • fix bug in digital inputs, related to recent generator changes.


Venus OS large:

  • signalk-server: fix issue that caused the app overview page on Navico MFDs be slowish every 30 orso seconds.


Changes v3.10~18 -> v3.10~20

  • Stability improvements related to recent digital inputs change icm generator/transferswitch status
  • Internal changes


Changes v3.10~17 -> v3.10~18

Various improvements to the new HTML5 Marine MFD App:

  • Update the keep-alive mechanism to include missing data
  • Add Amps to battery overview component
  • Change theme settings menu UI&UX
  • Fix Remote Console control buttons
  • Fix "Request denied for security" issue


Changes v3.10~16 -> v3.10~17

  • Add new solar and wind priority feature for boats, motorhomes, trailers, service vans and other systems that (a) hook up to shore power regularly, (b) have solar or wind or other renewables, and (c) have a Multi or Quattro. More on this asap.
  • Add “stopping” state to the generator. Its now first running, then, if enabled, cooling down as long as configured in GX, then 15 seconds stopping to accomodate generators that take a while to stop, and only after those seconds the inverter/charger will reconnect to mains; if available. Fixes issues with generators that take a while to stop in combination with the recently added cooling down option.
  • Digital inputs: when configured to measure generator- (or perhaps more precise, external transfer switch- ) state, pass that info over to the Multi. Used for new solar in wind priority option when used on systems with shore, generator, external transferswitch and Multi; rather than Quattro.


Changes v3.10~12 -> v3.10~16

  • Fix issue in CAN-Bus timing for Ekranos, as well as RaspberryPis icm FD HaTs based on the MCP2518FD chipset.
  • Add support for Quattro-II 12/3000/120-2x50 2x120V
  • Add support for 12V Pylon batteries


Venus OS Large:

  • node-red-contrib-victron v1.4.33

    • When 'only changes' is checked make sure the initial is reported.
    • Updated documentation.
    • Support for reading from and writing to ESS schedules.
    • New examples: generator, load shedding and sum power inputs.
    • Don't show rounding on output node.
    • Minor fixes in the services file.


Changes v3.10~11 -> v3.10~12

  • Marine MFD HTML5 App: improve load speed on the MFD as well as reduce CPU load on the GX device induced by opening that app, by changing the underlying data connection. Previously this used Mosquitto MQTT broker (and a python script), now this uses a new broker called FlashMQ (and a Cpp plugin). Its mainly an (enormous) performance improvement. For comparison, on a system having 1500 data points, in the old solution this took 3 seconds and 2900 TCP packets to transmit. In the new solution this is down to 10ms and 179 TCP packets. Tech details in next bullet point:
  • Local MQTT websockets connection: use FlashMQ + dbus-flashmq instead of Mosquitto + dbus-mqtt, see above for details. Details:
    • FlashMQ and Mosquitto are now running side by side.
    • Local websocket requests, ie Marine HTML5 app, are served by FlashMQ + dbus-flashmq. All other requests, ie local MQTT requests as well as all that comes from VRM, still goes over Mosquitto + dbus-mqtt + mqtt-rpc. Changing that is the next stel.
    • Further details in this github issue. Though please don't clutter that issue with all sorts of requests, doing so triggers mails to many developers, and I'd like to keep focus / efficiency.


Changes v3.10~9 -> v3.10~11

  • vrm real time mode / mqtt: fix bug where a network issue could cause the data connection to VRM be lost, and real time display to not work properly.
  • Modbus-TCP: fix Multi/Quattro state register reporting "External control", while it should not.
  • Renewed HTML5/MFD app:
    • The back button has been moved to the footer making it reachable on Simrad devices.
    • The pagination buttons are now in the center of the footer.
    • Sensors in the Environment tab are now identifiable by the custom name of the sensor or device.
    • Implement data unavailable state for tanks.
    • Increase button touch area.
    • Fix tanks not being displayed correctly.
    • Fix Inverter control.
    • More contrast on the settings page.
  • GUI
    • Update translations
    • Add support for new Quattro-II 2x120V model
  • Various internal changes to prepare for the full featured version of Dynamic ESS, that works with Solar irradiance forecasts and dynamic tariffs as we have in the Netherlands. Proof of concept here.

  • raspberrypi: support the RS485 on the Waveshare RS485 CAN HAT (B). Thank you herrfrei!


Changes v3.10~8 -> v3.10~9

  • Add support for Pylontech Pelio-L model, including auto detect and configuration. (DVCC on, SVS off)
  • Fix bug in remote firmware updates for systems of three units and more. Bug was introduced earlier in v3.10 beta series.
  • Complete ModbusTCP mapping list for unit ids above 255. From now on it will not longer be required to get into difficulties when having a VE.Direct-connected or other type of device that has a VRM Instance above 255.


Changes v3.10~7 -> v3.10~8

  • GUI: Fix energy meter showing only a blank page. This was missing in ~7.


Changes v3.10~2 -> v3.10~7

General:

  • Allow temperature sensors to measure down to -40 °C, was -20 °C.

Under water / developer / Venus OS Large:

  • Add wifi for raspberrypi zero2w and rpi4. Thank you @Bathnm for your work on this!
  • Remote VE.Bus firmware updates: changes to accommodate new models.
  • NodeJS: update from v14.17.6 to v18.16.0. This brings us on the latest version of an LTS branch: all good for some time to come. Thank you @Bathnm for your work on this!
  • Various updates to system packages, including security issues.
  • MQTT: pre-install, but not activate, a new broker: FlashMQ. We're replacing Mosquitto, plus our dbus-mqtt service, by FlashMQ + dbus-flashmq. Further details are here.


Changes v3.00 -> v3.10~2

  • New html5/Marine MFD app. First time we’re beta testing this new UI. Its a complete redesign (totally new look including larger font size, adds tank levels, adds temperature and humidity, and more improvements) looking forward to hear what everyone thinks of it. Some things still need fixing:
    • Temperature, Humidity and Pressure sensors are not shown using their name.
    • On Simrad, the tank levels are not all aligned on the left side
    • On smaller split views, the section title, graphs and values are very squeezed together
    • On Raymarine the component in the top left overlaps the home button
    • Scroll behavior is different when component is horizontally aligned (pagination vs scroll to see more tanks)
    • Locking controls not clickable in horizontal split
    • When more than 2 batteries, battery component overflows. Not sure if this is a bug or a feature
    • Changing the units to Fahrenheit in remote console doesn’t change them in html5
  • Support for ComAp generator controller, details above
  • Adds resettable down counting service interval for generators
  • Add option to get an alarm when generator is not in autostart mode for more than 10 minutes
  • Fix VRM Portal connection for a small batch of EasySolar-II GXes (double VRM Portal ID)
  • Add Inverter and Multi RS DC Power path; fixes an issue with the EV Charger.

Developers:

  • Change how venus-data files are handled:
    • pass extraction result as argument to the post-hook ('success' or 'extraction-failed'), so it can cleanup in case of failure and/or stop continuing.
    • look for venus-data-*.suffix as well, so the file name can be changed to describe what it does. Multiple files can be present now.


Previous posts

Venus OS
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1690870064759.png (37.4 KiB)
1690870065236.png (37.5 KiB)
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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
v3.10~23 is now available, changelog above has been updated with that changes.
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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
v3.10~25 is now available. Small/internal changes only this time
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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Hi v3.10~27 is now available. Internal/developer changes related to mqtt.



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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
hi all, v3.10~30 is now available for testing, change log above.
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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Hi, per just now, v3.10~32 is in candidate. Biggest change are two new nodes in the Venus OS Large Victron Node-RED pallette.


For further details see above.


Plan is still to finish up v3.10 and release in a few weeks.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Note that the new HTML5 app as well as FlashMQ will not be included in the v3.10 release. It will have the former version.


We’ll release a new beta version that reverts those out soon.

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19 Answers
kladz avatar image
kladz answered ·

Can you add an activation time slot for the new ESS "Self consumption from battery" setting ? Thank You

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
hi, could you explain a bit more why you'd want that?
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kelzamedic avatar image
kelzamedic answered ·

v3.10~23 OS Large on Cerbo GX, Signal K server went offline from local network and from VRM Portal.


From Local, unfound address message.


From VRM Portal: Receive the following messages: first requests a security certificate, then: 

Error: remote installation does not seem to have a running Signal K service.

Reverted to V3.10~22 and Signal K server came back online.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi @Kelzamedic , I checked, and updating to v3.10~23 didn't cause any issues in my SignalK test installation:


1691145902199.png

see screenshot above. And this next one for when accessed over VRM:


1691145963680.png

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kelzamedic avatar image kelzamedic mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·

@mvader (Victron Energy) , thanks for the response.


Following your post, attempted again to upgrade to ~23. Note that I am upgrading from a fully functional/accessible SignalK server on version ~22. Still receiving the following on local access and VRM. This time I captured a screen shot of the security certificate request mentioned in the original post. Per the original post, the local certificates do not resolve this issue.


screenshot-2023-08-04-083246.jpg

Above from VRM Portal


screenshot-2023-08-04-083350.jpg


This from local.


The above accessed from a fully updated Windows 11 computer. Below is access from an android phone/tablet via VRM:


screenshot-20230804-083621-chrome.jpg


Appreciate further followup. Advise if I can provide further. For now reverting back to ~22 again.

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kelzamedic avatar image kelzamedic kelzamedic commented ·
Issue persists with beta releases up to and including V3.10-30.


Reverted back to V310-22.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ kelzamedic commented ·
hi @Kelzamedic , what is the url of your installation on VRM, and is it ok if I login remotely to see if I can find anything?


You'll then have to update again to the non-working version ofcourse.


Note that any reports about accessing SignalK via VRM are not necessary, lets focus on getting it to work locally first.

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masterjr avatar image masterjr commented ·

Me too :-)

@mvader (Victron Energy) Same error messages as @Kelzamedic

When connecting via SSH the service is listed as running but with very short up time, 1-10 seconds, seems it is constantly restarting? Web and VRM is not working. Node Red seems to have the same issues but that might have been since earlier FW.

I have not tried reverting to V3.10-22

Thanks for the great work on the fantastic Victron products.

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kenzo avatar image kenzo masterjr commented ·

> Web and VRM is not working.

Same here when going from .20 to .23, reverted back and everything is fine.

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anhoume avatar image
anhoume answered ·

Small bug in new html app: KUS NMEA 2000 fuel tank level sender doesn't show up. Might have to do with the fact that the sender doesn't report total volume, only percentage level.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem commented ·
I've noticed something similar (v3.10~23):

the marine app overview shows my 5 tanks: LP R, LP L (mopeka sensors); Waste, Black, Fresh (SeeLevel N2K sensors).

When clicking on the Tanks icon, that page only shows 4 tanks (Fresh is missing).

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mike-r avatar image mike-r Kevin Windrem commented ·
I still have this same issue as well - Blackwater tank shows up in the overview screen, but not in the tanks screen. That particular sensor is a Garmin GFL-10. My other four tanks show up just fine (one other is also a Garmin and the others come from my arduino).
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Martin (Victron Energy) avatar image Martin (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi @andre, does the KUS NMEA 2000 fuel tank level sender show up on the device list of the GX and VRM? If that is not the case, then the HTML5 app won't show it either.

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anhoume avatar image anhoume Martin (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Yes, it shows up nicely in the device list. Only missing in the html5 app.
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Martin (Victron Energy) avatar image Martin (Victron Energy) ♦♦ anhoume commented ·
@andre Do you mind if we log into your system remotely to diagnose the issue? Please enable Settings -> General -> Remote Support.
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anhoume avatar image anhoume Martin (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Sure. Go ahead! (Note that the missing tank sensor now is configured as a waste water tank.)
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Martin (Victron Energy) avatar image Martin (Victron Energy) ♦♦ anhoume commented ·
@andre Could you try v3.10~30? It includes a fix for tanks without capacity that were not shown.
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anhoume avatar image anhoume Martin (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
I just upgraded, and can confirm that all tanks are showing up now. Thanks!
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Kevin Windrem avatar image
Kevin Windrem answered ·

There are two flow pages. The the basic flow overview (not shown here) is used when the system AC connections are simple. The PV Inverter tile appears lower right above the PV Charger tile if present. The PV Inverter tile in this flow page DOES include the leg powers. This is also true for the "tile overview" shown above.

The "grid parallel" flow overview has three optional PV Inverter tile locations and none of them include leg powers. I'd agree this is an omission and the grid parallel PV Inverter tiles should include leg powers.

However, this is NOT new to v3.10 beta so should probably be moved to a new question.

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kenzo avatar image kenzo commented ·

I have deleted my post and will create a new one.

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ojack avatar image
ojack answered ·

Hello, I try to understand the advantage of the new funktion "self consumption from battery" but I can't find it at the moment.

screenshot-2023-08-03-110852.jpg

For my understanding for overall balance it should be the same if the System supports all loads for 5h (in my example) until minSoC and than supply all loads from grid as supporting only the critical loads for 10h while the normal loads are powered from grid all night. In both cases 10kWh are bought from grid and battery SoC is at 50% in the morning. I would think that the case "all loads" may be even more efficient because inverter runs on higher load in a more efficient working point.

Can someone explain this?


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Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem commented ·
Prioritizing solar and wind power over grid is a way to minimize energy cost IF you have enough renewable energy to support your loads and don't need to pull energy from the grid most of the time.


The current solution only prioritizes renewable energy for DC loads so if your AC loads are significant then this won't help much either.


ESS is a better solution overall since it allows peak shaving and managing power for all loads (AC or DC).

ESS can't be used for mobile installations however so this is a step in the right direction for RVs and boats.

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ojack avatar image ojack Kevin Windrem commented ·
You explained the new feature to priorize solar in mobile systems.

But my questions are about the new feature at ESS installations to use battery for all loads or only for the critical loads.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem ojack commented ·
Sorry. I misunderstood. I don't have an explaination of the all/critical load selection.
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Harold Halewijn avatar image Harold Halewijn commented ·
I just installed the new firmware so I have to see overnight what is does. But in my opinion it helps avoiding to empty the battery when heavy loads like EV Chargers, heatpumps etc. are on the non-essential loads side of your ESS. If you have only a 10kWh battery and your EV charger is running at 11kW you can calculate how long it takes when you are left with an empty battery. So with this setting (I assume) ESS will not compensate the non-essential energy at the grid setpoint and will take that energy from the grid.


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Harold Halewijn avatar image
Harold Halewijn answered ·

That looks like a great new setting! More control on battery behavior when running ESS. I will test this on my site right away.

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Harold Halewijn avatar image Harold Halewijn commented ·
mmm, I now see the menu item Dynamic ESS and the settings that we discussed. But I doubt if there is any logic behind these settings?


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ojack avatar image ojack Harold Halewijn commented ·

It is said above:

"Changes v3.10~22

  • Prepare for Dynamic ESS in VRM, the next step that is coming after our Node-RED implementation of Dynamic ESS."

So I don't think the feature is compleatly implemented so far.

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Harold Halewijn avatar image Harold Halewijn ojack commented ·
I know, I'm running in the testprogram for DynESS. So I knew there was something coming. But I didn't expect it here right now. And if DynESS is not available when v3.1 is released, these settings can be confusing.
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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ Harold Halewijn commented ·

Hi, this is just a note let you know that I've seen this. And indeed it can be quite confusing. I don't think that that menu should be shown the way it is now.

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jwfrary avatar image
jwfrary answered ·

With the upcoming changes where the Multi now knows the state of the external contactor for the generator to support the new sustain mode, with that then also do the same for the GUI as to where the power is coming from? Elevating the need for @Kevin Windrem Ext Transferswitch mod?

I'm not going to be in a position to test that until Wednesday, but since i have been using gui mods to do that quite a while and I'm sire many others are too. (I have Mods uninstalled at the moment as i just installed the beta and looking forward to getting hands on with it) Really looking forward to the the new UI MFD and Venus

Is there any plans to make the wakespeed alternator readout viewable in the MFD app?

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jwfrary avatar image jwfrary commented ·
I just spotted alternator in the MFD readout in the screenshots so I'm hopeful!
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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ jwfrary commented ·
Hi, yes alternator data will be visible in the MFD app.


with regards to no longer needing the Ext. Transferswitch mod by @Kevin Windrem :

What happened during our development of solar & wind priority development is that, you could say as a bonus, the GX as well as the Multi can now know status of an external transferswitch. And the GX will also use that to either show "Shore" or Generator" in the AC input box.

@Kevin Windrem can you comment on this further?


Note that there is a bug in the current betas, causing that box to show Generator always when having a Quattro and shore wired to AC in 1.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Victron's recent work is a partial solution for an external transfer switch. It uses the "generator is running" digital input to change the names of the AC input tile and to override renewable energy priority. It does not change parameters like the AC input current limit or the stop on AC present parameters. There is also a potential conflict with using "generator is running" to also indicate AC input source. If the generator is running but NOT feeding the Multi/Quattro then the GX device will improperly switch the AC input to generator. It is possible to filter the generator running state externally by including the state of the external transfer switch to minimize the conflict.


What ExtTransferSwitch adds is a second digital input to reflect the state of the external transfer switch to the GX device that is independent to the generator running digital input.

ExtTransferSwitch also allows different AC input current limits to be set for shore/grid and generator, Separate settings for stop on AC input present are also provided. The latter allows the GX device to override automatic generator run if shore/grid power is present.

As a side note, GuiMods uses the generator is running digital input to qualify time accumulation. This allows the total, daily and service time accumulation to be more accurate. It also synchronizes the GX manual run with the generator is running digital input. Together this allows external generator run control to integrate with the GX device. For example, if the generator is started by local control, the GX device manual run state will update to indicate this, and time accumulates. If the generator is stopped by local control, the GX device will deactivate manual run, but more importantly, will stop time accumulation even if an automatic run condition is still telling the generator to run. With these enhancements, it is essential that generator is running and transfer switch state digital inputs remain separate.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ Kevin Windrem commented ·
Thank you for the clear overview Kevin! From our side, any real bugs will be fixed.


But any further development, such as adding a second digital input as well as other nice features that you have are not on the agenda.

Main aim was/is to have a solution related to solar & wind priority when using an external transferswitch.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Hey both, after some discussing internally:


Having (limited) support for external transferswitches slipped in with the work on the solar and wind priority project.

And already there is a bug in there, when having a Quattro with shore wired to AC in 1.


I’ve decided to remove the showing of generator/shore in the UI depending on the digital input. I’m sorry, but we don’t have the resources now to get all into this.


Plus: there already is a nice solution by Kevin.


Solar and wind priority will still work as documented, since its completely independent from the GX device. On a Quattro, AC in 1 is, by that feature, assumed to be the generator, and thus charges at full power. And AC in 2 is for shore.

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jwfrary avatar image jwfrary mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi @mvader (Victron Energy) and @Kevin Windrem

Thanks for the great responses.

I am going to get stuck into some testing over the next few days.

As I'm using 2x multis the Quattro issue wasn't a worry.

I am using dual digital inputs though I am cheating a little as the are Actully triggered at the same time, somthing I might have to investigate altering though hasn't been an issue, the contactor is Actully controlled via a timer relay so when it switches in the Multi goes into ac ignore now for the warm up period (which is what the timer was for originally)

The GUI mods solutions been working great for me regarding the system information, tbh I have quite a lot turned off but the generator overview and the addition of alternator info really are the two things I feel should be core to Venus OS, though I know the new GUI is in the pipeline!

I'm exited to get stuck in to testing the solar priority feature, when the boats alongside we often have periods where we miss out on the benifits of our panels.

One thought I had as I was typing this, and I'm sure it's possible to achieve in node red but, linking to the forcast solar and consumption algorithms in VRM, could the Multi be switch to ac ignore when the vessels statiinary and the contactor is on shorepower? Then we would also take care of the AC loads in an intelligent way.

The assistant in the Multi is quite clunky for this and I have experimented a bit and at the moment I just use relay 2 and vrm to remotely achive it.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Thanks @mvader (Victron Energy) for the update.

I'll make sure GuiMods / ExtTransferSwitch functions properly for v3.10, including with a Quattro. I'm currently using the changes made to show Generator in the AC Input tile based on the override but will back that out also.

I think we have a very workable solution with the Victron changes for v3.10 and my mods.

One thing: Some will want the grid to override generator. I think that will work if the stop generator when AC 2 available works on the Quattro. That would need the AC 2 input to detect power when the Quattro is using the AC 1 input. Does that happen? If so, I'll make sure my changes to startstop.py handles this case if it does not already.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ Kevin Windrem commented ·

Hey Kevin,


Yes, the stop generator when AC 2 available works on the Quattro.


See: https://professional.victronenergy.com/news/detail/178/

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Ps. Otherwise, sounds good. I’m sure many people are happy that you make all of this possible!
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Mr.Orange avatar image
Mr.Orange answered ·

The Battery Guage in the Beta GUI doesn't correspond to the battery monitor selected in settings. I have Selected the Smart shunt as the system battery monitor. Instead, it is using the Closed-loop battery SOC. I am only using Closed-loop for battery data from a BMS. I changed the battery monitor settings, and nothing changed. I am Running 3.10~23

Things I have in the System:

MP2 48/3000 running ESS

Energy Meter (Carlos Gavazzi EM530) for ESS

Cerbo GX

Smart shunt 500A

Close loop battery BMS data.

48/250 Phoenix inverter

DC loads

Digital inputs and temperature sensors.


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wkirby avatar image wkirby ♦♦ commented ·
Please be aware that Beta GUI has lots of issues, hence it has not been announced yet.

If you do choose to use it now you should expect many problems with it, but but reporting them at this stage is not necessary.
An announcement will be made when it's ready for beta testing.

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myles-macaulay avatar image
myles-macaulay answered ·

Very keen to try the "Self consumption from battery" option.

I selected the option to power only critical loads from battery but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I suspect that maybe my meter is not installed correctly. I have mine measuring grid usage. Would I have to install a meter elsewhere? When I tested it a few minutes ago by turning on my water heater which is connected to AC out 2 it still used the battery. What are the prerequisites for this to work? I would think that the inverter would pull from the grid and supply AC out 2? Am I misunderstanding the workings of this setting?

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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
Hi Myles, the feature doesn’t support AC2 as it is not a metered output. This works with an external meter in front of/parallel to the inverter.
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myles-macaulay avatar image myles-macaulay nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
Thanks Nick.
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Kaj Lehtinen avatar image
Kaj Lehtinen answered ·

Hi,

@mvader (Victron Energy) - in regards to Dynamic-ESS, is the ambition that it shall be integrated/included in the 3.10 release or is the native implementation of the Dynamic-ESS targeted for a a post 3.10 release of Venus OS?

I know I seen comments on menu alternatives visible in the later betas so I'm guessing its targeted for v3.10?

I'm asking since I'm eager to test it out, but are not running Venus OS large/Node Red, if the native implementation is targeted for 3.10 then I might as well install the v3.10 beta now, otherwise I'll wait until it starts to materialize a bit more.

My install is a 3P MP II with 20 Kwh Pylontech battery bank - I'm currently controlling the ESS system with Homey & the Victron integration in Homey (3rd party) to control self consumption/export to grid in the summer and price shaving in the winter- interested in seeing how much the upcoming native implementation will help me / simplify the control setup and perhaps permanently replace the Homey control loop.

/Kaj

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Hi @Kaj Lehtinen , no. “Native dynamic ess” will (most likely) not be included in v3.10. We’ll make sure to hide those menu items when making the release. Thanks!
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Kaj Lehtinen avatar image Kaj Lehtinen mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·

Thanks,


What would the best channel for early feedback / use case dialog for the Dynamic ESS feature be? This thread I guess is border on off topic ....

/Kaj

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ Kaj Lehtinen commented ·

Hey @Kaj Lehtinen thanks for asking!, its the issue tracker here: https://github.com/victronenergy/dynamic-ess.



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terbonium avatar image
terbonium answered ·

Generator disconnect error when using "Cool-Down" timer.

Version: v3.10~23

Relay 1 configured for generator

Generator input AC1

Detect Generator at input enabled

Cool down interval 300 seconds, Warm up Interval 120 seconds.

After 1-2 minutes of generator cooldown an alarm is created indicating the generator input is not detected. The alarm clears after the cool-down period is complete and the generator stops. Can this alarm be expanded to include the state of "Ignore AC input"?


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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Thank you! A bug indeed, we’ll fix this before releasing v3.10
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Duncan Hall avatar image
Duncan Hall answered ·

I tested the Solar and wind priority on my Yacht. Frankly its what is needed as it avoids overcharging the lithium bank when in the marina and connected to shore power.


I found when my batteries (3 Fogstar drift 105AH Lithium) got down to about 20% charged the charger kicked in and maintaned the bank as desired.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image
Kevin Windrem answered ·

I'm not sure if this is actually an issue but I've been looking at the prefer renewable energy mechanism. It appears that the automatic return to normal operator following a "charge battery to 100%" (from grid) is triggered when the Multi/Quattro internal state changes from Absorption to Float. The first issue is that the minimum absorption time is 1 hour and absorption may actually end sooner, at least with other charging sources

But with a managed battery that controls the charging, the absorption voltage set in the Multi/Quattro configuration might never be reached. This would cause the system to never return from "charge battery to 100%".

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Hi, thanks for the report. I’m 99% sure that this is catered for; will make sure next week.
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jpasop (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image jpasop (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi, with a managed battery that controls the charging the system will not automatically switch back to normal operation following a "charge battery to 100%". However it will switch back when inverting or when told to do so through the user interface.

With non managed batteries, when the Multi controls the charging the Multi also returns to normal operation once the Absorption cycle is finished


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Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem jpasop (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·
Not good since the instructions (toasts in the GUI) say it will automatically return to renewable energy.
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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ Kevin Windrem commented ·
I do like it being a once off, just so user doesn’t have to remember.

Any thoughts about making it a fixed 24 hours @Kevin Windrem ?

The only issue I can think of are system for which 24 hours is not enough. But that won’t be many.


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Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·

Using renewable energy is generally a long-term thing so a fixed return might be OK.

Would it be possible to use "do not charge" from the BMS to trigger return to renewable? I don't know the interfaces to third party BMS though so that might get involved.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ Kevin Windrem commented ·

yes that will get involved for various reasons. We'll first explore the simple solution, also simple to explain, support and document, which is the 24 hours.

Thanks!

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ojack avatar image
ojack answered ·

@mvader (Victron Energy) wow, you really step on the gas... ;-)

"Dynamic ESS beta: Correct a situation in DynamicESS where it locked out charging/buying under the DESS MinSoc."

This sounds like Dynamic ESS has become more than just an entry in the ESS menu?

Is there any possibility to configure the settings for Dynamic ESS? In Venus OS and not in the NodeRed Beta Project.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi @OJack , thanks! for full details, see on our Dynamic ESS project, see here: https://github.com/victronenergy/dynamic-ess. Note that that is a proof of concept project. In the future this implementation in Node-RED will become obsolete as the functionality will move into VRM/Venus OS native.

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ojack avatar image ojack mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Thank you, i know this project. Its running on my System but has no effect this time because I have enough pv for supplying all my loads 24/7 and at the moment i am not allowed to feed into grid. It will get interesting in winter.
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Duncan Hall avatar image
Duncan Hall answered ·

A simple question when on Sustain mode.


Is the starter battery charging setup the same as the domestic? I ask because on my system with a lithium bank on the domestic the sustain mode is more appropriate when on shore power as it avoids overcgharging the lithium. However, I am concerned re the health of the lead acid starter battery bank which needs to be recharged as normal.

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derrick thomas avatar image derrick thomas commented ·
The aux battery charging output does not have it's own algorithm, it will maintain a voltage slightly below that of the main battery bank, regardless of what state the charger is in. (Also stands true of when disconnected from incoming power) The aux battery output is not actually a "charger" perse, but the output is connected to the main battery bank via a diode which acts as a sort of one way check valve.
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derrick thomas avatar image
derrick thomas answered ·

@mvader (Victron Energy) I've been playing around with the new custom input and output nodes. I have to say BRAVO, well done. By far one of the best improvements in a while. This will open up a lot of opportunities for people without having to mess around with mqtt explorer and trying to figure out the correct "formula" to read/write the registers. Well done guys.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·

Thank you! I’ll pass the compliment along to the developer

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thomas-g avatar image
thomas-g answered ·

I Upgraded my Venus GX to v3.10-32 and it broke Generator auto on/off over Relay 1. No settings were changed after the firmware update - but Generator function will auto turn on (at set SOC) but will not auto turn off (at set SOC). VRM shows Generator graph going on and off correctly - but the Relay 1 graph shows it stays on even when Generator has "turned off". The result is the actual generator auto starts but will never turn off because Relay one is no longer switching it when it should. Obviously a bug in the new firmware. I downgraded back to v3.10-17 and it is working as normal again (correct auto on and auto off on Relay 1). Something to fix in the next firmware version please.

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mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image mvader (Victron Energy) ♦♦ commented ·
Noted, we’ll look into that. Thank you for the report.
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jperez (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image jperez (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·
Hello Thomas,

We are looking into this issue but we can't reproduce it. Can you let me know the configuration you are using? Values for the soc condition, stop when grid is available, minimum run time, etc...

Are you using any custom modification for the generator start/stop service like gui mods?



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jwfrary avatar image
jwfrary answered ·

I think I found a bug in 3.10 32.

The DC loads in my system are reported in the marine app (simrad) as the battery in my case a lynx BMS, current rather than the value from the dedicated DC loads shunt. The two lag a little bit so the value isn't identical, but you can see here the sign is wrong on the dc loads and followed when I plugged the shore power in.

This GUI is such an improvement!


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kelzamedic avatar image
kelzamedic answered ·

Unknown if this is an issue, but updates to Beta versions from VRM>Device List>Firmware Update: scan lists Beta version available, but are unable to update to the new firmware. Updates from the Cerbo GX device seem to work fine.screenshot-2023-09-01-094410.jpg


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Related Resources

Victron Venus OS Open Source intro page

Venus OS GitHub (please do not post to this)