Steve's Blog

Accessing the EverSolar PMU remotely

My Inverter and PMU are in my garage and my 4 port wireless router is inside the house. Initially to get the PMU running I had to temporarily run a CAT5 network cable from the garage and into the house this was a pain and a trip hazard.

So off to eBay I went looking for a cheap wireless bridge. I settled on a Vonets VAP11G that cost me $28AUD delivered. It came with a disk and was easy to set up and so far has been working just fine.

I set up a free account at dyndns.org My D-Link DSL-G604T has a DDNS setting page that I entered the details into and I gave the PMU a static IP so I can run the AS Control software on my PC or laptop at work and monitor the system whenever I want.

I had a spare 5VDC USB power supply I was able to use with the wireless bridge. It’s a shame I had to use it as the bridge will work on 5 – 15VDC and has a 2.5mm power inlet and a 2.5mm power outlet. The bridge expects the standard +ve to the centre pin and the -ve to the outer case. But for whatever reason, the PMU power supply and inlet is in reverse. The outer is +ve and the centre pin is -ve. Otherwise I could have plugged the PMU power supply into the Bridge and then plugged the Bridge into the PMU.

 

The Vonets VAP11G unit, and plugged into the PMU (click the images for a larger view).

 

The Eversolar PMU. I bought it from www.invertersolar.com.au using an online direct deposit.

 

This is the network settings screen for the PMU. I entered my dyndns.org account address in the DDNS settings window. The AS Control software objected when I used port 80, but it still accepted and used it anyway. Since then I’ve changed it back to the default port of 8080. I can FTP into the PMU remotely after disabling the FTP incoming rule in my router and putting the PMU in the DMZ.

 

This is the dynamic DNS settings screen for my D-Link DSL-G604T ADSL2+ wireless router.

 

8 Comments to Accessing the EverSolar PMU remotely

1. 

   Hi Steve,

   Really hoping you can help. I’ve just had a PV system installed with an Eversol TL3000 (which appears to be at least in the same range as yours?) and 12x Trina Honey panels. I’m really hoping to set up a wireless connection for monitoring, and your (ingenious!) setup here looks like it could be the go.

   Can I ask: Are you still happy with the setup – or would you do it differently if starting again – and roughly how much has it cost you all up?

   Cheers,

   Bill.
Bill on September 12th, 2012
2. 

   Hi Bill,

   I also monitor my generation and consumption using a CurrentCost EnviR, two clamps and transmitters and a 10 channel bridge. The data gets pushed to http://www.pvoutput.org and can be viewed live. It was cheaper than the PMU.

   I still run both types of monitoring as each has its advantages and disadvantages.

   I’ve created a PDF to try and show my monitoring set-up as it is now. http://wotid.com/pictures/albums/solar/monitoring_layout.pdf

   Good luck,

   Steve.
Steve on September 12th, 2012
3. 

   Hi Steve,

   I’ve purchased an Eversolar PMU, seems easy enough to install, I’m not requiring wireless access, so all I’m doing is connecting the PMU direct to the Inverter and my switch.

   What has me bamboozled is the RS485 connection between the Inverter and the PMU using RJ45 terminators. Looking at your pic it looks to me like you’ve used Cat5/Cat6 cable between the Inverter and the PMU.

   Let me know what you did use and where (if it’s not Cat5/Cat6) I can obtain it with RJ45 terminators at both ends.

   Cheers
   Dave.
Dave Palmer on September 13th, 2012
4. 

   Hi Dave,

   It is simply CAT5 network cable with RJ45 plugs on the ends. I made them up myself. I made them up because I have the gear to, but I can’t remember if I had to make them up due to the size of the gland or not. i.e Whether I had to push the cable through the gland and then fit off the ends.

   I made them as a straight through type (568B standard each end. I don’t think a standard cross over cable would work as they swap pins 1 & 3 and pins 2 & 6. The manual does state “The connection between crystal connectors and RS485 wires is one-to-one correspondence”

   I got the pin out and colour coding out of the inverter manual. I’ve grabbed the page for you and it’s here >> http://wotid.com/pictures/albums/solar/eversolar_rj45.pdf

   Good luck,

   Steve.
Steve on September 13th, 2012
5. 

   Oh,

   The set-up didn’t stay like it is in the pictures of this post for long either. I added a second system within 6 weeks of the first one.

   Definitely not the cheapest way to do it, here’s a picture of both inverters connected to the PMU.

   http://wotid.com/pictures/albums/solar/dual_inverters_1200.jpg

   
Steve on September 13th, 2012
6. 

   Thanks Steve,

   Much appreciated – love the site, and the dual installation.
   Basically a Cat5 – Cat6 Patch cable will do the trick as these are wired identically at each end. Now to see if I can get the crystal connectors through the gland!
   Job for the weekend…

   Cheers mate.
   Dave.
Dave Palmer on September 14th, 2012
7. 

   Hey Steve,

   Finally got around to attempting to install the PMU, however on removing the cover where the manual advises me the RJ45 socket should exist – I see nothing. Looking up into the inverter I can see a row of copper connectors, but nothing that looks like an RJ45… Any ideas?

   Cheers
   Dave.
Dave on October 5th, 2012
8. 

   Hi Dave,

   You might have to contact your installer. At some stage, I don’t know when, EverSolar stopped supplying the cards with every inverter like they used to. Both my inverters came with RS-232 & RS-485 cards.

   Perhaps EverSolar might be able to help you if you contact them directly. Or contact the mob you bought the PMU from and hit them up for a card.

   http://wotid.com/pictures/albums/userpics/10002/normal_eversolar_rs485_card_installed.jpg
Steve on October 5th, 2012

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