Li-ion Storage EX - battery

Introduction

This document describes the integration between the Solar MD Li-ion Storage EX battery (the EX-Series, also called BMS-Ex) and the myPower24 online monitoring platform using the LoggerV data logger, for real-time monitoring, data logging, and plant control.

Phase A - Selection & Compatibility

1. Models covered

• EX-Series: Solar MD; product type: Storage. Shown under My Devices as Li-ion Storage EX Series. Each battery is identified by its serial number (prefix SMDBEX); several on one bus form a cluster automatically, with one master.

2. Communication & compatibility

• CAN bus: the battery communicates only over CAN, pinned to 500 kbps. Scan method is passive (interface-only): the LoggerV listens on the bus and picks up each battery automatically as it broadcasts. There is no scan step and no address to set. LoggerV compatible: yes.
• Firmware: device: Not Specified (the driver sets no minimum for normal operation; a replacement board must be firmware 201 or greater, see section 10); LoggerV: Not Specified.

3. Plant-control capability

In plant control the battery fills the Energy Storage role. It is an active participant, not monitor-only: the LoggerV builds a storage cluster from the battery (or batteries) and hands it to plant control, which uses the battery's own charge and discharge control limits in its charge/discharge decisions. The battery's BMS manages cell safety itself.

Separately, a battery can be told to drive a third-party inverter's BMS directly over CAN (the Controlled Device setting); see section 7.

4. Recorded data points

Logged to the platform (record type in brackets; sampling period is device-wide):

• SOC, %, average.
• Current, A, average.
• Capacity, Ah, average.
• Pack Voltage, V, average.
• Voltage internal, V, average.
• Charge control limit, A, min/max.
• Discharge control limit, A, min/max.
• Daily charge, Ah, raw.
• Daily discharge, Ah, raw.
• Min Cell Voltage, V, average.
• Max Cell Voltage, V, average.
• Min Cell Temperature, °C, average.
• Max Cell Temperature, °C, average.
• Min Cell Index, (no unit), unique.
• Max Cell Index, (no unit), unique.

5. Reference documents

None hosted yet.

Phase B - Installation & Commissioning

6. Wiring & connection

Connection diagrams are generated by the platform's Add-Device wizard; see How to add a device in myPower24. Connect the battery's CAN connection to a CANBUS port on the LoggerV (shown as CANBUS 1 or CANBUS 2). Wire several batteries onto the same CAN bus; they cluster automatically.

7. Configuration steps

1. Connect the CAN cable per the generated diagram, at 500 kbps.
2. On the first CAN port of the LoggerV, nothing more is needed: a stock LoggerV ships with the Storage EX driver already enabled on the first CAN interface, so the battery is discovered automatically the moment it powers up. This is an auto-detected device, so there is no scan and no address to set. Within a few seconds each battery appears under My Devices > Storage. If you instead wire the batteries to a second CAN port, that port is not pre-enabled: add support for it once via How to add a device in myPower24, choosing Solar MD > Li-Ion Storage > STORAGE EX-Series on that CANBUS port.
3. Open a battery and check its Realtime Data tab: Battery State, Pack Voltage and SOC should be live and updating.

Connecting the battery to an inverter (BMS comms). Besides talking to the LoggerV, a battery can drive a hybrid inverter's charging and discharging directly over a separate CAN link. Tell the battery which inverter protocol to speak: on the battery's device page go to Settings > Installer > Control, find Controlled Device Settings, and set Controlled Device to match the inverter, for example Sunsynk for a Deye or Sunsynk inverter (they share one protocol). Other options include AUTO CANBUS, SMA, Victron, Goodwe, SAJ, Growatt, TBB and SOLIS. The two CAN links (to the LoggerV and to the inverter) are independent and can run at the same time. For the inverter side of a Deye/Sunsynk pairing, see Set up a Deye single-phase hybrid inverter.

Phase C - Maintenance & Monitoring

8. Monitoring

The device page has four tabs: General Info, Realtime Data (default), Cluster values, and Settings (Installer and Advanced sub-sections). The Realtime Data tab shows Battery State (e.g. Relay Closed), Pack Voltage, Current, Power, SOC, Capacity, Energy, per-cell min/max voltages and temperatures, and remaining charge time. Cluster values shows how many batteries are online, which is master, and each battery's contribution.

To confirm a healthy link: the battery appears under My Devices > Storage and its Battery State, Pack Voltage and SOC are live on Realtime Data.

9. Firmware updates

Firmware is managed from Settings > Installer > Firmware:

1. Check for Online Update: the LoggerV checks for newer firmware online.
2. Copy to BMS: transfers the firmware to the battery. The battery keeps operating normally during the transfer, and you see a progress bar.
3. Install: applies it.

10. Replacing a battery board

If a battery's control board is replaced, the LoggerV detects the new board on the bus (it appears temporarily under the placeholder serial BAT_IN_PROD) and the BMS Replacement Wizard offers to restore the failed unit's configuration and serial from its latest backup, so the battery rejoins as itself. A replacement board must be on firmware 201 or greater.

11. Troubleshooting

• A battery doesn't appear after wiring it. Detection is automatic, so if none show up the bus isn't communicating: check the CAN wiring (CAN-H / CAN-L not swapped), that the bus is terminated, that the battery is powered, and that the battery is on the right CANBUS port. The port's Interface Statistics (bitrate, bus load, Rx/Tx errors) show whether the bus is alive.
• A battery shows offline after working. CAN communication was lost; check the cabling and that the battery is powered.
• Cluster warnings (verbatim): "One or more batteries in the cluster are Offline."; "More than one Master Battery in cluster found."; "Cluster Fw difference." (update them to matching firmware); "One or more batteries in the cluster are DC Disconnected."
• Controlled-device (inverter) comms. If the battery is driving an inverter and loses that link, you may see "Controlled device coms fail." or "Master Battery to Controlled device msg timeout."; check the inverter-side CAN link and that Controlled Device matches the inverter.
• Battery fault or protection alerts. The BMS raises named errors for real hardware conditions, for example "Open cell wire detected.", "Protection Main Relay Fuse Burned.", or a critical over/under-voltage shutdown. These are hardware faults: note the exact message and contact support.

12. Who can do what

The Settings tab has two sub-sections, gated differently:

• Regular user (basic): open the battery page, read live data, and use the Installer settings sub-tab. Installer settings, including Control > Controlled Device, LED and rated parameters, are not gated by the advanced permission, so a signed-in operator can set them. These are commissioning settings, normally set once by the installer.
• Advanced user (advanced): additionally sees the Advanced settings sub-tab (Cluster Settings, Charge/Discharge Control, Balancing, detailed cell data and measured capacity), which is gated to advanced.
• Support / OEM (oem and higher): full control. Firmware update and downgrade, cell calibration, and the battery-model replacement preset need support-level permissions (firmware-developer), above plain advanced.

The highest tier bypasses the lower-tier gates.

Tips and gotchas

• CAN is fixed at 500 kbps and the battery doesn't auto-detect the speed; the bus must run at 500 kbps.
• Many batteries, one bus, one cluster: wire them on the same CANBUS port; one becomes master.
• Identity is the serial, not an address: a battery is tracked by its SMDBEX serial, so it keeps its identity even if its place on the bus changes.