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Proposal_Venus OS-RaspberryPi_Smart Shunt.pngCan somebody please confirm if the Smart Shunt can be connected to a Raspberry Pi running Venus OS.
I want to transmit the data over a CAT6 cable from a Shed to the House. See attached sketch.
Which RPi model would I need?
Please note I have no knowledge about RPi but a friend who knows that stuff.
Thank you.
Like any other device with VE.direct the SmartShunt can be connected to a rPi with Venus OS but you have to use USB for that.
https://www.victronenergy.com/accessories/ve-direct-to-usb-interface
You can extend the length with (active) USB extenders.
Can't this be accomplished through VE. smart networking?
VE. smart networking is designed to transfer only a few information's between some devices.
https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/VE.Smart_Networking/en/index-en.html
An old Raspberry Mod 3 is sufficient for Venus OS because Venus doesn't need much performance power. I'm using one with a connection to a Victron Solar Charger which is connected via USB to the Victron Charger. You can find lots of Raspberry 3's on eBay. Mod. 4 works too but needs more power. Mod. 2 would work too, but NOT Mod. 1
I have exactly this configuration running with a BMV700. The PI is a standard PI3 with 1GB of RAM. I'm using the "large" version of Venus OS which has additionally a nodered instance on board which may also be of interest to you.Because in this scenario you don't need a separate grafana installation. Quite apart from the fact that all basic data and charts can be monitored inside the standard VRM portal (possible through the use of the BMV7xx).
Aditionally you need an so called VE Direct to USB cable. The USB part is pluged into the PI, the other end (VE Direct) you have to plug to the BMV7xx. The package comes with 10m of 6 core UTP cable with RJ12 connectors. One end is plugged into the BMV, the other one is connected to the shunt. AFAIK I know there is running a serial protocol on this cable with a low baudrate, so you surely can extend it to a greater length.
The installation was super easy, after flashing an SD Card and enter some basic values through the webinterface the BMV came up automatically after plugging the USB part of the VE Direct cable. Immediately it also appeared inside the VRM portal, I was deeply impressed how easy that was. And what kind of possibilities that gave to me, I couldn't have imagined that before.
Best solution I ever had.
Some basic informations build with the nodered instance from Venus OS (large)
