11KW Smart Controller Project

[tjsc5f]

My previous controller project, here, was a home brew wireless controller good for up to 6.6KW. This actually worked great, and I have no complaints except that if I wanted to change or add anything feature wise, I had to remember how to do all the app development stuff.

Fast forward to present day - I have moved to a more rural area, a dedicated still shed is in the works and a 100L double jacketed pot belly boiler is on the slow boat headed my way
For a still this sized, I'm planning on running 2x 5.5KW elements, so the old controller just won't cut it.

To get away from the app development stuff in the previous build, for this round I'll be utilizing some off the shelf smart home automation components.
Here's a quick list of the components I've ordered and brief notes on why I selected these components:

- Voltage Regulator - LSA-H2P150YB-F - Previous regulator was the 90A/6.6KW, open loop version. For the 11KW elements, I went with 150A/11KW. I've noticed that the power here isn't nearly as consistent as it was at my previous location, so I went with the closed loop option this time around to help stabilize the output power.

- Voltage Regulator Heat Sink - FHSH01F-150 - Fits the previously mentioned regulator.

- Voltage Adjuster - Shelly Plus 0-10V Dimmer - I've installed several of these Shelly dimmers and smart switches in my house since I've moved, they've worked flawlessly for the last 3 months. The voltage controller has a 0-10V input control, so this should interface without any issues. If you didn't want this to be a smart controller, you could just put a knob style potentiometer here instead.

- Power Meter - Shelly EM - I won't be able to read the output voltage with this, but by connecting it on the input side of the voltage regulator, I'll be able to get a fairly accurate reading of the output power.

- Temp Monitoring - Shelly Plus Add-On - An addon for the 0-10V dimmer that will allow for up to 5x DS18B20 temp probes.

- Barometric Pressure Monitoring - Aqara Sensor - Wireless monitor for temp, humidity and barometric pressure.

Shelly has an app that's basically plug and play with their items. I used it briefly, and it works fine but doesn't allow for much customization. After I get this setup up and running, I'll share some screen shots of it.

I plan on using Home Assistant instead of the Shelly App. This takes a bit more hardware and setup, but I already have it installed to run my other home automation things, and it allows for all the customizations you can imagine (temp to ABV conversions/e-parrot etc).

More to come!

[Yummyrum]

Looks like an interesting project tjsc5F.

I’ve never heard of these 0-10v shelly things or similar before .
Any chance of a brief description of what they are used for and how they are normally connected .

Those power controllers are peaking my interest though .

[tjsc5f]

I’ve never heard of these 0-10v shelly things or similar before .
Any chance of a brief description of what they are used for and how they are normally connected .

A lot of older/industrial dimmable LED drivers used a low voltage 0-10VDC signal to control the brightness. I don't think it's very common anymore, but that's what these particular Shelly dimmers are used for. Shelly has another dimmer, called the Dimmer2 - more of a direct acting unit, but only good for ~200W. I have this type installed on almost all of the standard light fixtures in my house.

Here is how I plan to wire the 0-10V dimmer to the voltage regulator.

[tommysb]

- Voltage Regulator - LSA-H2P150YB-F - Previous regulator was the 90A/6.6KW, open loop version. For the 11KW elements, I went with 150A/11KW. I've noticed that the power here isn't nearly as consistent as it was at my previous location, so I went with the closed loop option this time around to help stabilize the output power.

This is the core of it, if I understand correctly? a 0-10V control voltage determines the output voltage at 0-100% of the input side.I'm guessing you'll run the elements in parallel off a single controller. Could you also use 2 smaller controllers? I would Probably put some headroom into the spec of the voltage controller so it's not running at its 'limit', and take the specs of stuff from AliExpress with a pinch of salt. Eg. use a 15kW rated controller if you have an 11kW load.

- Power Meter - Shelly EM - I won't be able to read the output voltage with this, but by connecting it on the input side of the voltage regulator, I'll be able to get a fairly accurate reading of the output power.

Why can't you read an output voltage with this device?

I really like the idea of just using off-the-shelf bits, should get you up and running with a functional wireless controlled system quickly! I looked up your previous system, and it sure looks like you know what you're doing with this!

[tjsc5f]

This is the core of it, if I understand correctly? a 0-10V control voltage determines the output voltage at 0-100% of the input side.I'm guessing you'll run the elements in parallel off a single controller. Could you also use 2 smaller controllers? I would Probably put some headroom into the spec of the voltage controller so it's not running at its 'limit', and take the specs of stuff from AliExpress with a pinch of salt. Eg. use a 15kW rated controller if you have an 11kW load.

You are understanding correctly, and I will be running the elements in parallel. You could run 2 smaller controllers if you needed too, but the component cost would be higher.
These controllers aren't quite as bad as the SCRs you find on Amazon. This one is rated at 150A peak current, over 3x of what you'll be pulling continuously at 11kW.

Why can't you read an output voltage with this device?

The line that powers the device is the same line that it measures voltage from, and it requires 110-240VAC to operate. If you connect it to the output side and turned the power down, this thing would turn off and you'd lose your reading.
It isn't really that big of a deal measuring the input side. The power consumed by the voltage regulator is negligible, so power in is roughly equal to power out.

[tjsc5f]

Managed to mount most of the items in a box and get some temporary wiring in for testing.

I quickly found out that the Shelly 0-10V dimmer does not actually output a 0-10V signal. It's what's known as a "sinking" output, so it wasn't going to work quite as easily as what I had originally planned.
I had no 10V source in the box at this point, and I didn't really want to add one. Luckily the voltage regulator has several control options, 0-5V being one of them, and a 5V source built in. I was able to move some wires around, add a resistor and get everything to work perfectly.

There is an ugly schematic of what I ended up with:

Now with everything working properly, I'll put in a permanent 50A cord with a cord grip, put some connectors in for the temp probes and return the wife's dryer back to service

[tjsc5f]

SHELLY APP
So the Shelly App is crazy easy to setup, it literally took less than a minute to get the devices connected.
While it is fully functional, it allows for almost no customization. I knew from the get go that I wasn't going to be using this app for my controller but I wanted to show it's capabilities for anyone that wanted an easy/down and dirty solution.
This is the main screen, it has a switch that allows you to turn the boiler on and off, shows the 3 temp probe readings I had connected and 2 power channels (I didn't have channel 2 connected at all, but there's no option to hide that channel in this app).
I took several screenshots at various power levels and put them side by side:

Tapping on the boiler control brings up a slider that allows you to adjust the power level:

From here you can bring up additional temp probe info, as well as probe calibrations:

Another downside of the app is that it requires you to create an account - at least it's free.

[Yummyrum]

Good stuff tjsc5f

Really keen to hear how the closed loop feature helps maintain a constant power with varying supply

[tjsc5f]

HOME ASSISTANT
This is the route I'm going. There is a bit more hardware required, but other than that, there's no downsides from what I can tell.
It's fully customizable and fairly simple to learn.
The software is completely free, and can be setup 100% locally with no need for internet or online accounts.
Here is the 5 minute setup I did tonight just for demonstration. I have plans for additional e-parrot info, reflux control, PID control of the boiler for mashing and an improved overall layout for landscape tablet display.

[tjsc5f]

Really keen to hear how the closed loop feature helps maintain a constant power with varying supply

Unfortunately, it's going to be late fall (if all goes well) before I get my shed up and wired, so no real testing anytime soon