Tindie

Avatar

West Labs DIY

121 orders since Aug 23, 2022

Fresno, CA, United States of America

View Store

Overall Rating:

Review Breakdown

5
10 4
2 3
0 2
0 1
0

Average Ratings

Product: (5.00)

Documentation: (4.75)

Shipping: (5.00)

Communication: (5.00)

All Reviews

Vernon | July 13, 2025

Great Product and Excellent Customer Support

For Victron VE.Direct isolated WiFi/MQTT module

I have this board set up in a remote location so that I can monitor the health of my PV system online via a Home Assistant dashboard. It all works very nicely. I initially did not understand the instructions for the BLE app. You must use a desktop computer and a Chrome browser to configure the board. This can present a challenge if you need to deploy the board in a remote location with another WiFi network vs the network in my shop. I eventually got it all worked out and now it's working very well. I really appreciate the simplicity of the BLE app for configuration. The board itself is well made with quality components. I purchased a pre-made Victron cable also and it was well constructed also. I highly recommend this vendor and their excellent product.

Customer service is excellent with detailed help when necessary. It's refreshing to be able actually talk with the designer who is willing to help with personal requests.

Jeff | April 15, 2025

Works with Home Assistant

For Renogy Rover RS232/RS485 compatible WiFi module

I recently set up the RNG Sync module with my Renogy Rover 60A controller, and the process was seamless. Using the recommended cable, I disconnected the BT module and connected the new cable to the same port on the controller, which powered up without any issues. Next, I downloaded the BLE app to my Android phone, where I successfully located the module.

I navigated to the WiFi tab in the app, entered my WiFi credentials, and then accessed the MQTT section to input my Home Assistant IP address. In Home Assistant, I installed the Mosquitto broker, which quickly detected the RNG Sync module. Now, all my Renogy data is accessible within Home Assistant, and with Grafana, I can create detailed graphs to monitor metrics like charging current, panel voltage, controller temperature, etc. Truly impressed with the functionality of this product!

Elisha | Jan. 27, 2025

Amazing Addition to Home assistant

For Renogy Rover RS232/RS485 compatible WiFi module

Love having my rv solar numbers in my Home assistant app. I had been researching on how to build a product like this and when I found this it made it so much easier. Was plug and play.

Danny | Dec. 30, 2024

Works perfectly and easy to use

For Victron VE.Direct isolated WiFi/MQTT module

This is my 2nd west labs product and both have worked flawlessly. They use almost no power, are plug and play from a hardware perspective, software just needed Bluetooth connection to enter WiFi and mqtt details (provided instructions were clear and worked well). Now I have visibility into all generation and consumption of power for my off-grid chicken coop, with access to the automation engine offered by home assistant. Thank you West Labs!!

Michael | Nov. 7, 2024

A wonderful substitute for the $550 Victron GX

For Victron VE.Direct isolated WiFi/MQTT module

Victron makes great products, everyone knows this. They know this too, and upcharge everything by 500%.
I still bit the bullet and bought several of their products for my solar generator that I built piece by piece as a hobby, just figuring it out as I went.

At some point I realized I wanted a centralized controller, and went to look up what could connect to all the components.
I about fell out of my chair when I saw the price Victron wants for their monitor/controller... and decided I would just settle for an old ipad to run bluetooth to monitor the SmartShunt and other Victron products.
That wasn't optimal, as it was only local access w BT, and very limited for data tracking and analysis.

Fast forward to about a month ago, I dove into the world of Home Assistant, and have been spending a couple hours every morning before work exploring integrations for my hundred or so smart devices here at my home.
I was absolutely delighted to find this store and their Renogy Solar Controller wifi controller, and then even MORE delighted to see they made one for Victron as well!

I quickly ordered, shipping was fast, and it took less than two hours this morning to set everything up... and it only took that long because I've never played around with a Pico W (I had to order the board without the Pico and buy one separately off Amazon). It really was simple, the only part that I got hung up on was the Victron source code... where was it? It said it was sent with the order. I looked in my email and then finally woke up to check on this site and found it in my messages. It was still 0500 in the morning.

Now, between the Renogy Controller integration, and this controller, I have a TON of data for my solar generator system, all pleasantly organized on my Home Assistant dashboard.
Thank you so much to The West Labs for creating this extraordinarily helpful product.

Michael | Nov. 7, 2024

Fantastic for Home Assistant Integration

For Renogy Rover RS232/RS485 compatible WiFi module

This guy is a lifesaver. I paid $160 for the RenogyOne and $3/mon to be able to monitor and track my system with the Renogy Rover 60A MPPT controller.
The app was lackluster, and the RenogyOne burnt up on me in less than a year.
It was about the same time that I begin exploring Home Assistant, and what a wonderful world I've been missing out on all these years!!
A helpful fella in the community linked me to this product and I immediately gave it a shot.
Shipping was fast, and setup was simple (as soon as I learned the ins and outs of MQTT... and yes, you need to use the IP of your HA server rather than homeassistant.local:8123).
I now have all the data I need to track my data in a beautiful customized format on Home Assistant and I couldn't be happier.
Plus I get to cancel my wasteful $3/mon sub to Renogy.
This morning I just installed the Victron board that this guy also makes, a $50 substitute for the $550 Victron GX.
Very very happy with guys like this, the real heroes of the internet.

Tim | Nov. 26, 2023

Excellent product with clear installation instructions

For Renogy Rover RS232/RS485 compatible WiFi module

Product allows me to monitor solar panel function from my Renogy Adventurer charge controller and uplift data to PVOutput.org website.
Excellent help and support from the seller.
Tim UK

Peter | Sept. 25, 2023

Great Modul, Exellent support

For Renogy Rover RS232/RS485 compatible WiFi module

After a small adjustment together with the developer of the module I am totally thrilled.
It transfers the data reliably.

Bill | July 15, 2023

Well made - great support!

For Renogy Rover RS232/RS485 compatible WiFi module

I wanted a way I could monitor my Renogy Rover MPPT controller in my camper and save historical data using MQTT and InfluxDB on a Raspberry Pi Zero W. This RS232 WiFi adapter fit the bill for what I needed.

I wasn’t familiar with the Pi Pico W and Micropython and I struggled with a few things getting it set up and found some of the documentation to be a bit unclear, though I admit at times I missed seeing information by not reading it carefully.

I found the seller, super-responsive and helpful. I ran into an issue connecting it to the Pi Zero W due to not having it connected to the internet, thus not able to contact a time server needed for the PVOutput connection (which I’m not using). The seller modified the program to now be able to sync the time with the phone when setting up the RNG SyNC, allowing use without an internet connection. I just returned from an off-grid camping trip and everything worked flawlessly.

Christopher | July 8, 2023

Great product, affordable price, and met my needs!

For Renogy Rover RS232/RS485 compatible WiFi module

I purchased an RS232 solar interface module, and found it to be exceedingly simple to get up and running with my Renogy Wanderer 30A solar inverter—all I needed was an RJ11 cable (unearthed from the dusty analog phone stratum in the depths of my random box of old cables) and a USB cable providing 5VDC. From there, setting up the module was a simple matter of powering on the device and connecting to it via Bluetooth using the in-browser configuration app created by the seller and hosted on GitHub. I was able to connect it to my Wi-Fi (2.4GHz only), and to add an API key and system ID for PVOutput so I can track my energy production over time.

My initial usage is simple: I have it connected to a solar panel mounted on my shed to charge a battery for lights in the shed, and a couple 12V spotlights outside for chopping firewood. Beyond the immediate utility of having lights in my shed, instrumenting the solar panel on the shed will provide me with an estimate of the solar production possible per square meter for my property given the latitude, tree cover, local weather, etc. such that if I build out a home-size array in the future I will have a better sense of what to expect in terms of output and the array size required. Thank you to the seller for providing a genuinely useful and easy to use product with real utility, all at an affordable price.

Robert | Dec. 9, 2022

perfect

For Renogy Rover RS232/RS485 compatible WiFi module

Follow his guide to get it logged into you email and pvout web and plug it in its that simple. Solid work.

Lorenz | Dec. 2, 2022

Products works great with Renogy Rover

For Renogy Rover RS232/RS485 compatible WiFi module

I had some issues (on my end) and the seller was very responsive and helped get everything working exactly like I wanted. Awesome seller.