Voltronic Axpert MKS IV 5.6kW compatible

[amagr0]

Hello Sebastian,

It's amazing your contribution for the community, I found you in esphome-jk-bms and now here.
I'm struggling to put the docker-voltronic-homeassistant to work, and then I found in HA forum your post about this ESPhome version, that I'd like to try since I'm more familiar with ESPhome than Docker stuff. Actually I was getting data in HA from my inverter, but sometimes I lose connection. In Docker I was getting "unhealthy" status, I decided to install everything again but now I'm not getting any data at all in HA, so I'm here.

I was looking for your ESPhome yaml file and did not find any way to define the QPIRI, QPIWS, QMOD and QPIGS value, like in the Docker version?
How is this made?

Do you think my inverter will by compatible?

Thanks
André Magro

[syssi]

Nice to see you here, too! :-) How many PV strings does your inverter support? One or two?

[amagr0]

It only have one PV input.

I don't know if this information is relevant, but I leave it here:

Main CPU Firmware Version: 00074.01
Secondary CPU Firmware Version: 00030.00

[syssi]

In this case you should give it a try with the official component included in espbome. If it doesn't work out of the box please increase the log level to debug and post some logs here.

[amagr0]

Hello @syssi,

I only see the reference to configure mqtt in secrets, but is not also necessary to declare in the yaml file?

[syssi]

You have to extend the secrets.yaml by additional key-values. If you use Home Assistant please remove the mqtt section and add api: instead.

[amagr0]

Hello @syssi,

After being blessed with the miracle of life, I became a dad! Now I'm back to this fight.

So, I'm getting timeouts:

Just a note, based on this comment I connected the inverter directly to the ESP32. So i don't know if the timeouts are due to this direct connection. I have a RS485 module, do you think I can connect it to the inverter and ESP32, or should it be a RS232 module?

This is how it is connected.

And this is the yaml code.

esphome:
  name: inv-voltronic

esp32:
  board: esp32dev
  framework:
    type: arduino

logger:

api:
  encryption:
    key: "y9H5HQINyIv3kfx07vNKzHlfrP1Pqi77U5ZaPI+Fc4U="

ota:
  password: "5a15ebc8158de6088366b81c1d3142d0"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid2
  password: !secret wifi_password2

  ap:
    ssid: "Inv-Voltronic Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "Aym9t8ksVJHj"

captive_portal:

uart:
  - id: uart_bus
    tx_pin: GPIO18
    rx_pin: GPIO19
    baud_rate: 2400

pipsolar:
  - uart_id: uart_bus
    id: inverter0
   
sensor:
  - platform: pipsolar
    pipsolar_id: inverter0
    grid_rating_voltage:
      id: inverter0_grid_rating_voltage
      name: inverter0_grid_rating_voltage
    grid_rating_current:
      id: inverter0_grid_rating_current
      name: inverter0_grid_rating_current
    ac_output_apparent_power:
      id: inverter0_ac_output_apparent_power
      name: inverter0_ac_output_apparent_power
    ac_output_active_power:
      id: inverter0_ac_output_active_power
      name: inverter0_ac_output_active_power

Tks

[syssi]

Congratulations! :-) You should disconnect the ESP as soon as possible. The logic level of a RS232 connection is -12V / +12V. The logic level of an ESP is 0V to 3.3V. The level shifter / RS232 to TTL converter is super important. At the worst case the GPIOs of your ESP are already toasted.

[syssi]

Hmmm.. if you are sure the logic level of the RJ45 jack is 0V/3.3V and not -12V/+12V you should try to swap RX/TX because the TX pin of the inverter must be connected to the RX pin of the ESP and vice versa.

[amagr0]

Congratulations! :-) You should disconnect the ESP as soon as possible. The logic level of a RS232 connection is -12V / +12V. The logic level of an ESP is 0V to 3.3V. The level shifter / RS232 to TTL converter is super important. At the worst case the GPIOs of your ESP are already toasted.

I probably toasted the GPIOs of the ESP.
Between the TX and GND from inverter I was getting -13.4V.

Do you think there is any problem using the RS485 module?

[syssi]

RS485 doesn't help here. It's another kind of signaling.

[nuvolare12]

Hello, have you resolve the problem timeout?

[VirtualFab]

Hi Syssi I had the timeout issue and solved it swapping Rx and Tx (I am using the Max3232 level shifter as per your schematics).
But now I read all zeroes, here is my log:

INFO Reading configuration /config/esphome/voltronic1.yaml...
INFO Starting log output from pipsolar/debug
INFO Connected to MQTT broker!
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar output_mode': Sending state 0.00000 with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][uart_debug:158]: >>> "QPIGS\xB7\xA9\r"
[09:57:35][D][pipsolar:838]: Sending polling command : QPIGS with length 5
[09:57:35][D][uart_debug:158]: <<< "QPIGS\xB7\xA9\r"
[09:57:35][D][pipsolar:772]: checking crc on incoming message
[09:57:35][D][pipsolar:775]: CRC OK
[09:57:35][D][pipsolar:448]: Decode QPIGS
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar grid_voltage': Sending state 0.00000 V with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar ac_output_voltage': Sending state 0.00000 V with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar ac_output_apparent_power': Sending state 0.00000 VA with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar ac_output_active_power': Sending state 0.00000 W with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar output_load_percent': Sending state 0.00000 % with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar battery_voltage': Sending state 0.00000 V with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar battery_charging_current': Sending state 0.00000 A with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar battery_capacity_percent': Sending state 0.00000 % with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar inverter_heat_sink_temperature': Sending state 0.00000 °C with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar pv_input_current_for_battery': Sending state 0.00000 A with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar pv_input_voltage': Sending state 0.00000 V with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar battery_voltage_scc': Sending state 0.00000 V with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar battery_discharge_current': Sending state 0.00000 A with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:35][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar pv_charging_power': Sending state 0.00000 W with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:36][D][uart_debug:158]: >>> "QMODI\xC1\r"
[09:57:36][D][pipsolar:838]: Sending polling command : QMOD with length 4
[09:57:36][D][uart_debug:158]: <<< "QMODI\xC1\r"
[09:57:36][D][pipsolar:772]: checking crc on incoming message
[09:57:36][D][pipsolar:775]: CRC OK
[09:57:36][D][pipsolar:471]: Decode QMOD
[09:57:36][D][text_sensor:067]: 'pipsolar device_mode': Sending state 'M'
[09:57:37][D][uart_debug:158]: >>> "QPIRI\xF8T\r"
[09:57:37][D][pipsolar:838]: Sending polling command : QPIRI with length 5
[09:57:37][D][uart_debug:158]: <<< "QPIRI\xF8T\r"
[09:57:37][D][pipsolar:772]: checking crc on incoming message
[09:57:37][D][pipsolar:775]: CRC OK
[09:57:37][D][pipsolar:429]: Decode QPIRI
[09:57:37][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar grid_rating_voltage': Sending state 0.00000 V with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:37][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar output_source_priority': Sending state 0.00000 with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:37][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar charger_source_priority': Sending state 0.00000 with 1 decimals of accuracy
[09:57:37][D][sensor:127]: 'pipsolar output_mode': Sending state 0.00000 with 1 decimals of accuracy

I am using MQTT, here it is my config:

substitutions:
name: pipsolar

esphome:
name: ${name}
platform: ESP32
board: esp-wrover-kit

wifi:
ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
password: !secret wifi_password

ota:

logger:
baud_rate: 0

mqtt:
broker: !secret mqtt_host
username: !secret mqtt_username
password: !secret mqtt_password
id: mqtt_client

uart:

• id: uart0
  baud_rate: 2400
  tx_pin: GPIO1
  rx_pin: GPIO3
  debug:
  direction: BOTH
  dummy_receiver: false
  after:
  delimiter: "\r"
  sequence:
  - lambda: UARTDebug::log_string(direction, bytes);

pipsolar:
uart_id: uart0
id: inverter0

sensor:

• platform: pipsolar
  pipsolar_id: inverter0

  grid_rating_voltage:
  name: "${name} grid_rating_voltage"
  output_source_priority:
  name: "${name} output_source_priority"
  charger_source_priority:
  name: "${name} charger_source_priority"
  output_mode:
  name: "${name} output_mode"

  grid_voltage:
  name: "${name} grid_voltage"
  ac_output_voltage:
  name: "${name} ac_output_voltage"
  ac_output_apparent_power:
  name: "${name} ac_output_apparent_power"
  ac_output_active_power:
  name: "${name} ac_output_active_power"
  output_load_percent:
  name: "${name} output_load_percent"
  battery_voltage:
  name: "${name} battery_voltage"
  battery_charging_current:
  name: "${name} battery_charging_current"
  battery_capacity_percent:
  name: "${name} battery_capacity_percent"
  inverter_heat_sink_temperature:
  name: "${name} inverter_heat_sink_temperature"
  pv_input_current_for_battery:
  name: "${name} pv_input_current_for_battery"
  pv_input_voltage:
  name: "${name} pv_input_voltage"
  battery_voltage_scc:
  name: "${name} battery_voltage_scc"
  battery_discharge_current:
  name: "${name} battery_discharge_current"
  pv_charging_power:
  name: "${name} pv_charging_power"

text_sensor:

• platform: pipsolar
  pipsolar_id: inverter0
  device_mode:
  name: "${name} device_mode"

binary_sensor:

• platform: pipsolar
  pipsolar_id: inverter0
  add_sbu_priority_version:
  name: "${name} add_sbu_priority_version"
  configuration_status:
  name: "${name} configuration_status"
  load_status:
  name: "${name} load_status"
  charging_status:
  name: "${name} charging_status"
  scc_charging_status:
  name: "${name} scc_charging_status"
  ac_charging_status:
  name: "${name} ac_charging_status"
  charging_to_floating_mode:
  name: "${name} charging_to_floating_mode"

switch:

• platform: pipsolar
  pipsolar_id: inverter0
  output_source_priority_utility:
  name: "${name} output_source_priority_utility"
  output_source_priority_solar:
  name: "${name} output_source_priority_solar"
  output_source_priority_battery:
  name: "${name} output_source_priority_battery"

output:

• platform: pipsolar
  pipsolar_id: inverter0
  battery_recharge_voltage:
  id: inverter0_battery_recharge_voltage_out

As Amagr0 does, I too was wondering if there is the need to set QPIRI, QPIWS, QMOD and QPIGS values sowehow, like in the Docker version (which I didn't tried since the EspHome integration would be perfect).

Thank you for your work, please help us (me and nuvolare12) to get your integration working!

[VirtualFab]

Ok, my fault, I didn't recognized in my logs that for example
[09:57:35][D][uart_debug:158]: >>> "QPIGS\xB7\xA9\r"
[09:57:35][D][pipsolar:838]: Sending polling command : QPIGS with length 5
[09:57:35][D][uart_debug:158]: <<< "QPIGS\xB7\xA9\r"
I was receiving the same exact data I was sending, so it was clear Tx and Rx were somehow in a loop connection.
I simply reswapped Rx and Tx (that I swapped on the ESP32 side) and then swapped them on the MAX3232 pins on the RS-232 side-
This led to the correct connection:

[11:11:39][D][uart_debug:158]: >>> "QPIGS\xB7\xA9\r"
[11:11:39][D][pipsolar:838]: Sending polling command : QPIGS with length 5
[11:11:40][D][uart_debug:158]: <<< "(233.7 49.9 233.7 49.9 0771 0750 013 376 50.20 011 026 0027 01.9 334.0 00.00 00000 00010111 00 00 00663 010\xD3}\r"
[11:11:40][D][pipsolar:772]: checking crc on incoming message
[11:11:40][D][pipsolar:775]: CRC OK

So now the whole thing is working, thank you!