Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to log their inverter data, or is there a simpler way?

Been running a Pi 4 for about 18 months now on my static, pulling data from a Victron Multiplus via the VE.Direct USB cable into Venus OS. Honestly it works brilliantly once it's set up, but "simple" is not the word I'd use for the initial config if you're not already comfortable with Linux.

The main gotcha I found was SD card corruption — the Pi writes logs constantly and cheap cards die. Switched to booting from a USB SSD and haven't had a bother since.

That said, I do wonder if it's overkill for most people. If you're just wanting basic voltage/SOC logging, the Victron SmartShunt paired with the official VictronConnect app via Bluetooth is far less faff. No Pi required, no fiddling about with YAML files at midnight.

A few alternatives worth considering:

• Cerbo GX — proper Victron solution, expensive but plug-and-play
• Raspberry Pi + Venus OS — flexible, cheap, but fiddlier
• ESP32-based loggers — seen a few DIY builds, dead cheap but documentation is patchy

The Pi route gives you much more flexibility — I've got mine feeding into Home Assistant and Grafana dashboards which look lovely — but I'd only recommend it to someone who genuinely enjoys tinkering.

Anyone running anything simpler that actually works reliably long-term? Particularly curious whether anyone's had success with the cheaper Renogy monitoring gear or if it's as flaky as I suspect.

@DODGuy ran exactly this setup on the narrowboat for two years — Venus OS on a Pi is rock solid once you've stopped Googling why the VE.Direct driver isn't loading at 2am.

If anyone wants genuinely simpler though, Victron's own Cerbo GX just works out the box — no SD card faff, no kernel headaches, connects straight to VRM portal. Yes it costs actual money unlike a spare Pi, but so does your sanity.

For the truly budget-minded, a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W running Victron's Venus OS Large image is surprisingly capable and barely sips power — relevant when your whole point is watching every watt.

@DODGuy this is basically what I've been putting off for my garden office setup. I've got a Victron Multiplus II and everyone keeps telling me "just use a Cerbo GX" but £175 for what a Pi can do feels steep when I've already got a spare Pi 4 sitting in a drawer.

My actual question though — is Venus OS on a Pi still the way to go, or has Victron tightened things up recently to push people toward official hardware? I swear I read something about image support getting dodgy on newer Pi firmware.

Also does anyone know if the VRM portal still works fine with the Pi-based setup? That's the bit I actually need working for remote monitoring, especially with the EV charger pulling big loads overnight and me wanting to keep an eye without going outside in the rain.

@AnneOliver honestly don't put it off too long — the learning curve looks steeper than it actually is. If you've already got the Multiplus II, you're halfway there. The VE.Direct to USB cable is about a tenner, slap Venus OS Large on an SD card, and you're pulling data into VRM portal within an afternoon.

@DODGuy is right that "simple" is relative, but once it's running you genuinely forget it's there. I'd suggest grabbing a decent quality SD card though — cheap ones do fail eventually and losing your historical data is annoying. I run mine off a small USB drive now rather than SD, much more reliable long-term.

If your garden office has decent WiFi coverage back to your house the remote VRM access is really handy for keeping an eye on things without trudging outside in the rain.

@AnneOliver if the Pi feels like overkill, Victron's actual Cerbo GX just… does all this out of the box — no SD card faff, no "why has it stopped logging at 3am" energy at midnight.

That said, running Venus OS on a Pi on the narrowboat means I can also use the same board to monitor my EV charging scheduler, so the Pi earns its place when you're stacking jobs onto it. Single-purpose? Probably just buy the Cerbo and sleep soundly.

@AnneOliver one thing worth knowing before you commit to either route — the Cerbo GX is lovely but you're paying ~£180 for hardware that a £35 Pi can replicate if you're willing to spend an afternoon on it.

That said, I've got Venus OS Large running on a Pi 4 aboard my narrowboat and the main gotcha nobody mentions is power consumption. Pi 4 pulls around 3-5W continuously — fine on shore power, but on a boat or van that's ~100Wh/day you didn't budget for.

If that matters, look at the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W running Venus OS instead. Drops to under 1W idle. I've seen @WillWilliams mention the setup process is simpler than it looks — that's accurate, the Venus OS image just flashes straight onto the SD card.