Hi,
There are a few projects on github to read the values from the EV port of Victron devices using an ESP microcontroller.
I forked that project: https://github.com/datjan/esp8266-victron-mppt-solarchargecontroller
- It uses (as almost all similar projects) the SoftwareSerial library to process the VE signal.
But this solution is unable to reliably process signals at 19200 Baud, making the solution
wonky for many MPPT devices.
I made following changes:
- SoftwareSerial is not used any more. Instead I used the Serial.swap() command to switch the hardware UART to D7 / D8. That dramaticallly boosts the performance and the serial crashes are gone.
- On the counterpart the serial monitor is not available any more for reporting over the serial monitor. Instead, I am now communicating over WiFi using the Telnet protocol.
- You don't need a USB cable between the ESP and your computer any more to control the ESP, you use Telnet instead of the serial monitor.
This has also the invaluable advantage of galvanically separating the solar unit and the communication computer. You now have the tiny ESP module as a dongle on the Victron powered from the battery over a tiny buck converter and no more cables !
https://github.com/rin67630/esp8266-victron-mppt-solarchargecontroller-Telnet
Enjoy !
Outlook: this is just the beginning !
After the Christmas weeks, I will use the resources of Drok-Juntek-on-Steroids:
https://github.com/rin67630/Drok-Juntek-on-steroids to build the derived
Victron-on-steroids.
Expect a worldwide accessible dashboard with trends, reporting and statistics with just a single ESP microcontroller for less than 5$ ! .
No additional computer / server / gateway / subscription cost required !
