TriStar MPPT Networking Companion Document
Contents
1. 255 255 0 Default Gateway 192 168 1 1 Primary DNS 192 168 1 1 Secondary DNS 0 0 0 0 Bridged Ethernet MODBUS requests to the EIA 485 network are Disabled SNMP MIB file TSMPPT mib can be downloaded from the HTTP Server s root directory A link is also provid ed on the Network settings page2. and executed by two 2 separate processors If the network processor crashes for any reason the charge controller functionality will continue unaffected Part A Configure the Network Router and TriStar MPPT A router provides a gateway between the internet and your private local network A router is usu ally provided to DSL cable fiber and satellite customers by their internet service provider ISP The router connects to the incoming phone line cable coax or fiber line and provides one 1 or more Ethernet ports for your home business computers Most network routers have a web interface for configuration This interface is usually protected by password If your router was supplied by your ISP Cable DSL satellite company they can provide you with the login password needed to access the router configuration If you purchased and installed your own router the factory default password should be provided in the router docu mentation Step 1 Retrieve the Current TriStar MPPT Network Settings a Open a web browser on any computer on your local network b Open the TriStar MPPT live view webpage c Click the Network link at the top of the page d Write down all the information in the Current Network Settings section e Also note under the Settings section if Obtain IP address from DHCP server is selected Step 2 Login to the network Router a Open a web browser on any computer on your local network b Enter th
3. net work does not support DHCP the TriStar MPPT could not obtain a network configuration You will need to verify if the default settings are compatible with your network and modify them if neces sary Follow the steps in Appendix A Manual Network Configuration Step 1 Connect the TriStar MPPT to your network using an Ethernet cable The unit must be powered up to communicate Before proceeding to the next step allow 5 minutes for the controller to con nect to the network and acquire its network settings Step 2 Next connect to the controller using a computer on the network Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X v10 2 or later Open a web browser 1 In the internet address bar type the following http tsmpptXXXXXXXX test html where XXXXXXXX is the 8 digit serial number of the controller The serial number can be found on the label on the side of the unit This address is the controller s NETBIOS name which is a permanent address that always points to the controller on the network A test page should load with links to the Live View and Network Setup pages Click the Live View link to view real time operating information 4 You may want to bookmark the page for future reference ON NOTE Mac OS X users may be required to enable Windows File Sharing SMB which uses the NETBIOS protocol Consult Apple s support and documentation for more information Final Notes Congratulations At this point the controller is successfully c
4. usually turned on by default Since DHCP is enabled by default in the TriStar MPPT the network settings will be automatically assigned when connected How can I tell if DHCP is enabled on my network If you have residential or business DSL Cable Fiber or satellite internet service and the net work router was provided by the internet provider chances are really good that DHCP is already enabled Just to be sure you can go to any computer on your network and check its network set tings Obtain info using a Windows PC Click the start menu button Choose the Run menu item Type cmd in the Open text field and click OK At the prompt type ipconfig all and hit enter note there is a space between the g and Network information similar to the screenshot below will be displayed Windows IP Configuration Host Nama gt rea ea Primary Dns Suffix a Node Tune LAE 6 2 amp amp eee Bus IP Routing Enabled WINS Proxy Enabled 3 DNS Suffix Search List Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection Connection specific DNS Suffix Description gt e e es e ame Ep Dhep Enabled I GL LG GSE SG Autoconfiguration Enabled TP Address 4 sos oe oe ee eS 168 SUNT Mask gt saa AE se GE se S Default Gateway s 168 1 Mer Server a ies ee wl i ee 168 1 DNS SOPV PRE 5 mo mo m mo m ee et G 168 1 196 6 Lease Obtained gt ma amamen 65 A
5. Tristar MPPT Networking Companion Document 9 MORNINGSTAR 8 Pheasant Run Newtown PA 18940 www morningstarcorp com info O morningstarcorp com v01 October 2009 I Introduction Certain models of the TriStar MPPT family of charge controllers have Ethernet ports and web features These models can be connected to your home network so that operating information can be displayed on any computer on the network This companion document covers the steps required to connect your ethernet enabled TriStar MPPT controller to your home network Instructions are also included to configure your network router to allow remote access to your TriStar MPPT via the internet For users that only need to access the TriStar MPPT from within their home network the Remote Access steps are not required Only set up remote access if you would like to view system performance on a computer or other network device outside of your home network via the internet ll Connect to the Local Area Network LAN The following section will guide you through the process of connecting your TriStar MPPT controller to your home business local network Getting Started The TriStar MPPT was designed for easy setup on your home or business network through DHCP DHCP is a service that automatically assigns a network configuration to a computer or de vice that appears on your network The vast majority of residential and business network routers support DHCP and the service is
6. be configured manually Follow these steps to manually configure the network settings for the TriStar MPPT a b C Q gt Open a web browser on any computer on your local network Enter the IP of the Default Gateway listed in the network settings information Instructions for obtaining the network information are provided in the introductory notes in Section Il When prompted enter the login password information for the router If you do not know this information contact your ISP or consult the router documentation for the factory default login password Find the DHCP range dynamic IP range under the DHCP settings in the router configuration menus It may look something like this Dynamic IP Range Range Start 192 168 1 100 Range End 192 168 1 149 Pick an IP that lies outside of this range For the example range above 192 168 1 50 would be a good choice Browse to the network settings page in the TriStar MPPT live view In the Settings section change the selection from Obtain IP address from DHCP server to Use Static IP address In the IP Address fields enter the IP chosen in step c Fill out the rest of the network settings with the info obtained in the introductory notes in Sec tion II Appendix B Default TriStar MPPT Settings Port Assignments Port 80 HTTP Server Port 502 MODBUS via TCP IP Port 161 SNMP Agent Port Network Settings Static IP address 192 168 1 253 Subnet Mask 255
7. e 2 above illustrates how DDNS works Dynamic DNS servers are notified by a computer on Jack s private network whenever the router IP changes The address JacksHouse dyndns org points to the DDNS servers which in turn forward the request to the latest IP address of Jack s Private Network Who provides this service and how much does it cost We recommend using Dynamic DNS service provided by www DynDNS com It s free reliable and has a proven track record However there are other free DDNS services that will work just as well Detailed setup information is available on their websites Part C Testing Your Connection Now that the controller has a fixed IP address on your private network and a fixed public address you can now connect to your TriStar MPPT controller from any computer on the internet Test with MSView From the Devices menu choose Manual Connection Choose TS MPPT from the device list Change Connection Type to Remote TCP Input the Dynamic DNS address into the IP address field By default the control address is 1 leave the same unless you specifically changed this value The control TCP Port should be 502 Click OK Right click on the device icon in the tree and select Connect The icon should turn green indicating a successful connection 0QA0 0 a oS Onn Test with a Web Browser only if Port 80 is forwarded in Part A Step 4 In the browser address bar type the Dynamic DNS address The TriSta
8. e IP of the Default Gateway listed in the TriStar MPPT network settings c When prompted enter the login password information for the router d Keep this browser window open since access to the router settings will be needed throughout these instructions Step 3 Program the TriStar MPPT with Static Network Information If the TriStar MPPT is configured for DHCP you will need to disable DHCP and specify your own static network settings If a Static IP address is already assigned to the TriStar MPPT you can skip Step 3 and go straight to Step 4 a Open the web browser that contains the router settings from Step 2 b Find the DHCP range dynamic IP range under the DHCP settings It may look something like this Dynamic IP Range Range Start 192 168 1 100 Range End 192 168 1 149 c Pick an IP that lies outside of this range For the example range above 192 168 1 50 would be a good choice d Browse back to the network settings page in the TriStar MPPT live view e In the Settings section change the selection from Obtain IP address from DHCP server to Use Static IP address f In the IP Address fields enter the IP chosen in step c g Fill out the rest of the network settings with the info obtained in Step 1 essentially copy the info from the Current Settings section on the same page h Click the Save button to use the new settings Step 4 Setup Port Forwarding Next you need to setup port forwarding P
9. onnected to your network Follow ing are a few notes about routinely connecting to your TriStar MPPT on your home or business network e You can now connect to the TriStar MPPT using a web browser MSView or any other soft ware that supports the TriStar MPPT from inside your home network e Windows PC computers can always access the TriStar MPPT using its NETBIOS name tsmpptXXXXXXXX e Apple Mac computers may not support the use of NETBIOS names by default e The IP address assigned by DHCP may change periodically and is not a reliable way to con nect to your controller However if you manually assigned network settings then the IP ad dress will never change e MSView can connect to the TriStar MPPT using the IP address or NETBIOS name We rec ommend using the NETBIOS name since it never changes If you save the workspace its better to use the NETBIOS name so that MSView always reconnects properly e Atthis point the TriStar MPPT cannot be accessed outside of your home or business network See Section Ill Configure Remote Access for details on how to connect to the TriStar MPPT from remote locations Ill Configure Remote Access Configure remote access to allow communication with your TriStar MPPT from any computer or device on the internet Use MSView or a web browser to view your solar system s real time oper ating information NOTE Before proceeding make sure the TriStar MPPT is correctly configured and connected to yo
10. ort forwarding commands the router to direct all incom ing traffic from the internet on a specific port to a computer or device inside your private network In this case you want to direct all incoming requests on port 502 directly to the TriStar MPPT Addtionally you may also want to forward port 80 to the TriStar MPPT This will allow you to view the TriStar Web View pages from any computer on the internet This is not required however There are many different router models so we cannot provide specific directions in this document for configuring port forwarding However the website http www portforward com provides a comprehensive list of routers and instructions for forwarding ports The forwarding information for the TriStar MPPT is as follows To enable remote access to your TriStar MPPT using MSView or other 3rd party software IP Static IP assigned to the controller in Step 3f port 502 some routers ask for a range of ports in this case specify 502 to 502 protocol TCP If you want to view TriStar Live View webpages from any computer on the internet the fol lowing additional port must also be forwarded in addition to port 502 IP Static IP assigned to the controller in Step 3f port 80 some routers ask for a range of ports in this case specify 80 to 80 protocol TCP Part B Set up Dynamic DNS Service Many ISPs allocate dynamic IP addresses to their customers In plain English this means that the public address
11. r Live View web page should load IV Multi controller Networking Options Two or More TriStar MPPT Controllers Whenever possible network multiple TriStar MPPT controllers using Ethernet This net work scheme results in the lowest cost and most control over each controller in the network TriStar MPPT controllers that do not have Ethernet ports should be connected via EIA 485 see the next section Be sure to set the Ethernet Security settings switch switch 8 to Disable Writes if the Ethernet network is accessible via the internet TriStar MPPT Controller s Other Morningstar Products A TriStar MPPT 60 can be connected to other Morningstar products on a network using the built in EIA 485 interface The TriStar MPPT 60 connects to a network router using the Ether net port All devices in the system are connected together on a EIA 485 bus Incoming requests from the LAN or Internet that are addressed to devices on the network are bridged through the TriStar MPPT 60 onto the EIA 485 bus For products such as the Relay Driver that have a serial port an EIA 485 adapter model RSC 1 can be used to connect to the EIA 485 bus as shown in figure 3 below Products that do not have a serial port require an additional Meterbus adapter model MSC to convert the RJ 11 interface to serial TriStar MPPT 60 Relay Driver J R lo Router h Serial Cable SunSaver MPPT 15L Ethernet u ver Cable RSC 1 MSC JJ luce o gt EIA 485 Se
12. rial Cable RJ 11 ie Cable gt Figure 3 Networking Morningstar products that do not have Ethernet ports The EIA 485 bridging feature must be enabled in the network settings of the TriStar MPPT 60 controller as follows a Open the TriStar Live View webpage b Click the Network link at the top c Under the Settings section check the box for the Bridge Ethernet MODBUS requests to EIA 485 network option d Click the Save button NOTE Kg The RSC 1 EIA 485 adapter requires power from the battery or DC DC converter to power the bus The A RSC 1 can be powered directly from a 12V system battery For 24 or 48V systems a DC DC power converter is required CAUTION All incoming requests addressed to controllers and devices that are connected bridged to the EIA 485 port on the TriStar MPPT will be passed both READ and WRITE modbus requests without exception Setting switch 8 on the TriStar MPPT only prevents WRITE requests to the local controller For this reason we do not recommend enabling internet access to systems with bridged EIA 485 networks unless extra network security measures are implemented Appendix A Manual Network Configuration For networks that do not support DHCP the TriStar MPPT must
13. that uniquely identifies your home business router on the internet changes This is equivalent to having your mailing address change randomly The postal service can t deliver your mail if they don t know your address Your ISP can tell you if you have a static IP or dynamic IP If you have a static IP your address never changes and you can skip this section go straight to Part C Testing Your Connection If you have a dynamic IP you ll need a reliable way to find your router s address so that you can always contact your TriStar MPPT controller The solution is to use Dynamic DNS Service DDNS DDNS maps a static internet address to your home network s dynamic IP A client must be installed on a computer in your network which will automatically update the DDNS when your router s public IP has changed NOTE Many modern routers now support DDNS which eliminates the need to run a client on your home computer If your router supports DDNS it can be configured to automatically update the DDNS servers whenever the IP address changes Check your router s documentation or check the approved vendors list at htto www dyndns com yrrsee ee Jack s Private Network Internet Dynamic DNS Servers pe Q ee Bf DE D gt u 3 E Zz 2 c gt gt a 2 S g v a og Private Network Address 2 4 JacksHouse dyndns org Private Network Address 3 Figure 2 Dynamic DNS service Figur
14. ug 2009 89 12 AM Lease Expires 2 16 Aug 2009 09 12 AM Figure 1 Windows PC ipconfig network info In figure 1 above the arrow points to the DHCP information If your computer has DHCP en abled then your network supports DHCP Proceed to Step 1 in this section to connect your TriStar MPPT controller to your network If DHCP is disabled you will need to configure the TriStar MPPT with the correct network settings before proceeding Follow the steps in Appendix A Manual Network Configuration Obtain info using a Mac Click the Apple icon in the top left corner Select System Preferences from the menu Click the Network icon under Network amp Internet Choose the network adapter to view the network info If your computer has DHCP enabled then your network supports DHCP Proceed to Step 1 in this section to connect your TriStar MPPT controller to your network If DHCP is disabled you will need to configure the TriStar MPPT with the correct network settings before proceeding Follow the steps in Appendix A Manual Network Configuration What happens if my local network does not have DHCP enabled but I connect the TriStar MPPT to the network anyway The TriStar MPPT will search for a period of time for a valid DHCP server If no server is found the TriStar MPPT will default to the network settings listed in Appendix B The default network settings may or may not be compatible with your network Because your
15. ur home business network per the directions in Section II Eg NOTE Because there are many different types and manufacturers of network routers the exact steps required cannot be fully documented here However details are provided on where to get further information CAUTION All incoming requests addressed to controllers and devices that are connected bridged to the EIA 485 port on the TriStar MPPT will be passed both READ and WRITE modbus requests without exception Setting switch 8 on the TriStar MPPT only prevents WRITE requests to the local controller For this reason we do not recommend enabling remote access to systems with bridged EIA 485 networks unless extra network security measures are implemented Is this secure The vast majority of viruses malware scripts etc are designed to exploit security flaws in ma jor operating systems and their software Malicious attackers wishing to do harm will only have access to the TriStar MPPT The TriStar does not have an operating system or web browser to exploit It only accepts and responds to properly structured MODBUS TCP requests If setting switch 8 is in the OFF position the controller will only allow requests to read information and will not allow requests to write data While anything is possible it is unlikely that this configuration poses a significant security risk It is also worth noting that the networking and charge controller functions of the TriStar MPPT are separate
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