What is a VE.Smart Network?
The VE.Smart Network is a wireless communication network between Victron products over bluetooth. For the majority of our customers this is used to help multiple MPPT controllers charge the same battery bank more efficiently. Rather than the MPPT controllers competing with each other they will all "talk" to each other via bluetooth and work as a team to better charge your battery bank.
The hub of the network is the Victron Smart Battery Sense. This is the small blue box we include in all our bundles that literally sticks to one battery in your bank and is connected to its positive and negative terminals. It sends data on battery temperature & voltage via bluetooth to the MPPT controllers for improved charging.
Battery voltage
Battery temperature
Note: If you do not have a smart battery sense both battery voltage & temperature measurements are taken at the MPPT controller, which is likely to be less accurate. There is possibly some voltage drop in the wire run from MPPT to battery and also the battery might be in a different locker and at a different temperature.
(the older black version is used in the video above but we only sell the latest blue version)
How do I set up my network?
The video above from Victron goes into pretty good detail on how to install the Smart Battery Sense and then how to set up your network via the VictronConnect app on your phone/tablet. In summary, from within the VictronConnect app you first connect to the Smart Battery Sense from the device list and create a network by giving it a name. We recommend calling it your boat name so that you don't start changing the settings for your neighbor's boat by mistake!
You then go into each MPPT controller in the device list and tell it to join your existing network. Within a few minutes you should be all synchronized and good to go!
One way to tell if you are on the smart network is to look for their icon - circled in red in the image. We call it the crop circle icon!
The maximum number of devices allowed on a single Victron Smart network is ten!
For more detailed step-by-step instructions from Victron click on the blue button below.
Have any questions about setting up your Smart Network don't hesitate to get in touch
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