mppt vs pwm

vermilye wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi jrnymn,

Since all the controllers I've seen just look at battery voltage they switch out of bulk faster than one might expect. Often I see the Blue Sky change from float to bulk when clouds pass by.

I wonder if this is true of the Bogart Industries SC2030 charge controller. According to their description, it communicates with a TM-2030 to "adjust charging current based on real time battery information". Could be sales hype, but since the 2030 actually keeps track of amp hours in & out, it might be more accurate than battery voltage. Anyone have any further info on this controller?

The roque also maintains and logs Ah and Wh info. But I'm quite sure it doesn't use that info to switch modes. It's just the set points versus the battery voltage. And it has a remote sensor wire for the battery voltage.

To me, PianoTuna's observation is simply that ongoing loads were such that battery voltage drops below the MPPT cutin setpoint when clouds appear. Beforehand and without the clouds, the panels/controller was able to maintain the battery voltage above the cutin (or at the float voltage).

Raising that cutin setpoint when boondocking might help if this is a concern.