pyro
Active Member
- Dec 4, 2018
- 287
- Boat Info
- 2008 Sundancer 290
- Engines
- Twin 5.0L MPI Bravo III
Kohler 5ecd
I've been investigating adding solar to my boat and found a company called Victron Energy that makes MPPT controllers. I've been so impressed by the products this company makes I thought I would share them. I think they are a game changer for the consumer marine industry - yet a lot of people never heard of them. It actually takes a lot of time to understand what some of their products actually do.
As I mentioned I am starting with the solar controller. Their product has bluetooth builtin and shows the solar power generated, accumulated energy, voltage, current, etc. A common problem with chargers is there is voltage drop in the lines so the charger can not accurately measure the final battery voltage. So they offer a cheap "Smart Battery Sense" which will monitor the voltage and send it wirelessly to the controller.
However even better is one of their BMV-712 battery monitor which measures voltages and current through a shunt and tracks power in/out of the battery and can estimate the remaining battery lifetime. Very importantly, it can measure both positive and negative current indicating whether you are charging or discharging the battery. A lot of basic shunts/meters only measure positive. The BMV is also bluetooth and you can view all the data with their app. This also takes the place of the Smart Battery Sense mentioned above.
The best part of Victron is they have a cloud based website that logs all the data called VRM that looks awesome. To upload the data you can either use a LoraWAN which is free long range wireless signal to a base station that you can connect into any computer network. This will upload one sample of data every hour.
The second way to do it is via Wifi with their GX monitoring products. At first I didn't really comprehend what this product does, but after researching more I start to realize the value in this. It can connect directly to Raymarin and Garmin MFDs via an app. Or it supports NMEA 2000 and can output any data it collects onto your MFD! It has a number of spare I/O such as 4 tank level inputs, temperature inputs, or you can connect up additional shunts, voltage measurements, hook up relays, etc. And it's all controlled via NMEA 2000. And the cost is about $300. The only other system I know similiar is Maretron and their prices are cost prohibitive (to me). Especially when you need all these additional add on products to program or calibrate sensors.
They are coming out with a new GX device called the Cerbo GX in March. It has HDMI output that you can connect to their waterproof touchscreens (and likely even regular screens). They're also expecting new shunts that connect directly to the GX line taking the place of the battery monitor system (which had a dedicated display panel).
I really think Victron has this market figured out and I think your going to be seeing a lot more of them. If you read their manuals they really try to provide as flexible as a product as they can. You get the sense that they are pushing features out as fast as possible, so they have a number of bugs, but they tend to have version after version of firmware update which I appreciate.
For all the products they make, and all the flexibility they give, their multi-output chargers are not USA 120V rated. And since that's where most people's primary power source comes from, they desperately need to add 120V support. From there, they have you sucked in, and people will start buying additional monitoring sensors, then system monitors like the Venus or Cerbo GX.
So I know it sounds like I am chief marketeer at Victron, but I'm actually just really interested in their products. I have no experience with their products as of yet, but will post back a review when I setup the MPPT and Cerbo GX this spring.
As I mentioned I am starting with the solar controller. Their product has bluetooth builtin and shows the solar power generated, accumulated energy, voltage, current, etc. A common problem with chargers is there is voltage drop in the lines so the charger can not accurately measure the final battery voltage. So they offer a cheap "Smart Battery Sense" which will monitor the voltage and send it wirelessly to the controller.
However even better is one of their BMV-712 battery monitor which measures voltages and current through a shunt and tracks power in/out of the battery and can estimate the remaining battery lifetime. Very importantly, it can measure both positive and negative current indicating whether you are charging or discharging the battery. A lot of basic shunts/meters only measure positive. The BMV is also bluetooth and you can view all the data with their app. This also takes the place of the Smart Battery Sense mentioned above.
The best part of Victron is they have a cloud based website that logs all the data called VRM that looks awesome. To upload the data you can either use a LoraWAN which is free long range wireless signal to a base station that you can connect into any computer network. This will upload one sample of data every hour.
The second way to do it is via Wifi with their GX monitoring products. At first I didn't really comprehend what this product does, but after researching more I start to realize the value in this. It can connect directly to Raymarin and Garmin MFDs via an app. Or it supports NMEA 2000 and can output any data it collects onto your MFD! It has a number of spare I/O such as 4 tank level inputs, temperature inputs, or you can connect up additional shunts, voltage measurements, hook up relays, etc. And it's all controlled via NMEA 2000. And the cost is about $300. The only other system I know similiar is Maretron and their prices are cost prohibitive (to me). Especially when you need all these additional add on products to program or calibrate sensors.
They are coming out with a new GX device called the Cerbo GX in March. It has HDMI output that you can connect to their waterproof touchscreens (and likely even regular screens). They're also expecting new shunts that connect directly to the GX line taking the place of the battery monitor system (which had a dedicated display panel).
I really think Victron has this market figured out and I think your going to be seeing a lot more of them. If you read their manuals they really try to provide as flexible as a product as they can. You get the sense that they are pushing features out as fast as possible, so they have a number of bugs, but they tend to have version after version of firmware update which I appreciate.
For all the products they make, and all the flexibility they give, their multi-output chargers are not USA 120V rated. And since that's where most people's primary power source comes from, they desperately need to add 120V support. From there, they have you sucked in, and people will start buying additional monitoring sensors, then system monitors like the Venus or Cerbo GX.
So I know it sounds like I am chief marketeer at Victron, but I'm actually just really interested in their products. I have no experience with their products as of yet, but will post back a review when I setup the MPPT and Cerbo GX this spring.
