Charge controller recommendations

Sure is nice to see at least a few others believe in a fully configurable Solar Charge Controller. They are not for everyone and not cheap set and forget devices for the most part.

One of you guys pointed out the fact that the MSVIEW application is a free download, while there take look at the other interface protocol documents Morningstar has to offer again all free. Do you need to monitor the status from a-far, across town or across the globe? Easily done with these controllers.

I have a few applications that use the OPEN interface called MODBUS. Check out the Morningstar Interface protcol document, this interface allows WAY more possibilities than the MSVIEW app offers. You might want to also check out Solar Guppy over at NAWS forum he developed several nice configurable applications.

Anyone use their IPhone or Ipad to take a closer looks see at the controller while in operation on the road? Or even a simple MSVIEW "connect" which allows you to view log and graph Array power voltage current battery power voltage current efficiency and temperature effects.

BFL13 wrote:
Not sure how they can extend the Vabs when batts are low. Vabs is reached sooner at a lower SOC with a higher charging rate.

If you get to Vabs at 65% SOC then you would expect to be in the Absorption Stage longer than if you got to Vabs at 95% SOC with a low charging rate.

So somewhere in all this you have to relate to whether you have 50w on your 440AH bank for storage or whether your camping set of 600w on the 440AH bank is also used when in storage and the controller has to be able to throttle back that 600w from way overdoing it.

Perhaps I am confused what you guys are really talking about due to some terminology confusion on my part.

You have it right. The extended time is based on start voltage. A battery at 12.6+ in the morning is assumed to be in storage and get just a few minutes Vabs. Battery starting at 12.2 in the morning gets an extended Vabs. Even lower can cancel float and remain in absorbtion all day. All set points adjustable.

And I agree a small system with a large battery may never need a long absorption time. It may never even go to float when in use.

Mine is storage as well. Having more programability lets you have some say in how solar charging hits them long term on a daily basis when full or almost full that needs fine tuning on most. if you are just barely overcharging or even not quite charging (such as when camping), programmability can be handy for getting more into the batteries out of your PVs, but it's not really critical.

Jim

Not sure how they can extend the Vabs when batts are low. Vabs is reached sooner at a lower SOC with a higher charging rate.

If you get to Vabs at 65% SOC then you would expect to be in the Absorption Stage longer than if you got to Vabs at 95% SOC with a low charging rate.

So somewhere in all this you have to relate to whether you have 50w on your 440AH bank for storage or whether your camping set of 600w on the 440AH bank is also used when in storage and the controller has to be able to throttle back that 600w from way overdoing it.

Perhaps I am confused what you guys are really talking about due to some terminology confusion on my part.

PD converter hits 14.4 for ~ 15 minutes every 21 hours. IOTA does similar once a week. My solar hits 14.3 for 10 minutes every 24 hours. All seem to work well in storage from the posts I read.

Likewise all three extend the Vabs when the battery is low. And again the posts are favorable.

IMO you can't hurt the batts with a "too long" Absorption Stage while camping; there isn't enough time in the day.

smk's issue is storage, where the controller kicks off every new day by trying to get the batts to 14.6 Vabs, where the ideal would be to stay at 13.4v or whatever all day.

If you can't stop the controller from getting them to 14.6v every morning, then at least you could shorten in the time the controller stays there before dropping to Float.

The question often asked and no answer seen yet, is how that really compares as a Float with shore power float using a charger that stays at 13.4v all the time. ( The "solar being off at night--does this make up for being on 'too much' during the day?" question.)

Hi,

What I would love is a spreadsheet that would let me enter parameters and allow me to tweak the controller (if it is, in fact, tweakable).

smk my Blue sky flasher was solid--so it thinks the batteries are not quite fully charged. It was doing 1.6 amps into the banks.

The only rules I have programmed are extending the absorption time based on start voltage. That might be the extent of it.

Pretty sure you can adjust the temperature compensation factor. But not separate rules above a chosen temp.

MS View software can be downloaded and programmed on any PC. When you have it right you transfer the settings to the controller.

smkettner how complex can the rules be made? I have seen the programable voltage and timing tables in their software, but not rules.

After programming the voltages and duration limits for the phases of charging for my batteries (none of the fixed parameter controllers i have seen meet my battery OEM specs) and especially the temperature compensation factor (again, no fixed units have this quite right, at least for these batteries), I'd start putting in more envelope boundary condition rules that the fixed controllers do not implement, such as charging rules for over 95 degrees out that are above and beyond what temperature compensation does to adjust the charging voltage.

Jim