I’m looking for any recommendations for larger sized 5000+ watts 220v solar inverter / charge controller that can be connected through a computer network to be monitored through OpenHab. Something in the United States market.
Something similar to this:
I’m not quite sure what I should be looking for in connection jacks or communication protocols. The above unit, for example, shows a RS232 jack and a couple Parallel communication ports in the photos, but doesn’t show actual Ethernet connections as far as I can tell.
The unit would be mounted in a remote building with no existing computer. So it would need network capabilities on the unit itself or a Raspberry Pi or something low power specifically to make the conversion.
Is there anything already compatible or easy to integrate?
You have interesting options with the serial connections. You can connect a pi to it, receive the data, and send to through mqtt. Never done that but I know people doing it.
So that’s an (possibly cheaper) option.
Almost all inverters can be queried via Modbus. Some have an Ethernet some just RTU (serial) but seriously this should not be your primary concern in selecting an inverter
FWIW I run a Sungrow SH10RT which I like as it also provides a “full house” UPS.
If OP is anything like me, it’s not a prime concern. Just an equally important one. You’ll be stuck with the inverter for the entire life of it. You wouldn’t replace an inverter just because it “doesn’t integrate” so might as well get one that does.
