Adding Victron Multiplus as an inverter

[persil1971]

Victron Multiplus and other inverters have an integration to Home Assistant already and also have available MQTT and Modbus over TCP interfaces. Would it be possible to add this to a development queue for future integration? I have implemented predbat with GivTCP and GivEnergy for friends but developing an integration is not something I can do!

[Cameleon99]

I just came here to see if anyone has done this. I have a lot of control over my MPII from HA for saving sessions and such already but would like to get PredBat working and move to Agile.

I'm somewhat struggling to understand the documentation in whats required for non-Giv inverters. It looks like I already have a lot of HA entities for whats required (house/car/solar/export/etc) for a template but struggling to stitch it together.

[nicobresseleers]

+1 for me.. i am now using the Victron ESS/DESS but would like to take it into HA
.

[steviloidz]

+1 for me too. I'm surprised Victron isn't supported,

[gcoan]

It needs someone with a Victron inverter to work out what the entities for SoC, current state, discharge rate, etc and control commands are to charge, discharge, hold charge, etc.

There's at least 4 people here who have Victron inverters, the author of Predbat doesn't, so it's really up the community to work it out. This is how all the non-GivEnergy inverters have been added

Instructions on adding a new inverter type are in the documentation https://springfall2008.github.io/batpred/inverter-setup/#. The formatting has got messed up, but it starts half way through the Sigstore entry: https://springfall2008.github.io/batpred/inverter-setup/#sigenergy-sigenstor

[DirkB19]

Did someone already got this working. If so please share the yaml to show the entities we need to use....eg with latest HA integration that talks to Victron over MQTT

[nicobresseleers]

Yes, I am reporting Victron via MQTT now... adding the sensor in config yaml (the one you use) .. to now the sensor to read i use mqtt-explorer... pretty easy
examples:

AC Current NET

• state_topic: "victron/N/b827eb0c9fb5/grid/30/Ac/Current"
  name: "AC Current NET"
  unique_id: "ac_current_NET"
  device_class: current
  value_template: "{{ value_json.value }}"
  unit_of_measurement: "A"
  icon: mdi:current-ac

AC Loads

• state_topic: "victron/N/b827eb0c9fb5/system/0/Ac/Consumption/L1/Power"
  name: "AC Loads"
  unique_id: "ac_loads"
  device_class: power
  value_template: "{{ value_json.value }}"
  unit_of_measurement: "W"
  icon: mdi:power-socket-uk

DC Loads

• name: "DC Loads"
  device_class: power
  unique_id: "dc_loads"
  state_topic: "victron/N/b827eb0c9fb5/system/0/Dc/System/Power"
  value_template: "{{ value_json.value|float(0)|round(0) }}"
  unit_of_measurement: "W"
  icon: mdi:power

[gcoan]

@nicobresseleers can you copy/paste your apps.yaml and template sensor definitions here please so I can. add this to the predbat documentation for others.

But please put three back quotes (`) before and after each section you paste in to stop github trying to format the yaml

thanks

[Billyturkey]

I’ve started testing Victron integration in Predbat, and I’m also running it alongside my existing SolarEdge setup. I’ll raise a proper ticket soon and share the YAML once it’s tidied up, but here’s a quick overview of what I’ve done so far.

Existing setup (before Victron):

• SolarEdge 5 kW inverter
• SolarEdge 9.7 kWh battery
• Predbat integration

New setup (Victron system):

• Victron MultiPlus II 5000 VA
• 2 × Pylontech US5000 batteries
• 250/60 Smart Solar Charger (3.03 kW array)
• GX device
• Victron Energy Meter

I’m running the MultiPlus in ESS mode, with only the AC In connected for testing at the moment. I’ve used the [Victron MQTT integration](https://github.com/tomer-w/ha-victron-mqtt) to bring data into Home Assistant.

For Predbat, I used the existing solaredge.yaml as a base template. I’m still using the SolarEdge meter for readings like “load today” and “export today”, but if you want to use the Victron Energy Meter instead, you’ll need to create a few helpers to tie it into the template. I also referenced the “MINE ” inverter example from the Predbat documentation as a guide.

To control the inverter, I created a select list in Home Assistant with three options:

• Charge Start
• Charge Stop
• Discharge Start

Each option sets a specific AC set-point through the Victron MQTT integration:

• Charge Start → 4500
• Charge Stop → 50
• Discharge Start → –4500

It’s currently running alongside my SolarEdge setup and appears to be working well for charge and discharge control. I’m still seeing a few log warnings — things like “Out of range index 1 within item” — which might be related to how I’ve combined the charge/discharge commands with the SolarEdge control.

[AlexCPU]

I got mine going a couple of days ago, my set up is a little older (from before Victron supported MQTT), so I'm using ModbusTCP to command it to do things, but that's not relevant to the control process (yet).

But ultimately, like you, I'm using the AC set-point to force charging/discharging. One thing to note, is you probably need to use bigger numbers for your set point, if I was charging an EV at 7.4kW and changed the set-point to 4500, the battery would still discharge to power the car, so I'm using 24000 (100A fuse limit).

Maybe @gcoan can help explain, I'm looking at the bits for freeze charging and freeze discharging and can't work out what we should be getting the Multiplus to do. As mentioned, we've got the ability to change the grid setpoint to force charging and discharging, but I've also got the ability to set the max discharge %age (i.e. what %age of rated output the DC/AC inverter will do). Before starting with predbat I've set this to 0 to stop the battery discharging during a cheap period once I've got to the target SoC.

Completely other option @VibroAxe is using setting the minimum SoC to force charging and stop discharging when needed, so we could do that instead.

[jasonyates]

I'd be interested to know how you use MQTT to force a charge. I'm using my Cerbo with a fixed charged schedule over night but I'd like to move that to use HA automations to allow me to force a charge during Octopus free energy sessions and ultimately use batpred to trigger a charge. I too am using [Victron MQTT integration](https://github.com/tomer-w/ha-victron-mqtt) for the Victron integration.

[VibroAxe]

I'd be interested to know how you use MQTT to force a charge. I'm using my Cerbo with a fixed charged schedule over night but I'd like to move that to use HA automations to allow me to force a charge during Octopus free energy sessions and ultimately use batpred to trigger a charge. I too am using [Victron MQTT integration](https://github.com/tomer-w/ha-victron-mqtt) for the Victron integration.

Jason with the mqtt integration set the "ESS Min SOC" and it will immediately start charging (note: this may be a Cerbo GX feature but I think you need that for the mqtt anyway). See my charging automation triggering this repeatedly over the last 24 hours

[Billyturkey]

I’ve had the system running on test for the last four days now, including a weekend where Octopus Agile was actually paying to charge the battery — so as you can imagine, charge and discharge cycles were constant. I’m genuinely impressed with how well it’s working alongside my SolarEdge setup so far.

I did manage to blow a 100A fuse on the Lynx, but that was my own fault for not limiting the discharge properly. I’ve since reduced it to –4000, which seems to keep things stable. I’ve also adjusted the charge stop setpoint to –200 to cover household loads and allow the SolarEdge system to take up the remainder.

If your goal is simply to charge the battery, then setting the ESS Min SOC would likely be the most straightforward approach. But for anyone interested in developing Predbat further, you’ll definitely need the discharge feature enabled if you plan to take advantage of energy trading or tariff optimisation.

Victron provides a useful reference for this in their guide on ESS Modes 2 and 3, which includes the Modbus registers you can also find in MQTT:
https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ess:ess_mode_2_and_3

Next, I’m considering using additional input logic alongside the AC setpoint control to switch between inverter-only and charger-only modes dynamically. Hopefully, we can pull something together to officially integrate Victron into Predbat for wider use.

If anyone has suggestions or ideas for improving this setup, I’m happy to test them on my system and share the results.

[Billyturkey]

Just for info this is the template I have setup in configuration.yaml to bring in the list (vic_ess_mode_select) to apps.yaml. Note the <your_cerbo_gx_id>, put your unquie number in there from Cerbo GX.

template:
  - select:
       - name: "Victron ESS Mode"
         unique_id: vic_ess_mode_select
 
         # (optional) reflect the current label based on the setpoint value
         state: >
           {% set sp = states('number.victron_mqtt_<your_cerbo_gx_id>_system_0_system_ac_power_set_point')|float(0) %}
           {% if sp >= 4500 %}
             Charge Start
           {% elif sp <= -4500 %}
             Discharge Start
           {% elif sp <= 75 %}
             Charge Stop
           {% else %}
             Unknown
           {% endif %}
 
         # options must be a single template that renders a list
         options: >
           {{ ['Charge Start', 'Charge Stop', 'Discharge Start'] }}
 
         # when a user picks an option, run the right branch
         select_option:
           - choose:
               - conditions: "{{ option == 'Charge Start' }}"
                 sequence:
                   - service: number.set_value
                     target:
                       entity_id: number.victron_mqtt_<your_cerbo_gx_id>_system_0_system_ac_power_set_point
                     data:
                       value: 4500
 
               - conditions: "{{ option == 'Charge Stop' }}"
                 sequence:
                   - service: number.set_value
                     target:
                       entity_id: number.victron_mqtt_<your_cerbo_gx_id>_system_0_system_ac_power_set_point
                     data:
                       value: -200
 
               - conditions: "{{ option == 'Discharge Start' }}"
                 sequence:
                   - service: number.set_value
                     target:
                       entity_id: number.victron_mqtt_<your_cerbo_gx_id>_system_0_system_ac_power_set_point
                     data:
                       value: -4500
             default: []