Victron energy ECOmulti User manual

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ECOmulti installation Hub-2
— Andreas Kriwanek 2014/11/09 10:44— <font 9pt/arial;;#FF0000;;#ffffff>REQUEST FOR
COMMENT!</font>
<font 9pt/arial;;#FF0000;;#ffffff>The installation guide is ready now. Please change it like
you want. You can correct my English too. If the document is ready, you can use the text
and pictures for free for Victron .</font>
This document shows my practical experience in installing my first ECOmulti as a Hub2 system. The
following program and firmware versions are used:
ECOmulti firmware 2610304
ColorControl GX rev. 1.14
VEConfigure 3 Rev. 90.04.169
Scenario
A new photovoltaic system with storage has to be installed on a house. There is not plenty of room on
the roof, so a maximum of 12 solar modules could be installed. A few trees, the chimney and a
dormer window creates partial shadows on the modules. The shading will degrade the overall
performance when a normal string inverter for all modules is used. For this solution 12 micro inverters
(Sunny Boy 240) are installed to enable individual MPPT tracking for each module. The micro inverters
generates 230VAC on their <font 14px line-height:
13.0666666030884px;/arial;;#000000;;#ffffff>paralleled</font> output, which is fed into one phase
of the houses mains supply. For self-consumption and storage a Victron ECOmulti is used on the same
phase. It is designed as a Hub2 installation, where the photovoltaic energy is applied on the
ECOmulti's AC output.
The design regards the golden rule that generated solar energy has to be equal to the storage
batteries and the power of the ECOmulti:

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12x solar modules 240Wp with 12x micro inverters; 2,88 kWp
2x LiFePo-BMS batteries 90Ah: 2,4 kWh
Maximum power of the ECOmulti: 3,0 kW
Bill of Material (BOM)
For this solar plant the following parts are needed:
1x Victron ECOmulti 24/3000/70-50, Part# EMP243020100
2x Lithium battery 12,8V/90Ah - BMS, Part# BAT512900400
1x Victron AC current sensor, Part# CSE000100000
1x Victron MEGA-fuse 300A/32V (package of 5pcs), Part# CIP136300000
󰾬1x Interface MK2-USB (VE.Bus to USB), Part# ASS030130000
󰾬󰾬The fuses are spare parts.
Components of the ECOmulti
󰾬At the moment, there is no manual for the ECOmulti available in the download area (Only the
datasheet). But take it easy, the ECOmulti consists of well known Victron components in one smart
housing:
Inverter/charger MultiPlus 24/3000/70-50
Battery Management System VE.Bus BMS
Color Control GX
Fuse holder for MEGA-fuse with a MEGA-fuse 300A 32V
Complete cabling of all components including battery cables
There is enough space in the housing to install two Lithium battery 12,8V/90Ah with BMS. The
advantage of the ECOmulti is, that all of the components are cabled and checked in the factory.
Unpack, mount it to the wall, connect the 230V system and start the ECOmulti. This saves precious
time at the customer site.
The components are cabled in this way:

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In the following sections the installation of this system is documented.
Mounting the ECOmulti
󰾬Choose installation area: The CCGX should be 170cm above the floor so that your customer can
look directly on the display. This will also prevent a damage of the ECOmulti in case of water
flooding the basement
Consider that you have enough space around the ECOmulti for good ventilation
Use a hammer drill to make four 8mm holes and insert the dowels
mount the ECOmulti wall plate with the delivered screws
Check whether the mounting plate is fixed strongly. The ECOmulti has a weight of
approximately 60 kg!
Hinge the ECOmulti onto the wall plate
Mount a cable funnel between the ECOmulti and the distribution box
󰾬Connecting to mains
An analysis on customers side showed, that the phase where the most nightly load is drawn is phase
L2. The ECOmulti must be placed on this phase to provide best usage of the batteries. In Germany
there is a grid which provides three phases L1, L2, L3 together with the neutral line N. In the junction

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box there are three electronic main fuses F1/F2/F3/35A (this can differ from house to house, up to 3x
63A). L2 from the fuse will be connected to the ECOmulti input, L2 from the houses is connected to
the ECOmulti output. A transfer switch S1 with 35A is installed between input and output to close the
phase L2 in case of a ECOmulti failure. In normal operation this switch has to be open!
The photovoltaic energy (in this case 230VAC/12A from micro inverters) will be fed into the houses L2
phase on the output of the ECOmulti (=Hub2). An extra fuse F5/16A is protecting the solar system.
On the L2 output of the ECOmulti another electronic fuse 35A is mounted to prevent a damaged
ECOmulti in case of a shortcut in the house. For maintenance work on the ECOmulti the main fuse L2,
the output fuse L2 and the solar fuse 16A can be switched off.
Mounting the AC sensor
The AC sensor is needed for measuring the generated solar energy. The values of the sensor will be
displayed on the ColorControl GX and in the VRM portal. The sensor is not needed for controlling the
ECOmulti!

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󰾬Set the DIP switches on the sensor according to the maximum photovoltaic power of your modules.
This plant has a peak value of 2,88kWp, so the switches are set for the 3000W range. The green
connector is polarized +/-. Be sure don't to swap the wires to the ECOmulti. The AC sensor has to be
mounted in the junction box of the inverter. The black wire is the 230VAC phase from the micro
inverters. The wire is directed through the hole of the current sensor. Be sure, that you only use the
phase. If phase and neutral are both used, their magnetic fields will be substracted and the display
value is zero:
In the above image a installation cable 2×0,75mm² is used for connecting the sensor to the ECOmulti.
Tests have shown, that a shielded cable doesn't improve the values. An installation cable is enough.
The brown wire is plus, the blue wire is minus!

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The cable leads to the T-Sense input of the ECOmulti: plus on the left (brown) and minus on the right
side (blue). AUX1 and AUX2 can only be used on the newest ECOmultis, the recommendation is to use
the T-Sense input. This will work on all ECOmultis.
Mounting the batteries
Switch off the mains supply for the ECOmulti
Remove the ECOmulti cover
Remove the mount fittings in the battery bays
Insert the two batteries
mount the fittings to fix the batteries in the housing
Check the voltage of each battery with a multimeter:

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󰾬󰾬
<font 14px line-height: 13.0666666030884px;/arial;;#000000;;#ffffff>Each of the batteries
should have about 13,</font> 3VDC:
Mount the interconnection cable (black) between the two batteries:

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Mount the plus cable (red) of the ECOmulti to the first battery:

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Mount the minus cable (black) of the ECOmulti to the second battery
Caution: <font 9pt/arial;;rgb(255, 0, 0);;#ffffff> The last step will produce electrical sparks due
to the inductor in the ECOmulti! </font> Just proceed, nothing will be destroyed!
Interconnect the BMS cables of the batteries in a chain:
Connect the BMS cables to the VE.Bus BMS in the ECOmulti:

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Double check the cabling
󰾬Don't believe your electrician! I gave him a circuit diagram where the 230VAC photovoltaic cable has
to be connected on the ECOmulti output (= Hub2). After cabling we needed a lot of hours to get the
ECOmulti working. Finally we found out, that the electrician has cabled the photovoltaic output to the
input of the ECOmulti (= Hub1). To save you a lot of hours for bugfixing, an accurate check of all
cables is recommended.
󰾬Prepare your laptop for installation
Needed hardware for installation/configuration:
Laptop with Microsoft Windows operating system
Interface MK2-USB (VE.Bus to USB)
RJ12 UTP Cable 3 m (or even longer)
Download the necessary Victron software from Victron
http://www.victronenergy.com/support-and-downloads/software/:
VE Configuration tools for VE.Bus Products
This package includes the utilities “VEConfigure 3” for configuring the ECOmulti and “VEFlash” for
flashing the firmware. After installing start the utilities while you have a working internet connection.
The software will check for updates automatically.

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The MK2USB interfcae.
󰾬Check for possible firmware upgrade
The ECOmulti will be delivered in most cases with the new micro. Check this by searching for the label
on the mainboard:
In this case the label is “2610206.HEX”.
On this mainboard the new micro is installed. If you want to use the Hub2V3 assistant, you have to
flash a new firmware.
For this ECOmulti, there is a newer firmware “2610304.HEX” available. You can get it by email from
Victron. Note your old firmware version for checking compatibilty of the new firmware.

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Flashing firmware to ECOmulti
󰾬Best practice:
Get firmware from Victron via email
󰾬Disconnect grid and load from ECOmulti (using the two 230VAC main switches)!
Disconnect the VE.Bus cable of the ColorControl GX from the mainboard
Connect the Interface MK2-USB with the UTP cable to the ECOmulti mainboard
Connect Interface MK2-USB with the USB cable to a free USB connector on your laptop (USB2.0
or 3.0)
Leaving the CCGX VE.Bus cable plugged in can lead to programming problems. Be sure to remove the
connection of CCGX during flashing the firmware.
<font 14px line-height: 13.0666666030884px;/arial;;#000000;;#ffffff>Cabling for</font> CCGX<font
14px line-height: 13.0666666030884px;/arial;;#000000;;#ffffff>connected to</font> ECOmulti<font
14px line-height: 13.0666666030884px;/arial;;#000000;;#ffffff>(blue cable):</font>
<font 14px line-height: 13.0666666030884px;/arial;;#000000;;#ffffff>Cabling for MK2USB
connected</font> <font 14px line-height: 13.0666666030884px;/arial;;#000000;;#ffffff>to</font>
ECOmulti<font 14px line-height: 13.0666666030884px;/arial;;#000000;;#ffffff>(grey cable):</font>
Start the VEFlash utility on the laptop, the click “Start”

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All actual settings of your ECOmulti will be deleted! Be sure you have saved it in a file and click
“Next”:
<font 9pt/arial;;#FF0000;;#ffffff> To Victron : I am using a Windows7/64Bit laptop with a display
resolution of 1920x1080px. The text lines are cut on the right side of the window. Maybe you are
using a fixed size font? Can you fix this?</font>
Select the new firmware file from a directory on your laptop:

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Click “Next” to load the firmware:
Last chance to disconnect 230VAC from the ECOmulti input. The VE.Bus cable of the CCGX must also
be disconnected. Click “Next”:
Select the COM port of the MK2-USB from the list or click “Auto detect comport”. Then click “Next”:

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Switch off the mainboard of the ECOmulti, then click “Next”:
After a few seconds switch on the mainboard again. Click “Next”:

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To start flashing of the firmware, click “Next”:
󰾬Flashing is active now:

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After 1 minute the mainboard is flashed completely. Click “OK” to terminate VEFlash now:
Remove the UTP cable of the MK2-USB and connect the VE.Bus cable of the ColorControl GX to the
mainboard instead. Connect grid and load to ECOmulti (using the two 230VAC main switches).
Configure the ECOmulti with VEConfigure3
󰾬Best practice:
Disconnect the VE.Bus cable of the ColorControl GX from the mainboard
Connect the Interface MK2-USB with the UTP cable to the ECOmulti mainboard
Connect Interface MK2-USB with the USB cable to a free USB connector on your laptop (USB2.0
or 3.0)
Start the VEConfigure3 utility on the laptop and wait for a USB connection
Configure the ECOmulti with the following parameters:

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Selecting the right com port:
Selecting the right port will start the receiving of the ECOmulti parameters:
The assistant configuration will be fetched now:
Select the register “General” and set your parameters:

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In Europe select a system frequency of 50Hz
Select a “Wide input frequency range” for using SMA SunnyBoy 240.
Select “Ground relay” for safety
Choose “UPS” Function. This makes the ECOmulti to a micro grid
Switch to the next register tab “Inverter”:

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Deselect Power Assist
Deselect Aktivierung AES
Switch to the next register tab “Charger”: