Battery and MPPT Solar charge state: Bluetooth Low Energy dongle & App has arrived!

Put simply, and you’ll need to be quick to get some of the initial limited stock:

Killer product + Killer app = Happiness. The VE.Direct to Bluetooth Low Energy dongle has arrived!

When I very first chose to use Victron Energy products, I knew I wanted a wireless read out of the battery and/or MPPT solar charge controller state. Hence I joined the Victron Energy protocol mailing list, a few years back to drop some hints. Not being a programmer, I could only hope such an app (and product) would be developed. And now here it is. Simple and effective.

What does it do?

Using the VE.Direct to Bluetooth Low Energy dongle you can display your BMV or MPPT information on iOS and Android devices, using the VictronConnect app. View information wirelessly such as battery status and solar panel power, plus other useful data.

VictronConnect app, supported devices and products

Download for iPhone and iPad: https://www.victronenergy.com/support-and-downloads/software#victronconnect-app

The release of the Android app will be announced on the blog as soon as it is available and download links will be shown on the software page. Other Victron apps and software are currently available at: https://www.victronenergy.com/support-and-downloads/software

• iPhone 4S and later (due to Bluetooth Low Energy support)
• Requires iOS 8 or later
• Android app expected in 2016-Q1

• BMV-700
• BMV-702
• BMV-700H

• MPPT 75/15
• MPPT 100/15
• MPPT 100/30
• MPPT 150/35
• MPPT 75/50
• MPPT 100/50

Installation

Installation is a snap. Here’s a photo of me testing it using a BMV 702. I’ve unplugged the VE.Direct plug to the Color Control GX and simply plugged in the dongle’s VE.Direct plug to test. Pairing is straightforward and when done the LED is lit, as shown.

If you use a BMV-702 you have choice of one of three things you can do with the second input from the battery shunt:

1. measure starter voltage
2. measure mid-voltage (and give a warning if the battery string is getting out of balance)
3. measure the battery temperature

In this case I want to measure temperature which requires the temperature sensor accessory ASS000100000, in order to show the battery temperature as below and in the VictronConnect app, as shown in this blog’s headline image.

To learn more about installation, pairing and to join in with the DISQUS discussion for this exciting new product, see the manual on Victron Live.

I’m thrilled with this low cost product. We hope you will be too. Don’t forget initial stocks are limited so you might need to get an order in quick. If a dealer/distributor and you have the P&A App, see the Remote panels & monitoring section to check stock.

John Rushworth