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ESS Design and Installation Manual - VE.Bus

4. Installation

In this section:

Each component has its own detailed installation instructions. Read the individual product manuals before beginning installation, and follow them for all mounting, wiring, fusing, and protection requirements. This chapter covers only the considerations specific to ESS.

Single-phase system with a three-phase grid connection

When installing a single-phase system with a three-phase connection to the utility grid, install the inverter/charger on phase L1.

Communication cabling between the devices

Stable communication between the devices is crucial for system performance and reliability. Make sure to connect the communication cables as described in each product's manual.

Temperature-compensated charging

Temperature-compensated charging adjusts the charge voltage to the battery temperature, raising it when the battery is cold and lowering it when warm. This protects the battery from being over- or undercharged as its temperature changes. If it is needed, refer to the manual of the inverter/charger for how to connect the temperature sensor. Solar chargers automatically use this temperature information from the inverter/charger as well. In systems using DVCC, this sharing of battery temperature is handled by Shared Temperature Sense (STS).

Voltage-sense wiring

Voltage-sense lets the charging device measure the voltage directly at the battery terminals, so it can compensate for the small voltage drop across the cables and regulate the charge to the true battery voltage rather than the voltage at its own output.

  • For the inverter/charger, wire the voltage sense according to the instructions in its manual.

  • For SmartSolar or BlueSolar MPPT solar chargers with a VE.Can port, connect a voltage-sense wire according to the instructions in the solar charger manual.

  • SmartSolar or BlueSolar MPPT solar chargers with a VE.Direct port do not use voltage sense.

In systems using DVCC, voltage sensing is handled by Shared Voltage Sense (SVS).

Monitoring PV power from third-party grid-tie inverters

Certain grid-tie PV inverters from Fronius, SMA, ABB and SolarEdge can be monitored directly by the GX device over the network. See the Connecting a PV Inverter section in the product manual for the GX device in use.

For a grid-tie inverter of any other brand, install a measurement device to report its output: a Victron current sensor, or a Victron Energy Meter. Position it to measure the output of the grid-tie inverter, and connect it as described in its manual.