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Fra avatar image
Fra asked

How can I monitor the current consumed by my Phoenix inverter?

I have a 300 watt photovoltaic system on the camper where I live with mixed products Victronenergy (Phoenix, Ve direct cable and rele cyrix ct) and Epever (charge controller and remote monitor).
I can monitor the current produced and the current consumed at 12v through the charge controller.
But I cannot monitor the current consumed by the Phoenix inverter which is the most important part for me.
This is because the manufacturer of the charge controller does not recommend connecting an inverter to it. So the Phoenix is connected directly to the batteries.

I also own the Ve direct cable.
There is a way to monitor this current consumed by the inverter (I think about 20/30 Ah per day by making a calculation with the current produced).
thanks
Phoenix Invertermonitoring
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5 Answers
Stefanie (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image
Stefanie (Victron Energy Staff) answered ·

Hi @Francesco,

the display of the Phoenix Inverter in VictronConnect is only a estimate of power. It's not possible to see the exact load/current.

You'll need a battery monitor, for example the Victron BMV-712 Smart , in order to measure exact voltage, current and power and then use VictronConnect to see all these things.

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Fra avatar image Fra commented · 
victronenergy's battery monitor was too expensive for me at the moment.
But instead of buying a cheap and poor battery monitor, I preferred to buy the victronenergy Smart shunt.
It costs half the battery monitor and does the same functions via smartphone, with the only difference being the absence of the dedicated display.

The Epever regulator already provides me with all the info on current being charged by the PV and discharging by the 12 v users with great precision.
The smart shunt will allow me to integrate the current charged by the alternator and the current used by the inverter.
With a couple of simple calculations.
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Stefanie (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Stefanie (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ Fra commented ·

Yes, I should have mentioned the SmartShunt as another possibility.

Good luck and hope everything turns out as you wished.

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jwfrary avatar image
jwfrary answered ·

Hi is it a ve.direct to usb cable. if so you could use victron connect and a pc to see how much your using.


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Fra avatar image
Fra answered ·

Thanks, but i use app victronconnect and ve direct usb cable. But its no information like KWH consumed by inverter..

Im wrong??

screenshot-20201113-180241.png


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Fra avatar image
Fra answered ·

Thanks you... The only way is battery monitor with shunt.

Dont have the Phoenix inverter a internal chip thath measure current?


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Stefanie (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Stefanie (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

No, unfortunately not. It's not a measuring device like a battery monitor with shunt.

If you want full control and information, a battery monitor is a must.

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Fra avatar image
Fra answered · 
victronenergy's battery monitor was too expensive for me at the moment.
But instead of buying a cheap and poor battery monitor, I preferred to buy the victronenergy Smart shunt.
It costs half the battery monitor and does the same functions via smartphone, with the only difference being the absence of the dedicated display.

The Epever regulator already provides me with all the info on current being charged by the PV and discharging by the 12 v users with great precision.
The smart shunt will allow me to integrate the current charged by the alternator and the current used by the inverter.
With a couple of simple calculations.
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Related Resources

Phoenix Inverter product page

Phoenix Inverter Smart product page

Additional resources still need to be added for this topic