Solar Charge Controller RS485 WiFi Adapter Shootout - 12v Solar Shed
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- čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
- I'm looking at alternatives to the EPEver eBox-Wifi-01 solar charge controller communication module in this video. These modules will communicate with your EPEver or EPSolar solar charge controllers and connect them to your wifi network.
Build your own RS485 to Wifi Adapter by following this guide: admw.uk/WifiLink
Items in this video were purchased from eBay:
❗️These links are affiliated and I may earn a small commission if you purchase❗️
EPEver eBox-Wifi-01: goo.gl/Bzd4re
USR-WIFI232-604 RS485 to Wifi: goo.gl/KXfcRE
DTU-H100 RS485 to Wifi/RJ45: goo.gl/bZmSpn
ESP8266 ESP01 Module: goo.gl/Uq57S6
XY-017 RS485 to TTL Module: goo.gl/E9DA5u
AMS1117 3.3v Module: goo.gl/Qs6jGG
ESP-01 Programming Module: goo.gl/zTdV6c
Colin Hickeys ESP8266 RS485 Adapter Playlist: • DIY RS485 wifi ESP 826...
Broken your eBox-Wifi-01? Follow this guide to fix it: admw.uk/BrokenEBox
Had good results with Elfin-EW11 adapter in STA mode connected to the HW VSP virtual serial port driver. After selecting the right TCP port in VSP and leaving other settings on both the EW11 adapter and VSP at default it worked OK for reading and setting configuration parameters on my Tracer AN, but failed for monitoring. After poking around for a little bit, I found out that selecting "Strict Baudrate Emulation" option in VSP software settings fixes the issue with monitoring so it seems to be all working great now. EW11 is very small and doesn't need a separate power supply.
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Great information, thanks. I bought one of these adapters but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. It seems to be standard now that companies make products that "almost work". I am still working out complications with my solar system using a couple of Epever 30A Tracer A series controllers.
+PMB-NZ It’s a shame they removed the feature but it was always an unsupported configuration. Anyway, we’ve achieved the same functionality for less money and practically the same current by using Colin’s design.
Hi Adam, as for H100 device, would like recommend the update one HF2211, we would like provide the sample for your testing. This video really makes people don't believe High Fling's device, but as @emintyulep said, their Elfin-EW11, supports RS485 to WIFI, have good performance.
Very interesting, I have an EPsolar controller in my motorhome, I have never used its RS485 connection, I didn't want to buy something especially to do it, as it was more of a curiosity, this has sparked my interest in taking a deeper look into it, maybe I will do a video on it when I get the chance to take a look (I'm busy doing videos on the repair of a Fluke AC calibrator at the moment, and have a few review videos to record first).
@Defpom’s Electronics & Repair : Did you make a video on this? Do you have a link if so?
Perfect m8. I was just about to take a look at that one but now you have the info I needed :)
Glad to help
I used the RS485-USB cable with my OTG connected Samsung A10 running the Epever software. Sadly, the software is very old and hangs.
I seem to remember Adam using a raspberry pi zero as a wifi interface for the tracer but can't for the life of me find it.
I use an Elfin EW11 with the Tracer. STA mode to connect to an existing AP - no problem. Small, cheap and fast.
Can't agree anymore , HF2211 also has good performance.
Neat little PCB you made there and here's my solution, a really long usb cable. :)
Actually you’d do better with a really long cat5 cable carrying the rs485. The data will travel further than USB ;-)
That's a first : I have almost no idea what this video was about :-D
But I watched it anyway. I'm sure some day all this information will be useful :)
Thanks for all the great content in 2017 and looking forward to what you have in store for 2018.
Happy new year :)
I wish EPEver would either reinstate the station mode or at least allow the PC software to communicate with the BLE-01. If Android (etc) can talk to it (Via Bluetooth) then why not the PC Software.
Hmm... i think people will make clones of this that allow station(client) mode and they will loose out on sales until they put the client mode back in there.
Nice, how about adding a SD card to download the data onto instead of the elog01. Just a thought
Nice job... well done...
Great video, thanks. I wonder if you ever tested the temperature at the back of the Solar Panel? Mine is 60 degrees Celsius in winter time (Behind glass). Does it affect power generation, could it be less? What if you used a tiny 5 Watt fan to blow cool air over the back of the panel? Even better, could you run a tiny pump to heat-up water in a jerrycan or warm up your fish tank with an heat exchanger? Those fish tank heaters are at least 100 Watt, so lots of savings there.
Hi Adam,
A little off topic to this video, however relevant to solar and from what I've researched you seem the perfect person to ask :)
I've currently gotten a 12V 200w panel, that's running an extremely cheap PWM reg, tested and can literally wait 2sec between on and off :(
Following your review I've purchased a EPEVER Tracer 20A with the MT50 which I should get in the next week
Now to my question......... :) :)
My Solar Panel is Rated at Max Power Current: 10.92A
Wattage: 200 - 299 W
Voltage:12 V
Power Voltage: 18.3V
Short-Circuit Current: 11.8A
Open Circuit Voltage: 22.51V
Can I run this in series @ and around 24V+ and obviously higher or am I limited to 12v and slightly higher in parallel ?
Are some panels only rated @12v and anything much higher will do damage?
I would like 24v from the panels, even to just limit the Vdrop
thanks in advance,
Trav from Australia
Another great video. I bought one of the USR-WIFI232-604 devices, but I need help in setting it up. Could you make a video explaining how to set it up to work with the EPEver Tracer A. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Would you please make a video on how to configure the USR WiFi232 604 device?
Like the concept and the idea as i have 2 sungrid ties one with wifi plug monitoring but sun never sent the second modual with my unit both have serial connectors would like to make one of these for my second unit.
Hey Adam, any chance you can share how you configured the USR-WIFI? I've started with it in the default AP mode, changed the 'application settings' to match those used in the EboxWiFI. I've then used USR-VCOM virtual serial port server to create a virtual com point and whilst it says that its connected its not sending or receiving any data and my Solar Station Monitor software is giving a time-out error? I'm guessing it's a problem in how I've configured the USR-WIFI as there's lot of things to fiddle with in there!! Cheers
Great Reviews!
First, EPever was STUPID to do that change. What a crock! However, what you could try doing is to flash your wifi router with ddwrt and create a virtual client to connect to the EPever module and then still be able to connect to the internet. This is, of course, if the wifi router has multiple antennas.
They fixed the IP range for the eBox as 11.11.11.254 which I believe is part of the American department of defence’s public IP range! So as long as you don’t need to contact them you’re probably ok doing that!
Thanks for the epever fix link cause I tried you mod and it died like you said I will try to fix it soon. I may also try to build one like you did
Fingers crossed you can bring your eBox back to life then. The one I made is pretty simple, but works really well. Have a look at Colons videos for an in depth how to guide. Cheers OTE
Another great video but I have a couple questions I'd like to ask. Did you flash the Ebox firmware for a reason other than it was newer? Can you think of a reason Epever doesn't want the Ebox in station mode? Thanks for all the interesting content this year and hope you and all your subscribers have a great 2018.
I didn’t flash the eBox firmware. Newer versions are being shipped with a newer firmware which doesn’t allow station mode. I actually bought a second eBox to see if I could get one with the new version but typically it arrived with the original firmware!
As I mentioned EPEver said that they had reliability issues in station mode - which I can’t really say I’ve seen unfortunately.
Happy new year to you too. Cheers
Thanks for the reply I thought your original box had been borked by an update, and I thought I was paying attention. lol I still think Epevers explanation is weak I mean every HP laptop i've had in the last 8 years has had wireless reliability issues without doing an unauthorized, unsupported and not recommended mod to it but HP doesn't worry much about it. So if some Ebox owners want to mod it they should have let them any issues wouldn't be their problem. I wonder do they have a more expensive device that supports station mode? Maybe I'm being stupid no company would make a bunch of their customers angry by trying to squeeze more money out of them, right? !!NOERTAP Thanks again.
Hi Adam, just found your channel. Cool stuff. The last little box you made, is there a way to have a RJ45 Tcp-ip output on it instead of wireless. I use the EPEVER 30amp tracer 3210 an on a number of sites, i provide wireless internet on to a number of customers last mile. I have plenty of internet and RJ45 plugs at each site, but adding another wireless AP to connect your device to is just another power drain i am trying to keep to a minimum. Would it be easy to add a RJ 45 TCP-IP port as well or as a replacement for the wireless part. Cheers John
Hello. No I'm afraid the code has been created for the ESP8266 which is a wifi module. I'm not aware of any wired alternative that would run that code.
Julie Bailey i am looking for the same solution. i have a tracer-bn 30a from epever- did you figure something out? i’m looking at building something custom.
this project looks great i've ordered the parts for it. Do you have a link to purchase the pcb you had made please. thanks Robert
The gerber files are available in the blog post here admw.uk/WifiLink I used allpcb.com to have mine produced. 10 pcbs for $5 delivered in about a week.
Adam Welch thanks for your reply and link. Do you have a reference for ordering them please.
@@AdamWelchUK The Gerber file link seems to be broken, are you able to re-share or if anyone else could share I appreciate it
Hi Adam, I recently purchased an Epever UP series inverter which works just fine, and it came with this RS485 adapter which also seems to work fine although I haven't tried to get it into station mode.
Wanting a remote display to go on the wall for the inverter, I checked out both the MT50 and the MT75, but it was unclear if either would work with the inverter.
I contacted both the local agent and Epever, only to be told that there is NO remote display option for this inverter other than the app for your cellphone or PC via the RS-485 adapter.
As you can imagine I was not happy as the inverter was not a cheap unit.
Can you see any way of making the MT75 work with my inverter? They are both RS-485 devices, and if the inverter can send the required information to my phone via Wi-Fi, surely it could send it directly (via cable) to the MT75?
Почему сразу не купили Bluetooth eBox?
Ciao, Sono italiano, funziona anche da remoto o solo in locale? Vorrei sapere se fuori di casa Posso monitorare comunque il regolatore di carica oppure devo aspettare che rientri in casa per controllare?
Hi Adam
Great videos
I am in the process of setting up a solar powered security camera system using a Tracer5415AN and would like to monitor everything remotely but unfortunately I am a bit network challenged. I have bought a USR-W610 which is same as your WIFI232-604 but has a 232 input as well as RS485.
Would it be possible for you to explain how you set up the USR Web GUI and the EPever Android app so that I can connect to my router and monitor remotely? Another video would be ideal but that's a lot of work so some words with a list of settings would be great also.
Thanks
Tony
Waterloo, Ontario.
Also.....
You mention a "Quick Start Guide" where will I find it?
Tony
would you recommend the tracer A . is there anything better for the price? and are the ones with other names the same or just look alike? I'm not really interested in the WiFi. I would like the screen and controls. great video.thanks
+James stranger I don’t think there is another charge controller with the features or customer service out there which rivals the Tracer A series myself. I wouldn’t buy a clone personally - they tend to miss a few features from the original.
Take a look at my video about living with the Tracer for nine months to get a good idea on how well it works and a couple of caveats.
I have a Tracer A and Tracer BN (newer). I think the A tracks powerpoints faster. The BN seems to get stuck sometimes.
yeah but doesnt work with AN series
adam can you help me with the eco llc solar tracker single access solar tracker
I wish I had watched this before buying an ebox earlier this week! I had watched your previous video and thought it would be really neat to use the PC Client software.
So now I am a bit confused can it not be used at all with the client software whilst in AP mode even if I connect my PC to the default 11.11.11.xxx subnet and create a virtual comm port?
No you can still connect to it as a wireless access point and use the pc software. Actually someone has found another way to turn it back to client mode if you want to. Check out the comments on the first Ebox video.
Adam Welch excellent thanks Adam I have read the relevant comments and will be giving that a try later, I have two vans both ex Ambulances that I am converting to camper vans. I am using mains fridges and Victron inverters in both of them so I want to monitor the performance of the solar setups before we start using the vans properly
Hi Adam great videos mate could u tell me what is the best option for my tracer an
Thanks
The eBox Wifi works but the only other one I’ve tested was my home brew ESP8266 adapter with the AN and it didn’t. EPSolar tell me they’ve changed the software on the charge controller and that’s what’s causing the issue. I might try dig out the others and see what I find.
Thanks for that ive got the epever box and using it on my iphone ive also made the the esp8266 as per colins video so that i could monitor over the internet but no joy as you said.
Your time checking the other alternative will be much appreciated
Thanks again
Hi Adam there is a new app Hi is it possible to use a new Android app np-01 on my epsolar tracer an 40amp IV got the blue wifi box the app connects to the wifi but it won't load or save data
I've recently purchized this and it works fine in station mode, the gui is even proper translated to english.
Only problem i have is when connecting to my home wifi i guess the distance is too far so when I start monitoring in the desktop application (Solar Station Monitor v1.95) I'm unable to get all information, if i connect via USB-RS485 it works propperly.
Any suggestions about that? Is it possible to solder a cable onto the wifi's onboard antenna to extend the range of the ebox wifi?
I’m afraid WiFi antenna are generally finely tuned and tweaked for compliance so you can’t adapt them easily.
The network cable can be extended by a reasonable amount. Does using a longer cable give you scope to move the device closer to your WiFi router?
@@AdamWelchUK Thanks for your help. I've investigated further and I'm now certain it's not a matter of wifi connection.
If I use the eBox as AP (default settings) I'm able to connect via the android app and get all parameters.
Sitting in the same spot as with my phone the router is less then a meter away, so I bet the eBox is able to connect to it just fine in station mode.
So I asume it's something in the solar monitor software. I'm able to read any parameter you can set, such as date/time, timers, battery parameter, but when it comes to monitoring I only get Solar Status, Charging Status, Battery Status, Load STatus, Device Status and min. and max Voltage of the Battery.
The status in the program states "Error: operation failed(COM#)"
I'm really confused by now.
As an alternative could i just add a usb wifi adapter to my pc and just use that for the EPEver eBox
Yes you could. That should work reasonably well.
thanks
Really to bad they changed the firmware and removed Station mode .. I'll spend my money on another USB wifi to rs485
Boycott and slander them as a punishment.
5yrs and not a sing like,
Come on ScrewTube. Notify this guy already. 😂
will this work with other charge controllers that use modbus for communications?
Probably. You’d need to research the modbus registers used by your solar charge controller and adjust accordingly. Your flow would likely look very different from mine, but it would share many of the same nodes. So this one could be used as the building blocks.