To communicate with a RS485 solar inverter, WebSolarLog needs a RS485<>USB converter. Almost every RS485 converter is compatible, and you can find cheap ones at DealExtreme.com or Ebay.com.

We tested a couple of RS485 converters on the RaspberryPi. Based on these tests, we advise to buy a converter with an PL2303 or CH340T chipset.

Currently we run multiple test RaspberryPi’s with PL2303 or CH340T chipsets on SMA, and PowerOne solar inverters.

If you have any questions, suggestions or what so ever regarding this post, feel free to post on our google support forum:
http://www.websolarlog.com/index.php/help-support/