Hello Victron Community,
I live aboard a yacht equipped with the following Victron components:
- MultiPlus 3kVA-230V
- SmartSolar 100|30 MPPT
- Smart Shunt
- Lynx Distributor
- CerboGX (running 3.20~27)
- GX Touch 70
Power Sources:
- House Batteries: LeadCrystal, total 440AH
- Solar Panels: total 510W
- Shore Power: 230V currently charged by the marina at 0.44 AUD per kWh (relatively high)
Load Distribution:
- All power outlets run off the inverter AC-Out1 when connected to shore power.
- AC-Out2 is dedicated to high-power loads like the Airconditioner and Hot Water Heater. - Someday I will start a project to resolve this but it's an expense I can't justify right now.
Desired Outcomes:
Optimizing Battery Usage Over Shore Power:
I aim to reduce reliance on shore power, considering its relatively high cost. While the Airconditioner and Hot Water Heater are connected to AC-Out2 and there is not much I can probably do about that (cost of comfort), I want all loads from power outlets to prioritise using inverted power from the batteries rather than AC-IN. tracking energy useage recently, I notice I have a lot of potential Solar energy going unused.
Switching to inverter-only mode would solve this but does eliminate AC-Out2 for high-power loads - which is not ideal for my marriage to provide cold showers.
Any design suggestions or improvements to achieve this balance would be greatly appreciated.Accurate Monitoring of Shore Power Consumption:
I am currently using a SignalK - InfluxDb - Grafana dashboard solution running on my boat computer to monitor energy use,
Ultimately I want to display two metrics - kWh used and estimated cost = kWh x cost per kWh
I have come across a hurdle as I do not have access to obtaining accurate total energy consumption from shore power. Unless I am mistaken the Multiplus II does not have a DBus register to record that. I think I need to put an energy meter on AC-IN to get this information.I'm looking for recommendations on an energy meter connected to AC-IN that records the total Wh used and can pass that data via SignalK to my database.
Again, any design changes or device recommendations to enhance monitoring accuracy would be welcomed.
Please note that I am open to any design changes that can optimize energy efficiency and provide more accurate monitoring.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I appreciate any past experience, expertise, and guidance.
Best regards,
Craig
(SV-Savant)
