MPPT solar controller

[Graz]

I fitted a Ctech dual 12v to 12v battery charger to my 130. I fitted this because the charger has an integral MPPT solar battery charger fitted as well. The alternator to aux battery charger is very good and works well however the solar charger part of the equipment is very poor. I have an 80 watt panel fitted to the truck and it won't keep up with the engel. Barely puts a float on to the aux battery. (12.6 volts)
Can anyone recommend a good MPPT solar regulator? Would like to see at least 14.2 volts at the battery as I am planning to fit AGM's ex my Karavan.
Thanks

Graham

[Vern]

Morningstar psm-30. This is a great solar charger, i run this and have installed many of these in vans etc..however i think your solar panel is to small.

[rovercare]

PS30M are good for the price

MPPT regs are generally bigger in size and of a much! higher price, but they extract alot more from the panel/s

I'll be setting up 2x200W and a morningstar TS-MPPT-45 when I'm back in the country, with for 6V batteries

80W is not very big at all, considering thats peak, in ideal conditions, you would be lucky to get it to spit a bit over half that out for a sustained perios of time, time to purchase some 200W:D

[Vern]

I've done a few of the ts60's, way overkill for camping but good for small stand alone systems, generally the ones i've done have done have had 12 or so panels
Ps30m is more than enough for a camping set up with acouple of panels.:)

[rovercare]

I've done a few of the ts60's, way overkill for camping but good for small stand alone systems, generally the ones i've done have done have had 12 or so panels
Ps30m is more than enough for a camping set up with acouple of panels.:)

MPPT is upto 30% more efficient, with better features and battery care, its customers choice, I'd be happy with PS30m

[Graz]

Looks like I may need another 80 watt panel and put both in parallel to the controller. The 80 watt panel fits neatly on the LHS gull wing door which why I purchased it. An additional panel would have to go on the opposite door as I carry a tinny.
So you don't think a Good MPPT controller will get enough out of the one panel? The aux battery only runs the engel and occasionally a light when I'm looking for gear in the back.
Thanks

Graham

[rovercare]

A good MPPT controller is $$, an 80W panel is cheap

I gave one away (80W panel that is) just a while ago, pulled it off a van ages ago as it wasn't really cutting it trying to charge 3 AGM's

[Vern]

Oh yeah true, but for two panel? In series or parallel? Overkill for just two panels.
How many a/hr batteries?

[Vern]

Looks like I may need another 80 watt panel and put both in parallel to the controller. The 80 watt panel fits neatly on the LHS gull wing door which why I purchased it. An additional panel would have to go on the opposite door as I carry a tinny.
So you don't think a Good MPPT controller will get enough out of the one panel? The aux battery only runs the engel and occasionally a light when I'm looking for gear in the back.
Thanks

Graham

May be look at a good fold out kit. I'm trying one out whilst in tassie, 150watt, built in reg, seems to be going fine, but haven't stopped for more than 3 nights yet. Its charging a 120a/h battery, running a 50litre waeco, led and flouro lights, 600w inverter charging phones, tablet, I pods, torches etc...

[Rok_Dr]

Hi Graham

I'd agree with Damien that an 80w panel is marginal. Theoretical best amps produced will be about mid 4s. Not sure what an engel will consume but I'm guessing mid to high 2amps so there won't be a lot of capacity left. Plus if the panel is in the shade the amps produced will be lower.

I have a folding 130w solar panel and feed this through a Ctek DS-250 dc-dc charger fitted to my van to charge the house battery (120 amp hr). On a good sunny day the panel produces mid 7 amps output and has no trouble keeping up with demand.

It would also probably be worth calculating what your total power requirement is to drive everything and then select the size of panel based on that with a little bit extra. The caravan forums are a good place to look for further info in this regard.

Cheers

Steve

[drivesafe]

Hi Graham and as posted above, the 80w panel is just too small.

On a good day you will only average around 2 amps per hour over 8 hours and this requires your Def to be parked in the sun all the time. So way too little power for what you need.

As to the Ctek, not sure why you needed that in the first place.

The MPPT in the Ctek is not that good and your alternator can supply far better charge voltages that the Ctek does, particularly if you are planning to fit more that one battery.

The more battery capacity you need to charge, the longer a DC/DC charger will take, whereas your alternator will automatically adjust it’s output to cater for more battery capacity needed to be charged.

So you end up RECHARGING batteries much faster off an alternator, which means you don’t need to drive as long to get your batteries charged.

If you are going to be with your Def all the time, then also as suggested above, a portable folding panel set up would be more advantageous and would allow you to park the Def in the shade.

[Graz]

Hi Graham and as posted above, the 80w panel is just too small.

On a good day you will only average around 2 amps per hour over 8 hours and this requires your Def to be parked in the sun all the time. So way too little power for what you need.

As to the Ctek, not sure why you needed that in the first place.

The MPPT in the Ctek is not that good and your alternator can supply far better charge voltages that the Ctek does, particularly if you are planning to fit more that one battery.

The more battery capacity you need to charge, the longer a DC/DC charger will take, whereas your alternator will automatically adjust it’s output to cater for more battery capacity needed to be charged.

So you end up RECHARGING batteries much faster off an alternator, which means you don’t need to drive as long to get your batteries charged.

If you are going to be with your Def all the time, then also as suggested above, a portable folding panel set up would be more advantageous and would allow you to park the Def in the shade.

I do have a second battery or aux as I call it. The idea with the Ctech was its permanently mounted and automatic, it decides where it charges the the aux battery from i.e. solar or alternator via the main battery. As already discussed the solar controller performance is poor.
I also wanted to mount the solar panel on the truck as I saw someone's portable folding solar panels backed over at their campsite and my system is operating all the time, nothing to set up. I'll just have to get another panel and a better performing controller.

[brian2go]

I have a 120w panel mounted on the roof with a projecta solar regulater connected to my aux battery, I have a 40l arb fridge in the back which doesnt get turned off ( unless it gets cleaned ). Just recently I have installed the SC-80 from Trxide and I am very happy with the unit.

[Dervish]

The module is mounted to a gullwing? Mounted on a near vertical surface like that it won't produce much at all. Yes, solar modules have to be "in the sun" to work, but they have to be facing the sun to output anything like rated power.

Current out of a photovoltaic module is directly proportional to incident sunlight. An easy way to work out how much sunlight you're getting is to imagine how large the shadow a module at that orientation is casting onto flat ground. Standing up like you have it, the shadow would be tiny. Lay it flat, the shadow would be much larger and hence the current output much larger as well.

The upshot of that is: before you buy anything, trying mounting the module on the bonnet. No MPPT is going to help you with the solar module mounted there.

[fraser130]

I have one ofthese (https://www.rolasolar.com.au/20a-mppt-solar-regulator-tracer-2215rn.html) in the caravan with the optional remote display panel and I love it.
It's connected to a 120w folding panel.
Because it's proper MPPT, I have re-wired the panels in series, this way the array runs at 24v (it's actually up near 37-40) so the 15m run of 2.5mm sq outdoor lighting cable loses very little power. Just last week in Bright I was getting 7.5 amps at 14.1v in real life.

If the loads are also wired through it, it will directly power the load from the sun, whilst redirecting excess power to the battery, and the readout will show daily usage/charge etc.
Have a look at this video if you are interested:
here

Cheers,
Fraser

[Graz]

The module is mounted to a gullwing? Mounted on a near vertical surface like that it won't produce much at all. Yes, solar modules have to be "in the sun" to work, but they have to be facing the sun to output anything like rated power.

Current out of a photovoltaic module is directly proportional to incident sunlight. An easy way to work out how much sunlight you're getting is to imagine how large the shadow a module at that orientation is casting onto flat ground. Standing up like you have it, the shadow would be tiny. Lay it flat, the shadow would be much larger and hence the current output much larger as well.

The upshot of that is: before you buy anything, trying mounting the module on the bonnet. No MPPT is going to help you with the solar module mounted there.

I mounted the panel via a piano hinge. When I get to the campsite I swing it up to a position facing the sun. Opening the gull wing door has the same effect. Had to do it this way as I carry a tinny on the roof.

[paulak]

Gday, I have a victron MPPT unit with a folding 120w panel.It easily runs my 40 L engel. I only drive the car every second weekend and the fridge has been running non stop for 18 months. Even when its overcast and raining for a week the aux battery is full every day and the separate victron battery isolator has allowed excess charge into my start battery.