Victron MPPT -Any good?

[B27]

I'm not sure what 'no name' means

Where do these fit into the equation?

Unknown name, Chinese....... .....cheap ..... ?

Solar Charge Controllers

Jonathan

We all know 'MG' a name sold off as of no value.

3 years ago no one had heard of 'Build Your Dreams' or 'Go With More' - jokes, - no name, certainly, or surely not to be taken seriously.

Epever.....? another no name? and how many more 'no names' are being written off?

If I search ebay for 'MPPT controller' and select 'lowest price', I get a range of blue boxes with no discernable brand name.

Epever are a known brand by comparison. Costing 3x the cheapest at least!
However, most people use these things with the load connected to the battery, not as per the article you posted, so all bets are off really, as there is no way the 'controller' can 'know' the SOC of the battery and give it the charge it needs, and no more.

For this winter, I'm just going to use a dumb regulator at a conservative float voltage of 13.6 and keep an eye on things.

 

[PaulRainbow]

If I search ebay for 'MPPT controller' and select 'lowest price', I get a range of blue boxes with no discernable brand name.

Epever are a known brand by comparison. Costing 3x the cheapest at least!
However, most people use these things with the load connected to the battery, not as per the article you posted, so all bets are off really, as there is no way the 'controller' can 'know' the SOC of the battery and give it the charge it needs, and no more.

For this winter, I'm just going to use a dumb regulator at a conservative float voltage of 13.6 and keep an eye on things.

For a storage voltage of lead acid batteries, i would use 13.4v

 

[B27]

For a storage voltage of lead acid batteries, i would use 13.4v

So would I, if there was power 24hrs a day.

I might turn it down a bit , but the current at 13.6 is very small anyway.

 

[noelex]

I'm not sure what 'no name' means

Where do these fit into the equation?

Unknown name, Chinese....... .....cheap ..... ?

Solar Charge Controllers

The dictionary definition of a "no-name" product is packaged and sold without a brand name and usually at a lower price than similar items with brand names; generic (Collins dictionary), but is often extended to include "having a name that most people do not know; not well-known" (Britannica Dictionary).

It is a little like pornography, hard to define, but you will know it when you see it .

Below is a particularly bad example on Amazon from the Giant of Sun brand. Avoid this type of controller.

Giant of Sun 100A MPPT for under $11.




Epever are an established brand of solar controllers. They are not a “no name” controller and are popular in caravans and RVs. They make many different models of controller both PWM and MPPT models. These don’t have all the features of the Victron controllers, but most of the important parameters can be adjusted by the user. I have not seen one in action to comment on their performance. The brand was included in the test I linked to in post #33. Here they did reasonably well delivering only 2.6% less energy than the Victron controller.

 

[Rafiki]

Sorry, not quite enough said. What was wrong with the one from ebay? I know my solar panels are working because i have a multimeter and I can test them, they charge my two lead acid batteries totalling 200ah. I have the cheap controller from ebay and often wonder if i am doing something wrong or shortening the life of my batteries by not having a more expensive controller. What does the Victron offer that the ebay controller doesn't?

The Victron ones actually tell you what is happenning, volts, amps in real time or history over the last minute, hour 12 hours or whatever interval you want ona nice graph on your phone via bluetooth.

 

[Neeves]

The Victron ones actually tell you what is happenning, volts, amps in real time or history over the last minute, hour 12 hours or whatever interval you want ona nice graph on your phone via bluetooth.

I'm fascinated.

Accepting that the Victon and others tell you what has happened and allowing some variation you can optimise performance. You generate, or the unit (many units) provide more data than you can cope with.

Victron, it appears, can be 3% better than other controllers.

But having optimised usage, which you can achieve with a number of controllers, what is the benefit of having this data at your finger tips - what changes, in a marine application, to allow you to 're-optimise'.

Jonathan

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I'm fascinated.

Accepting that the Victon and others tell you what has happened and allowing some variation you can optimise performance. You generate, or the unit (many units) provide more data than you can cope with.

Victron, it appears, can be 3% better than other controllers.

But having optimised usage, which you can achieve with a number of controllers, what is the benefit of having this data at your finger tips - what changes, in a marine application, to allow you to 're-optimise'.

Jonathan

I have instantly noticed a dying solar panel when arriving at the boat and firing up my Victron app. I noticed that the max voltage of the panels was intermittently low over a number of weeks while I wasn't there. I thought one of the panels was on the way out, and shortly after, a panel failed completely. I now know that if I see the pattern again I need to investigate.

All this is possible because I can see the history on my phone, it means I can see patterns and instantly recognise when something isn't normal. I got used to the pattern of discharge overnight, re-charge in the morning - normally full by lunchtime. To see this pattern with a quick check on my phone every day is reassuring - especially when running a fridge 24/7 on a small boat - it means the system is healthy.

Once I've upgraded my current boat, I'll also be able to instantly know if I have enough excess energy in the Lithium system to run the water maker or washing machine on solar alone - humans are very good at recognising repeating patterns - and that is all that the history data is - a collection of repeating patterns which are dependent primarily on weather, so if they change, it needs investigation.

 

[Aja]

I'm fascinated.

Accepting that the Victon and others tell you what has happened and allowing some variation you can optimise performance. You generate, or the unit (many units) provide more data than you can cope with.

Victron, it appears, can be 3% better than other controllers.

But having optimised usage, which you can achieve with a number of controllers, what is the benefit of having this data at your finger tips - what changes, in a marine application, to allow you to 're-optimise'.

Jonathan

Every so often someone on this forum will come along and ask what amps they can expect at a certain latitude during summer.

Using the stored information, I can supply what my panels have harvested at 56°N.
My boat sits on a swinging mooring and usually the first thing I do when aboard is to power everything up and check the state of the batteries. Two minutes in my phone and I have the complete history from when last on board..

 

[Neeves]

Every so often someone on this forum will come along and ask what amps they can expect at a certain latitude during summer.

Using the stored information, I can supply what my panels have harvested at 56°N.
My boat sits on a swinging mooring and usually the first thing I do when aboard is to power everything up and check the state of the batteries. Two minutes in my phone and I have the complete history from when last on board..

Except - if you are on the west coast you will harvest less than the east coast .... so you will need to factor that into your advice on latitude. I lived at 56 north for 15 years then moved westward. and eventually , way, way south.

Jonathan