I just got my first Victron controller (BlueSolar 75/15) and am very pleased with it, and finally decided to swap out my old and junky inverter with the very solidly made Phoenix 12/250 unit. So far so good - basically I only need to charge my laptop and tool batteries with 220v when working in the garden.
However I do want to know how much current my inverter is pulling and have that tracked on the Android app (I'm a techie and a bit of a control freak - it's why I'm replacing my garden setup bit by bit with better equipment) and am a bit dismayed that the BlueSolar charge controller is not able to poll the Phoenix inverter for status and current amp consumption (I know now that this is approximate, but hey, it's a garden!). I understand that VE Direct is a bidirectional serial bus, so it would make total sense that a user can chain the devices using VE Direct instead of having to buy a € 50 Bluetooth dongle - or the € 150 smart shunt! Actually, I'd even be willing to pay €2 a month for a premium app version instead...
I am positing that a vast majority of the first-generation users of Victron tech are like me - two batteries, maybe 100w of solar, a good charge controller and matching inverter. So why can't I have the BlueSolar charge controller front the inverter for monitoring?
Am is missing a trick?
