Welcome to the Smartmaster Pro Setup Guide & FAQ. Whether you’re new to the Smartmaster Pro ecosystem or looking to fine-tune your existing setup, this guide is your go-to resource. We’ll cover everything from initial installation to advanced features, ensuring that you make the most of our state-of-the-art energy management solution.
Material
Additional material (not included):
Installation
Configuration
Smartmaster Pro
Datasheet
Discover more about Smartmaster Pro in our comprehensive datasheet. This document provides detailed information on the technical specifications, features, and benefits of our product. Ideal for professionals interested in delving deeper into the technical aspects of Smartmaster Pro.
Smartmaster Pro for Business Application
Explore how Smartmaster Pro can advance your business. Optimize your operational processes and enhance your energy management efficiency. Ideal for professionals seeking innovative and scalable solutions. Download our B2B brochure now.
Navigating the complexities of modern utility management can raise several questions. Our FAQ section is designed to provide you with immediate answers to common queries about our platforms, features, and services. From how to integrate renewable sources to optimizing dynamic tariffs, find quick, straightforward answers to streamline your utility operations.
Please find all the information on out Datasheet.
Smartmaster Pro need to be plugged in electrically with 12V or 24V.
Yes, plug off and plug in the cable, normally no large impact to the device. If there will be a larger impact, than please contact the smartmaster@nexxtlab.com
It is just possible to reset the Smartmaster through (the platform Smartmaster. So, the installer or Nexxtlab can do a reset on the device remotely by Balena.
On the Smartmaster Platform you can switch between the following languages:
Have a look at our ‘Installation steps’.
An user login and password will be created by us and forwarded to you to create a new personal password afterwards send an e-mail to smartmaster@nexxtlab.com
After you are logged in into the Smartmaster Pro Plattform on your computer, you can configure your site topology and device settings prior to installing the Smartmaster on site (only for installers). Once the Smartmaster is connected to the LAN with internet access, it will create a link to our platform. You can then synchronize the configuration from the platform with the hardware device.
No, the power supply of the Smartmaster needs to be assured. After an electrical outage the Smartmaster will reboot and continue to work.
Please verify the LED of the device with the LED list.
Try to switch off the Smartmaster power supply and switch it on again. Please wait some minutes after turning the device on again as it takes times to restart completely the device.
The Smartmaster will still work with interrupted connectivity, it can communicate within the local network and maintain the load management with local assets. However, in the long term, the functioning of the device can only be assured with internet connectivity as maintenance and servicing are done remotely. Moreover, energy services and OCPP backends must be accessed through internet connections.
If no light is coming from the Smartmaster device,please verify the power supply from the cable. When no light is coming from the device than there is no power in the Smartmaster device.
Yes, the LAN cable needs to be plugged.
After replacing or doing maintenance on one device connected to Smartmaster, the usual steps must be done as at the first-time during installation. Normally, the Smartmaster should get Data again normally. In case, you encounter issues after installation or replacement of an asset, please contact smartmaster@nexxtlab.com
If your installation limits are not critical, configure the topology without a Communication Unit on the GRID entry, our system will still be able to distribute the current according to the specificities of your installation. However, only the measured assets have an impact on the control in this case.
For most installations, only one Smartmaster is required. However, depending on the local setup and number of assets connected to Smartmaster, it might be preferrable to install multiple devices to avoid networking issues.
You decide who will have access to your data and can add users access to Smartmaster.
The core of Smartmaster relies on TCP communication. Several REST API’s, MODBUS TCP and OCPP communication are supported. If you have other TCP communication-based devices or devices that rely on other communication technologies, you can contact us at smartmaster@nexxtlab.com to get more information about compatibility.
Most smart assets require open communication with third parties. Make sure that your device is configured for third-party communication. Have a look at our tutorials and how to guides to see if you can find a solution for your device type. Pay attention if you have a firewall installed to let the information through the Smartmaster.
You can explore your dynamic tariffs and in case that you can’t find them, please contact smartmaster@nexxtlab.com
Yes, the installer can autonomously add new devices and make changes to the topology. The configuration needs to be synchronized after the changes have been made.
Yes, the installer can autonomously add new devices and make changes to the topology. The configuration needs to be synchronized after the changes have been made.
We are constantly adding new templates and protocols. Contact us to get more information about the possibility of adding our devices.
The Smartmaster collects your energy data per connected asset and sends it to our platform. (power, current, voltage, status, state of charge, temperature, Json)
We offer several dashboards to visualize data. Have a look at our platform. If you want to have access to your personal data, contact us at smartmaster@nexxtlab.com.
In Data Center which is situated in the European Union.
You can delete the user account and the device by doing a delete request to smartmaster@nexxtlab.com
Updates are automated and remote. You need to ensure internet connectivity to get the updates.
Once your device is back online, it will be updated. In case it didn’t work, please contact smartmaster@nexxtlab.com
English, German, French, Luxemburgish, Dutch.
Installers can use several tools through our platform to detect the source of the issues. We try to give as much information as possible through events and statuses to help solve the situation. However, failures of assets are often linked to events on the network or hardware side, to resolve the problem you need to check on these parts. Have a look at our ‘Installer Tools’ to get more information about solving problems. get more information about solving problems.
Do a restart and if it doesn’t work, contact smartmaster@nexxtlab.com
You have the possibility to request a new password in the platform of Smartmaster. If any problems occur to set-up a new password, please contact smartmaster@nexxtlab.com
First of all, please verify the internet connection between EV/PV and router and also check the power supply of each device. If everything is well connected, please contact the installers of PV and EV chargers.
Please click on the ‘request a new password’ in the platform and if it doesn’t work with the new set-up password, then please contact us via smartmaster@nexxtlab.com
If you notice any graphical errors, functional errors, please report them to smartmaster@nexxtlab.com.
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with ABB terra Charger
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with Alfen EVE Double Charger
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with Bender charger. (preliminary tips)
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with Bisbus Charger
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with Circontrol Charger
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with Compleo Solo Charger
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with Etrel Charger
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with EVBOX ELVI Charger
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with GO-E Charger
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with Powerdale Cluster and Advance Charger
Advance
You can also download our Tips here
Cluster
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with Wallbox Charger
You can also download our Tips here
We recommand the following configuration tips when you try to configure the Smartmaster Pro with Zaptec
You can download our Tips here
Get hands-on with Smartmaster in our bi-weekly training sessions, tailored for installers. We cover the essentials – from setup to troubleshooting – in a straightforward, practical way. These workshops are designed to equip you with the skills needed to efficiently install and manage Smartmaster systems, ensuring reliability and customer satisfaction. Whether you’re new to Smartmaster or looking to refresh your knowledge, our sessions will keep you up-to-date with the latest practices in energy management.
Our charging modes define the periodicity of the Smartmaster intervention, thus defining the WHEN (frequentness) of an action. If you want to know more about the WHY and HOW of an event look at our strategy doc (ref strategy doc).
Event-based charging means that the Smartmaster only acts if limits of the electrical grid are reached, or a strategy or service-linked event is triggered. The goal is to reduce communication and control commands, to preserve the infrastructure from too dynamic behaviors.
In the dynamic mode beside the event triggers a periodic re-calculation (default 1/min) of the situation is applied to have constantly the best state of charging according to a specific strategy. It is used to maximize efficiency and constantly adapt to new boundary conditions due to factors such as solar production, unmeasured loads, forecasts, or other dynamic events.
We collaborate with different partners that comply with our solution of complementary information from e.g., building management systems, SaaS energy algorithm solutions, or other custom setups. Contact us to get more information on compatible third-party integrations.
Charging strategies are relevant to determine WHY (priorities) and HOW (instant power) assets are charging.
The monitoring strategy does not impact the charging session but provides the users with graphical information and KPI’s on their charging session. Users can start their smart energy journey by monitoring only their consumption and identifying potential for improvements and more efficient consumption.
In demand-based charging users enter their preferences for departure time and required charging energy. Based on this information, the Smartmaster will calculate prioritization between the different charging assets to provide the best charging experience for everybody according to their demands. This strategy is identified as Smart Charging according to the OCPP standard and combined with our energy services, helps to shape your installation to be future proof for the challenges of energy transition.
Note that this strategy requires a dashboard, terminal, or a charger that can fetch this information, else a default demand will be applied on every arriving car.
Equal charging means that every asset will be attributed with the same Amperage according to the limits of the local electrical grid. The main goal of this strategy is to prevent circuit breakers from interrupting. The system will detect limitations in the charging sessions to maximize the efficiency of the current attribution, but not prioritize any charging sessions within the same level of priority.
Green mode is designed to maximize the consumption of green energy on your site, reducing the Co2 footprint and valorizing the energy provided by locally installed renewable energy sources. The charging assets will receive superfluous instantaneous active power from PV or other green energy sources. Minimal charging currents will be guaranteed if the assets are configured alike.
Cost-efficient charging tends to adjust the charging strategy according to external cost sources. The main goal of this strategy is to reduce energy costs.
This strategy is trying to constantly produce the fastest possible charging sessions. It does ignore circuit limits and charging sessions with external limits to ensure that every asset constantly reaches the highest possible charging targets.
The following strategies are non-core strategies but can be applied on top or in parallel to the core strategies.
The system supports the attribution of absolute priorities to single parking spots. Those ‘VIP’ parking spots will always be attributed with maximal charging power before other cars around will get power.
Note if a minimal charging current on the other parking spots must be guaranteed, the prioritized charging spots might be reduced to ensure the well-functioning of the minimal requirements of the site.
Priority-based charging can be applied on top of every other mode. Within the distinct levels of priority, the respective assets are then handled between each other in respect to the respective strategy, while assets with lower absolute priority are only served with the remaining power.
Additionally, to the charging strategies, users can tune the algorithm according to their preferences through our configurator tool. For more information, look at the settings page of the configurator.
See (ref. To service doc) to get more information on our services that can be applied on top of the charging strategies to add a layer of AI to your charging experience.
We have developed a suite of tools to support installers and reduce their time on installations and interventions by providing them with remote access and an overview of their sites.
Monitor all your installations in one place. Detect issues on site in near real-time view.
Monitor the sanity of your Smartmaster and the local network remotely.
Configure the topology remotely and adapt the changes made on site. The Smartmaster will automatically adapt the changes made in your configuration.
View in near-real time the status of the configured installations in a single line view showing fuses and underlying consumers.
The Smartmaster provides himself updates and events on the status of installations. The events help you to debug and understand why certain actions were taken by our control system.
We transparently provide a data history of the latest data communicated from the Smartmaster to our backend. It should help you to understand when and why your installation was not working accordingly.
Scan the local network to get MAC and IP addresses of the other installed devices and reduce network configuration time and effort.
The Smartmaster configurator has an always-growing library of configuration templates and communication preset protocols of the most popular energy assets on the market. Contact us if you don’t see your assets included.
After connection establishment, we check and store the successful connections. In DHCP network, the Smartmaster will try to self-heal* the broken connectivity to local networks.
* Self-healing has its limits as the Smartmaster is a client of your router and relies on the according installation. For OCPP installation that rely on web sockets, the chargers must be re-pointed onto the Smartmaster if it would change its IP address,
The Smartmaster communicates with several OCPP-compliant chargers. Depending on the use case, we can support different use cases.
If you are working with an OCPP Backoffice to manage charging sessions, IdTags and billing of public or private charging sessions, the Smartmaster can be configured to act as a Proxy for the chargers that require Backoffice integration. We are compliant with most OCPP 1.6j compliant Backoffice solutions from the market. This complies with the OCPP Smart Charging Local Control (spec OCPP 1.6 3.13.4). The Backoffice will not notice a change of behavior, the chargers need to be reconfigured to pass through the Proxy. Look at our Proxy tutorial for more information.
The Smartmaster can also act as a stand-alone OCPP Server, without billing integration. The charging sessions in this case are validated through wildcard or whitelist identification of the users. Typically, this applies in private buildings, where energy is billed directly through the Smartmeter. The wildcards and whitelist information must be provided to us to safely store the access information in our systems.
Chargers that do not support OCPP 1.6j or that allow external, custom load control messages within OCPP 1.6j can be integrated without OCPP server functionalities on Smartmaster side. The Smartmaster would need to be configured to point to their respective control IP address and can in this case act as a passive Controller. Typically, this applies to Modbus, custom API or OCPP soap control use cases.
Smartmaster can also be used as an External Gateway to apply external control messages from partners that provide cloud-based control algorithms. Have a look at our third-party integration document for more detailed information.
