Can I convert USB data from my Solar Inverter to bluetooth to read on PC?

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi there,

I have this idea for a project but I'm keen to see what those with more experience think.

Anyway, my wife and I and our kids are living off-grid with a solar PV array plus battery bank and inverter etc.

The inverter is a Selectronic SP Pro, and doesn't come with wireless connectivity standard. You need to buy another product for $300-$400.

Anyway, I'd like to send the USB data from the inverter via bluetooth to my computer to display it 10 metres away (indoors).

It comes with software, SP-LINK, to monitor and diagnose the data from the inverter, but currently you need to plug a physical USB cable into the inverter and your laptop right next to the inverter.

Anyway, i've been doing some research and I wonder if it would be pretty simple to connect an arduino (a UNO or Mega maybe? or could you use a Nano or Pro mini?) to a bluetooth module such as a HC-05, and pick up that bluetooth COM connection on a remote laptop (10 metres or so away) like you're plugged in??

So you would be using the arduino to simply send and receive any comm data from the bluetooth link from the laptop, back to the usb connection of the inverter.

What do you think?

Appreciate any helpful suggestions.

2

but currently you need to plug a physical USB cable into the inverter and your laptop right next to the inverter.

This means your inverter is a USB client machine, which is designed to be plugged into a USB host machine, your PC.

The Arduino is also a USB client, so you can not plug two clients together. You would need to add a USB host shield to your Arduino and then hope you can find some driver software for what ever sort of USB client your inverter is configured to look like.

3

It is doubtful but worth a shot. Ask if they have programmer's info about their SP-Link software.

4

"Anyway, my wife and I and our kids are living off-grid with a solar PV array plus battery bank and inverter etc."

If you're offgrid, how do you get to the internet?

I think you'll need a USB master, like an RPi running SP-talk, to talk to the USB slave (inverter), it will send the data to an RF module (will Bluetooth do 10 meters? I didn't think it had that range - maybe use simple 433 MHz Tx unit), and an RF module such as 433 MHz Rx unit) to an Arduino Uno/Nano or Promini with FTDI Basic/equivalent to give the data to the PC.