Solar Dashboard Project

Projects related to Solar Power
Post Reply
jonathan
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:12 am

Solar Dashboard Project

Post by jonathan »

Product Page: https://www.snektek.com/shop/SnekTek-So ... Compatible

Description:
This unit allows you to serve a Dashboard displaying relevant statistics and charts about your solar energy production. It can connect to your existing WiFi network and you can access it by typing the IP address into your address bar in your browser. The website is totally offline, meaning it is hosted on the unit itself, completely self contained. This is useful for off-grid or RV applications.

We also offer a cloud based monitoring solution so you can access the solar dashboard from the internet.


INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Insert a MICRO SD card into the slot on the solar dashboard. You have to remove the cover to access the slot.

2. Connect your solar dashboard to your EPEVER controller using a RJ-45 (Ethernet) cable. If your EPEVER or RENOGY unit uses a screw terminal connector, you'll have to buy a cable or cut up and RJ-45 cable and wire it according to the pinout.

3. Open your phone or laptop and connect to the solar dashboard wireless network.

4. Enjoy

5. Consider subscribing to the remote monitoring service to access from anywhere https://mysolardashboard.snektek.com
Attachments
ControllerProtocolV2.3.pdf
(374.76 KiB) Downloaded 13845 times
mwhitson
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2019 6:47 pm

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by mwhitson »

I'm a bit confused and I hope you can help me out. I've got the EPEVER Dashboard running. I supplied the SSID/PW for my home network, but now I want to take the unit to my friends house to try out on his charge controller using his network. So how do I get the unit to forget my SSID and reprompt for an SSID so I can enter my friend's?
jonathan
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:12 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by jonathan »

mwhitson wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 7:09 pm
I'm a bit confused and I hope you can help me out. I've got the EPEVER Dashboard running. I supplied the SSID/PW for my home network, but now I want to take the unit to my friends house to try out on his charge controller using his network. So how do I get the unit to forget my SSID and reprompt for an SSID so I can enter my friend's?
Hey thanks for your question. When the unit turns on, it will try to connect to WiFi network saved. If it can't see the saved network, it should launch it's own access point, so you can reconfigure the WiFi SSID and password.
mwhitson
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2019 6:47 pm

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by mwhitson »

I want to check to make sure I have this correct:

The solar dashboard attempts to connect to an external access point on startup. If successful it is running in STA mode and can be accessed via the network it connected to. If unsuccessful it goes into AP mode and runs the webpage to configure the network to connect to.

If this is correct, I would say that the setup is good for RVs when they are parked at home and connected to the house wifi network, but not so great when you are out in the wilderness where there are no networks to connect to. Seems to me that it should be possible to choose to just run the thing in AP mode to allow for this situation.

Hopefully I am just confused again and that doing this is possible.
jonathan
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:12 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by jonathan »

mwhitson wrote:
Wed Jun 12, 2019 5:34 am
I want to check to make sure I have this correct:

The solar dashboard attempts to connect to an external access point on startup. If successful it is running in STA mode and can be accessed via the network it connected to. If unsuccessful it goes into AP mode and runs the webpage to configure the network to connect to.

If this is correct, I would say that the setup is good for RVs when they are parked at home and connected to the house wifi network, but not so great when you are out in the wilderness where there are no networks to connect to. Seems to me that it should be possible to choose to just run the thing in AP mode to allow for this situation.

Hopefully I am just confused again and that doing this is possible.
Yes I think you explaining it right.

My use case is I have a USB wifi to LTE dongle which will allow the SOLAR DASHBOARD to always connect even if there is no internet.

The beauty is the software for the SOLAR DASHBOARD is open source. If you know how to navigate the code it will be trivial to bypass the WIFI manager and simply start in AP mode. If you're not comfortable doing this I can make a branch for you with this feature.
jonathan
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:12 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by jonathan »

To all those who ordered the kit recently and have not received a shipping notice:


Thanks for you continued patience.

I have received the parts for your kit and others who ordered in response to Adam's video. Unfortunately, the some of project boxes are a slightly different size and the circuit board does not fit perfectly. I sent out the kits which I could to those who ordered before you.

I have finished working on a V2 version of the PC board which fixes a mistake with the SD card wiring, adds a location for a Real Time Clock Module, and fits both versions of the enclosure.

The purpose of the RTC is to allow logging when there is no internet connection.

To reward your patience, I will send out your kit with an updated V2 board next weekend.
If you'd like me to include the Real Time Clock Module + Backup battery, please send USD 4.00 to jonathan@snektek.com via PayPal and include your name and order number.

Software support for the RTC and SD card support is in the works.

Another bonus, is all kits will include the project box with the holes pre-cut, I have set up my little CNC mill to cut them out.

Looking forward to sending you these kits!

Thanks,
Jon.
jonathan
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:12 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by jonathan »

Hi everyone!

The new boards are in and I'll be shipping out orders very soon, you will receive and email when it's shipped. Thanks for your continued patience.

The SD-card and RTC software is in development, I have something working but it's not ready for prime time yet. I will update when the software is ready and probably make a video explaining it. Your kit will ship with the old, stable software and you can update it easily with the esp update tool. More details to come.
Attachments
v2_solar_dashboard_epever_epsolar_snektek.PNG
IdahoCreator
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2019 11:25 pm

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by IdahoCreator »

Hey great project. since I basically had this built already using as wifi serial port. Similar to Colin Hickey. I have flash your firmware and modified the software to increase max reading but upon launching the default data remains. I am running a 7s Lithium Ion Battery and would like the gauge to read 32 volts and the Graph to read 36 volts. Also I would like to increase my solar panel watt to 1000 and battery current to 70. I know you have a new version coming out which will allow you to adjust all of that. How do I do that in the mean time. I am missing a lot of data because of it. Thanks for your help.
IdahoCreator
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2019 11:25 pm

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by IdahoCreator »

Hey just to follow up. Got it working for some reason it wouldnt upload the updated files when edited in PlatformIO so had to change it in Visual Studio Code, save and then burn it to nodemcu in platformIO. Will update graph with proper PV Watts and current when I have a good idea of max outputs
Attachments
solarchart.png
jonathan
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:12 am

Re: Solar Dashboard Project

Post by jonathan »

Awesome, glad you got it working!
Post Reply