SMART GRID ENERGY
1
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All rights reserved SolarVu
®
Installation Guide for AE 500NX Inverter
SolarVu
®
for AE 500NX Inverters
Installation Guide
Site Preparation
SolarVu
®
is an energy portal that enables remote monitoring of renewable
energy generation sites over the web. It requires the installation of a
K135 gateway which continuously transfers data from the inverter. This
guide explains how to connect the K135 gateway to an AE 500NX inverter.
The AE 500NX has a Moxa communication module with multiple RJ45 jacks of
which only Port P3 is used for serial RS485. Be careful to plug into the correct
jack as shown in fig 2 as they all look similar but are for different purposes.
To access SolarVu from a browser, the inverter is connected to the internet
through a Cachelan K135 gateway using twisted pair wire, typically cat5e. An
RJ45 ethernet jack, connected to the LAN network and 120VAC outlet for the
gateway power dongle are required. The LAN must have high speed internet
service to an ISP to provide a gateway to the internet as shown in figure 1.
K135 Installation
Mount the SolarVu enclosure with conduit to the inverter for the RS485 serial
cable, ethernet cat5e cable and 120VAC control power. Normally this enclosure
will be in the same electrical room as the inverter, however, the RS485 serial
cable can run long distances, over 1000 feet, if necessary.
Power Supply:
Temporarily unplug the K135 power dongle. Wire 120VAC
control power from a suitable 15A circuit to the internal receptacle and replace
the cover securing the dongle with the reusable cable tie suppled.
RS485 Serial:
Consult the AE 500NX installation manual and fig 2 for location,
wiring and default ModBus RTU RS485 serial communications of slave address
22, 9600 baud. An adapter is provided for connecting RJ45 port 3 to terminals
to allow using twisted pair wire between the inverter and the K135 gateway.
Connect the other end of the twisted pair cable in the SolarVu enclosure to the
K135 gateway terminals as shown in fig 2. Shielded twisted pair wire is preferred
for noise immunity but standard Cat5e, 8 wire, UTP, #24 cable may also work.
Use a standard ethernet patch cable with RJ45 connectors of the appropriate
length to connect from the K135 to the network ethernet at a RJ45 wall jack or
the router/switch.
Fig 2 K135-AE inverter connections
Fig 1 Internet Connection
CABLE/DSL
MODEM
ROOFTOP SOLAR ARRAY
+
DC
K135
GATEWAY
FIREWALL
ROUTER
CORPORATE
ETHERNET
LAN
LOCAL
ACCESS
REMOTE BROWSER
ACCESS
INTERNET
SolarVu
Servers
RS485
ISP
GE796
Ethernet
ModBus
AE500NX INVERTER
DC COMBINERS
AE500NX
RS485 Terminals
Use Cat5e Twisted pair cable or equivalent
COMMUNICATION SETTINGS
(DEFAULT)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 8
9
Data
RS232 - RS485
Converter
RS232 to RS485 CONVERTER
K135
RS232
INVERTER
RS485
RS485
DB9F to RS485
9/11
D-
D+
GND
COM
1
3
4
2
#GE088
D1
D
2
4
3
-
GND
D+ & D- twisted pair
GE770
Optional shield
Switch to
DATA position
K135 Gateway
SLAVE
GND
D+ D-
Blue
Blue-White
DB9F to
Terminals
Adapter
Blue-White
Blue
Green
Green
BAUD
PARITY
DATA
FLOW
STOP
9,600
none
1
8
off
ADDRESS
22
SERIAL COMMS
3 5 6
RJ45 Pins
120ohm
Terminating
Resistor
View looking
into RJ45 connector
from plug side
JACK
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
RJ45
568B
568A
RJ45 plug
Viewed from pin side
T-568B
PLUG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
T-568B
ORA-W ORA GRE-W BLU BLU-W GRE BRO-W BRO
T-568B
PLUG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
T-568A
GRE-W GRE ORA-W BLU BLU-W ORA BRO-W BRO
Make custom Cat5e cable
or use adapter supplied
120ohm
Terminating
Resistor
RJ45 to TERMINALS
ADAPTER BOARD
D+
GND
1
3
4
2
5
D-
6
8
7
9
S
485
x
x
x
xx
x
DB9M-RJ45
ADAPTER
Ethernet
Patch
Cable
RJ45
Plug
RJ45
Plug
MOXA Communication
Module Inside AE 500NX
Direct Connection
from RJ45 Jack
Alternative connection using adapter
3 GND
5 Data+
6 Data-
Port 3
Modbus 485
