Display for PWM Controller?
After years of thinking about it, I’m about to get a solar setup. I live 5 minutes from SolarBlvd in Norco, so I will get most the stuff from them. The plan is to use the 140w Solar Cynergy panel (...
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It's hard to go too far wrong with a $30 (shipped) Turnigy Watt Meter from Hobbyking.com. It comes from Hong Kong so you have to allow 2-3 weeks. It only adds up to 65 amps for some reason, so like Mr Wizard here does, you can put a switch in the lead for it, and reset it every day to measure the next day's solar.
I've just got one and am enjoying it. It shows amps, volts, and watts (I think) at all times, and the fourth display position cycles through time connected, minimum volts since connected, total AH, total WH, peak amps, and peak watts. That's all from memory so I could be missing something. As Wiz pointed out, the minimum volts is nice to tell you how low you started your day at. And obviously the AH tells you how much you've put back in.
It's only one directional, which sounds to be okay for what you are looking to do. It does have automatic backlighting. As long as it is connected to the batteries, it will display. So that's another reason to add a switch. It installs simply, inline between controller and batteries.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=10080&aff=500143
I've just got one and am enjoying it. It shows amps, volts, and watts (I think) at all times, and the fourth display position cycles through time connected, minimum volts since connected, total AH, total WH, peak amps, and peak watts. That's all from memory so I could be missing something. As Wiz pointed out, the minimum volts is nice to tell you how low you started your day at. And obviously the AH tells you how much you've put back in.
It's only one directional, which sounds to be okay for what you are looking to do. It does have automatic backlighting. As long as it is connected to the batteries, it will display. So that's another reason to add a switch. It installs simply, inline between controller and batteries.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=10080&aff=500143
