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Solarnewbie
Newbie

Joined: 30/10/2017
Location: United States
Posts: 15

Posted: 02:33pm 03 Oct 2026

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A project I started years ago is finally coming together. This is a control panel with pages for different areas of your solar power system. I made a pcb that monitors

1. grid voltage and current and kWh.
2. Inverter output voltage, amps, kw, and kWh.
3. Monitoring up to 2 strings of pv.
4. Rpi4 with 512b ssd for data logging, receiving i2c data and sending to the control panel along with various pertinent data.
5. Home automation will be added as well with setup for off the shelf WiFi devices.

The pics are just one of many versions as I add and adjust each page. I use a PowMr inverter
That has rs232 and rs485 available. Most likely the ra232 will be used to make available data that’s normally
available on the “Solar Of Things” app on iOS. I have already added one browser app to control a 16 channel
WiFi relay board. There will be a browser app for monitoring the system for use locally and https:// remote.
with my browser app I can get real-time data unlike the iOS app that uses solar.siseli.com and update every few minutes.
Edited 2026-10-04 00:37 by Solarnewbie

greybeard
Senior Member

Joined: 04/01/2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 184

Posted: 05:14am 04 Oct 2026

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Is there a southern hemisphere version? It's hard to read the inverted screens.

Solarnewbie
Newbie

Joined: 30/10/2017
Location: United States
Posts: 15

Posted: 04:52pm 04 Oct 2026

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greybeard said Is there a southern hemisphere version? It's hard to read the inverted screens.

I really don’t know how they got inverted. They were right side up when I uploaded them. Had this trouble at Anotherpower.com when they were still around. They died a slow death. Not quite as much traffic here as there used to be. Eventually I want to offer kits for the sensor board and config files and code for hmi panels from DWIN. They’re not cheap but real easy to configure with the free software. The. You just need the mcu to talk with the panel. Every data variable, text variable and button has a unique address so the code uses the addresses. Simple.

Godoh
Guru

Joined: 26/09/2020
Location: Australia
Posts: 712

Posted: 11:02pm 05 Oct 2026

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Looks good, that is a serious amount of monitoring you are doing.
Does the battery monitoring give you state of charge too?
I had an idea that you were retiring to live in in the Phillipines but your location is still USA. did you move

Pete

Solarnewbie
Newbie

Joined: 30/10/2017
Location: United States
Posts: 15

Posted: 11:04am 08 Oct 2026

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Hi Pete,

Been a long time. I did finally retire a few years ago. I’m wanting to make something worth selling to interested parties. Customized data pages and shipped to communicate with your inverter if it’s using an rs232 dongle. I found an inverter by PowMr and this thing is a beast. I always install for 3 times what I really need so this thing just purrs along happily. 65-500voc pv with 2 built in mc4 connectors. Purchased 18 620w seraphim bifacial panels 9s2p. These panels even tho prices have doubled cost me 1/3 of what I paid for BlueSun’s 300w panels in 2016. Under a $100 each. Lots has changed since I first logged into anotherpower. No longer a newbie. Whatever happened to Oz?

Godoh
Guru

Joined: 26/09/2020
Location: Australia
Posts: 712

Posted: 08:48pm 08 Oct 2026

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HI Solar, none of my inverters have communications, I am still using a home made 8010 based inverter and a commercial inverter that is really simple.
Being retired is great, glad you finally got there.
I have no idea about Oztules, he just disappeared from the site. I have wondered too what happened to him, but have no idea.
Have fun
Pete

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