This is just what the doctor ordered. I added one of these today because I needed an accurate 'SOC/time remaining' feature in Home Assistant. This shunt was perfect. I operate my ham radio station via solar and batteries. I don't have AC power available. I don't use inverters. Everything is DC-powered. The 300 amp smart shunt was perfect for my system. 😀 Thanks for the video guidance. It made adding the shunt to Home Assistant a piece of cake. This replaced two PZEM-017-100 amp shunts I was using with ESPhome. It also gave me a decent SOC on Home Assistant.
@@smart_home_australia I'm also replacing a Li Time 30 amp solar charger with a Victron unit. I contacted Li Time about Bluetooth support in Home Assistant. They wanted nothing to do with it. The charger will be here tomorrow. Short of the Mac address and Bindkey, I have the code ready to go. Looking back, I should have went with Victron from the start. 😀 If anyone wants to integrate their system into Home Assistant, STAY AWAY FROM Li TIME! Edit: I have several of their batteries and have no complaints. But I'd stay away from anything "Bluetooth" from Li Time.
I'm afraid thats a common story. Manufacturer shy away from Home Assistant integration. Which is strange as they only need to put out the API and the community would do the rest.
Glad it worked for you! And thanks for sharing your location - sending positive thoughts to Ukraine!🙏 And best of all you can expand this and keep adding more Victron devices as you go and monitoring them all... some great analytics !!
Thank you. This was very helpful. With no modification of the code I was able to get a different Victron product to work with this. I have an old BMV-700 with an added on bluetooth unit. My biggest struggles getting this done were probably because it was my first time working with an esp32 device. I use a Mac. My esp device seemed to need to have the boot button pressed down quite a while as I went through several screens. A suggestion: I had a great deal of trouble getting my esp device to connect. Turns out I was trying to connect the esp to my 5G wifi. I changed everything over to my 2.4 wifi and got it connected. My computer is back on the 5g wifi. Thank you very much for the video. I was not certain how valuable it would be. The feature that blows me away is the 10 days of data logging in HA and the graphs. My old shunt has no data storage. I am now geeking out analyzing how my batteries are charging. Question: I have the Victron entities in my dashboard. When I click on one it tells me how recent the data is. For instance "2 seconds ago". Is there a way to display that time value on the dashboard. My next big project is to get my EPever charge controllers to share data with HA. Looks daunting.
Excellent work !! This was one of my most rewarding integrations I've implemented. Dont forget to increase your HA reporting to get more data. Or whats this video ruclips.net/video/k-7dO1o52dQ/видео.html for the perfect solution !!
Hi! I have the same configuration here. VictronConnect (Android) list my VE. Direct Smart BMV-700 (connected via Victron Bluetooth smart dongle). The problem is that the info screen do not list the mac address nor the encryption key ! How did you get these info?
@@MarcPilon Access device on app > Press the Cog in the top right hand corner > Three dots top right > Product Information > scroll down > show encryption information. Thats should give you your information to be able to add the device.
@@smart_home_australia I thank you for your answer but my version (BMV700) is up to date and do not reveal encryption key in the info. Victron acknowledged that and say they maybe will update it... maybe. This is why I was interested in this particular David Hopkins comment.
I’m tech savvy but this home assistant thinkymabob takes getting used to I’ve got heaps of blue products slowly il be learning how to do this and integrate them. Thanks very much il try this🤙🇦🇺
What a great way yo describe Home Assistant, as "thinkymabob". Yes HA can be challenging but very rewarding. Just make sure you get partner approval for ALL projects and it will all end well.
The video is really great and very helpful! As a beginner, I was able to follow all the steps because the setup is very logical-fantastic! The installation of the ESP32 went smoothly. I just have one question: the ESP32 isn’t showing up as a new device in the settings of Home Assistant. What am I doing wrong? The SmartShunt and the ESP32 are in the same room, and the Wi-Fi signal for the ESP32 is sufficient, but I can’t find the error. Thank you so much for your help from Germany :)
I thought there might be some interest in this. Its actually my 13 year old daughters design. I'm more the OH&S and supervisor :) I'll see what I can bring together.
Great video, thanks for making it! Do you know if any of the Viton solar controllers can send basic voltage data to Home Assistant without buying the shunt?
For the Victron Solar Charge controller you get: - Charger State (Off, Bulk, Absorption, Float) - Battery Voltage (V) - Battery Charging Current (A) - Solar Power (W) - Yield Today (Wh) - External Device Load (A)
Hi all, I am new to home assistant, I have been trying to get this to work, My question is, do you need to copy the repository files to home assistant prior to taking these steps in the video?
Just make sure that bind key that you obtain from the Victron Connect app is in quotes. Also make sure that you capture the full key and sometimes it doesnt display the full key on the screen so make sure you expand the select fully left and right. Then you should be fine. :)
Thanks, I'm lining up a video for this. Although it will be a retrospective as I did the project with my daughter some time ago for fun. But since there is so much interest in it, I'll do it :)
Is it possible to connect to more than one victron device with just one esp. And will victron smart networking over bluetooth still work. For exmple i have one victron mppt, one smart Battery watch, and one smart shunt, witch are actually conneted by victron smart networking.
Hi Michael, this was a proof of concept for me, so currently I only have the smart shunt in place, but I'm planning to introduce the smart solar controller. The documentation lists in its configuration multiple devices, so I don't see why not. And besides, for $10 give it a try and let us know how you go.
FYI There is also a Mqtt connector for those running Victron gear through a network connected Cerbo gx (or raspberry pi)… I will try this out as well as the Bluetooth connection for the smart shunt and the individual mppt’s is potentially easier….
Hi, it would work to detect when my UPS is about to power off so that I could create an automation to shut down my NAS. My initial idea involves using the ESP32 along with a voltage divider connected to the 12-volt batteries of my UPS. But now I wonder if Victron could work as well
Thats an interesting user case. Doesn't your UPS has a SNMP message that the NAS can read direct? If not, then yes you could use this for that usercase.
When clicking on "Plug into the computer running ESP Home Device Builder nothing shows up :( I've checked and the ESP device is showing under COM3 anyone know a fix?
sorry for the delay, Christmas and all :) I was going to say, sounds like you did as required. ESP32 are amazing for the price, but a sub $5 board, you are going to get DOA's. Hence I keep a few around for projects.
Stupid question: Why do we need an esp32 to achieve this connection? My home assistant has bluetooth. Why cant I use my HA BT to connect to the Victron? I plan to connect multiple devices to my HA. Do I need a separate esp for each? That's a lot of micro usb connections. Can I get a BT hub and have a single device connect to several devices? Thank you.
I don't see why not. HA BT Proxy piggy backs on any ESP32 so this should be treated the same. I just wanted to keep it simple for people to follow along with. Side note, this is one of my favourite integrations, works perfectly. Those Dutch sure do know how to make some great devices !
I was about to ask same question, did it worked with built in rpi Bluetooth? Hence planning to use only smartshunt, not sure worth to buy an esp32 or not.
hi there) maybe someone get same problem ? Sensor in HA begins to get random zero state, 3 days it was fine but now, when i move project to another esp32 board it works more stable but begins to zero data. - platform: integration name: "Solar Energy Produced" sensor: pv_power unit_of_measurement: "Wh" time_unit: h accuracy_decimals: 2 state_class: total_increasing device_class: energy
Configuration looks fine. Sounds like you ESP32 is the issue. A few things to consider: - Power supply stability - WiFi Connection quality - Bluetooth Connection quality I'd suggest trying a difference ESP32 to rule the hardware out.
You don't use Bluetooth for the connectivity but instead use the VE.Direct port. So your Victron device must have one of these. The connect TX and GND pins to the ESP8266 and code accordingly. I just prefer the Bluetooth approach.
Sorry my oversight. But the main question, did you get it working? Isn't it the best integration ever!! I was so excited to finally get all my Victron gear into HA.
@@smart_home_australia I didn't get that far yet. I'm looking for a solution to read the SmartShunt wirelessly and show on a display, without the ESPHome backend connected. It's for my small EV.
Sorry that's outside of my specialist area. Thats more an Off Grid channel question. Maybe drop Andy a question from (www.youtube.com/@OffGridGarageAustralia)
This is just what the doctor ordered. I added one of these today because I needed an accurate 'SOC/time remaining' feature in Home Assistant. This shunt was perfect.
I operate my ham radio station via solar and batteries. I don't have AC power available. I don't use inverters. Everything is DC-powered. The 300 amp smart shunt was perfect for my system. 😀
Thanks for the video guidance. It made adding the shunt to Home Assistant a piece of cake. This replaced two PZEM-017-100 amp shunts I was using with ESPhome. It also gave me a decent SOC on Home Assistant.
Glad it helped. This is one of my favourite integrations.
@@smart_home_australia I'm also replacing a Li Time 30 amp solar charger with a Victron unit. I contacted Li Time about Bluetooth support in Home Assistant. They wanted nothing to do with it. The charger will be here tomorrow. Short of the Mac address and Bindkey, I have the code ready to go. Looking back, I should have went with Victron from the start. 😀
If anyone wants to integrate their system into Home Assistant, STAY AWAY FROM Li TIME!
Edit: I have several of their batteries and have no complaints. But I'd stay away from anything "Bluetooth" from Li Time.
I'm afraid thats a common story. Manufacturer shy away from Home Assistant integration. Which is strange as they only need to put out the API and the community would do the rest.
I did the installation with the Victron BMV-712 Smart Batery Monitor and it works perfectly, many thanks from Switzerland
Thanks. 🙏 it’s one of the most rewarding integrations I’ve implemented.
Awesome, it worked!!! Clear and step by step instructions. Thank you for sharing. (from Seattle)
You're most welcome Seattle :) from Sydney :)
thx for your instruction, Smart Solar 75/15 works just FINE! greetengs from Ukraine.
Glad it worked for you! And thanks for sharing your location - sending positive thoughts to Ukraine!🙏 And best of all you can expand this and keep adding more Victron devices as you go and monitoring them all... some great analytics !!
Awesome guide, thank you. Everything worked perfect and meant to messing with MQTT with all it's associated wiring.
Fabulous, this is probably my favorite integration. Sounds silly, but it brings in all my Victron equipment with one simple integration.
Thank you. This was very helpful. With no modification of the code I was able to get a different Victron product to work with this. I have an old BMV-700 with an added on bluetooth unit.
My biggest struggles getting this done were probably because it was my first time working with an esp32 device. I use a Mac. My esp device seemed to need to have the boot button pressed down quite a while as I went through several screens.
A suggestion: I had a great deal of trouble getting my esp device to connect. Turns out I was trying to connect the esp to my 5G wifi. I changed everything over to my 2.4 wifi and got it connected. My computer is back on the 5g wifi.
Thank you very much for the video. I was not certain how valuable it would be. The feature that blows me away is the 10 days of data logging in HA and the graphs. My old shunt has no data storage. I am now geeking out analyzing how my batteries are charging.
Question: I have the Victron entities in my dashboard. When I click on one it tells me how recent the data is. For instance "2 seconds ago". Is there a way to display that time value on the dashboard.
My next big project is to get my EPever charge controllers to share data with HA. Looks daunting.
Excellent work !! This was one of my most rewarding integrations I've implemented. Dont forget to increase your HA reporting to get more data. Or whats this video ruclips.net/video/k-7dO1o52dQ/видео.html for the perfect solution !!
Hi! I have the same configuration here. VictronConnect (Android) list my VE. Direct Smart BMV-700 (connected via Victron Bluetooth smart dongle). The problem is that the info screen do not list the mac address nor the encryption key ! How did you get these info?
@@MarcPilon away from my boat for a bit. But I’ll look. It was in the app somewhere. On iOS.
@@MarcPilon Access device on app > Press the Cog in the top right hand corner > Three dots top right > Product Information > scroll down > show encryption information. Thats should give you your information to be able to add the device.
@@smart_home_australia I thank you for your answer but my version (BMV700) is up to date and do not reveal encryption key in the info. Victron acknowledged that and say they maybe will update it... maybe. This is why I was interested in this particular David Hopkins comment.
I’m tech savvy but this home assistant thinkymabob takes getting used to I’ve got heaps of blue products slowly il be learning how to do this and integrate them.
Thanks very much il try this🤙🇦🇺
What a great way yo describe Home Assistant, as "thinkymabob".
Yes HA can be challenging but very rewarding. Just make sure you get partner approval for ALL projects and it will all end well.
Excellent video. Thank you for the details!
Glad it was helpful! I know when I implemented it was super impressed :)
The video is really great and very helpful! As a beginner, I was able to follow all the steps because the setup is very logical-fantastic! The installation of the ESP32 went smoothly.
I just have one question: the ESP32 isn’t showing up as a new device in the settings of Home Assistant. What am I doing wrong? The SmartShunt and the ESP32 are in the same room, and the Wi-Fi signal for the ESP32 is sufficient, but I can’t find the error.
Thank you so much for your help from Germany :)
I'd triple check your victron-ble.yaml file and verify that the mac_address and bindkey are 100% correct.
i love you for this
Best integration ever!!!
Would like to see the solar power setup!
I thought there might be some interest in this. Its actually my 13 year old daughters design. I'm more the OH&S and supervisor :) I'll see what I can bring together.
@@smart_home_australia i think it would be good content that would fit into smart homes quite well!
Now I just need to convince my daughter to let me borrow her beloved school projects for a few hours, she's very proud of it :)
Great video, thanks for making it! Do you know if any of the Viton solar controllers can send basic voltage data to Home Assistant without buying the shunt?
For the Victron Solar Charge controller you get:
- Charger State (Off, Bulk, Absorption, Float)
- Battery Voltage (V)
- Battery Charging Current (A)
- Solar Power (W)
- Yield Today (Wh)
- External Device Load (A)
Hi all, I am new to home assistant, I have been trying to get this to work, My question is, do you need to copy the repository files to home assistant prior to taking these steps in the video?
No, there is no requirement that I'm aware of for any repository information to be copied to Home Assistant beforehand.
great video im having some problem with my configuration file here is the error , Bind key must be format XX.
Just make sure that bind key that you obtain from the Victron Connect app is in quotes. Also make sure that you capture the full key and sometimes it doesnt display the full key on the screen so make sure you expand the select fully left and right. Then you should be fine. :)
@@smart_home_australia thank you it worked
Super glad that worked 👍
I would like to see the power bank and solar charger set up.
Thanks, I'm lining up a video for this. Although it will be a retrospective as I did the project with my daughter some time ago for fun. But since there is so much interest in it, I'll do it :)
Is it possible to connect to more than one victron device with just one esp. And will victron smart networking over bluetooth still work. For exmple i have one victron mppt, one smart Battery watch, and one smart shunt, witch are actually conneted by victron smart networking.
Hi Michael, this was a proof of concept for me, so currently I only have the smart shunt in place, but I'm planning to introduce the smart solar controller. The documentation lists in its configuration multiple devices, so I don't see why not. And besides, for $10 give it a try and let us know how you go.
Excellent Video Thank you. i have a BMV-712 Smart Batery Monitor Victron question Is this product compatible with this project
Sure is. I'd recommend checking out community.home-assistant.io/t/victron-energy-smart-battery-sense-bluetooth-integration/524187/22?page=2
hi thanks! do you know if this wil work with 300 amp version? thanks
I use it with the baby 150A and it works perfectly, it also supports all the way to the 500A so you should be fine.
Cheers!
⚠Please note if you take a screenshot of your encryption key from the victron app that it cuts off the first character of the key.
Thanks, sounds like you found out the hard way??
It took screenshot of the whole thing to me (iPhone).
@@carsandtools NIce... it did for me also... but I guess not all keys are the same length.
FYI There is also a Mqtt connector for those running Victron gear through a network connected Cerbo gx (or raspberry pi)… I will try this out as well as the Bluetooth connection for the smart shunt and the individual mppt’s is potentially easier….
Thanks Andrew. I don’t have the Cerbo GX, but if I get one I’ll definitely test it out. Thanks for letting us know. 👍
Hi,
it would work to detect when my UPS is about to power off so that I could create an automation to shut down my NAS. My initial idea involves using the ESP32 along with a voltage divider connected to the 12-volt batteries of my UPS. But now I wonder if Victron could work as well
Thats an interesting user case. Doesn't your UPS has a SNMP message that the NAS can read direct? If not, then yes you could use this for that usercase.
Maybe have a look at a NUT setup, thats what i have done with my NAS (old readynas, hard to work with)
@@H220RMS my low cost UPS has no communication ports so no way to connect to NUT
@@smart_home_australia No, it is a basic NAS with no communication ports
in which case it might be a Victron Shunt and a Switchbot FingerBot, with some HA automation magic :)
When clicking on "Plug into the computer running ESP Home Device Builder nothing shows up :( I've checked and the ESP device is showing under COM3 anyone know a fix?
The board ended up being faulty. Tried another one and it works perfectly! Thank you so much for the video! Is it possible to add "POWER" into HA?
sorry for the delay, Christmas and all :)
I was going to say, sounds like you did as required. ESP32 are amazing for the price, but a sub $5 board, you are going to get DOA's. Hence I keep a few around for projects.
Stupid question: Why do we need an esp32 to achieve this connection? My home assistant has bluetooth. Why cant I use my HA BT to connect to the Victron? I plan to connect multiple devices to my HA. Do I need a separate esp for each? That's a lot of micro usb connections. Can I get a BT hub and have a single device connect to several devices? Thank you.
I don't see why not. HA BT Proxy piggy backs on any ESP32 so this should be treated the same. I just wanted to keep it simple for people to follow along with.
Side note, this is one of my favourite integrations, works perfectly. Those Dutch sure do know how to make some great devices !
I was about to ask same question, did it worked with built in rpi Bluetooth? Hence planning to use only smartshunt, not sure worth to buy an esp32 or not.
@ I have not tried. Works fine with the esp. I have about five esps already so this code is just added to another one. No wiring needed so super easy.
@@mzeyrek Yep, check out this video ruclips.net/video/2sieh8TGTl8/видео.htmlsi=sFWpJsdLguqx6-SG
hi there)
maybe someone get same problem ? Sensor in HA begins to get random zero state, 3 days it was fine but now, when i move project to another esp32 board it works more stable but begins to zero data.
- platform: integration
name: "Solar Energy Produced"
sensor: pv_power
unit_of_measurement: "Wh"
time_unit: h
accuracy_decimals: 2
state_class: total_increasing
device_class: energy
Configuration looks fine. Sounds like you ESP32 is the issue. A few things to consider:
- Power supply stability
- WiFi Connection quality
- Bluetooth Connection quality
I'd suggest trying a difference ESP32 to rule the hardware out.
You say that it will work with ESP8266, how is that possible? ESP8266 does not have Bluetooth.
You don't use Bluetooth for the connectivity but instead use the VE.Direct port. So your Victron device must have one of these. The connect TX and GND pins to the ESP8266 and code accordingly. I just prefer the Bluetooth approach.
@@smart_home_australia Clearly, but the video only mentions using the BLE and hence the MAC/Encryption key.
Sorry my oversight. But the main question, did you get it working? Isn't it the best integration ever!! I was so excited to finally get all my Victron gear into HA.
@@smart_home_australia I didn't get that far yet. I'm looking for a solution to read the SmartShunt wirelessly and show on a display, without the ESPHome backend connected. It's for my small EV.
Sorry that's outside of my specialist area. Thats more an Off Grid channel question. Maybe drop Andy a question from (www.youtube.com/@OffGridGarageAustralia)