New controller? Looks like it was added today.

Unyalli wrote:

Almot wrote:
Intronics and Rogue are probably the only two that are designed and made in the US.

Midnite Solar couldn't be more Made in the USA if the sun exploded. Some history

Midnite has blown the doors off everyone with the introduction of true battery monitoring. No one else measures current to the battery at the battery shunt. This is a game changer. You can now end absorb when the batteries are truly ready vs taking a wag at it.

The new Kid is bad ass and if you compare it to the new Morningstar 30 amp don't forget to include the morningstar remote meter in your cart.

-Jeff

Thanks! I knew somebody had posted something on that history as reported in an earlier post in this thread. Looked everywhere, thought it was Mex.

mena661 wrote:
...I'm in the group that says if 6 million people buy something, a POS it is not.

Not to debate a quality of Midnite that I'm not familiar with. But making a connection between sales numbers and quality of a product is, let's say, an interesting concept. Places like Walmart, Costco etc are filled with items being sold to many millions every year. Most of that ends up in a landfill soon.

Almot wrote:
Intronics and Rogue are probably the only two that are designed and made in the US.

Midnite Solar couldn't be more Made in the USA if the sun exploded. Some history

Midnite has blown the doors off everyone with the introduction of true battery monitoring. No one else measures current to the battery at the battery shunt. This is a game changer. You can now end absorb when the batteries are truly ready vs taking a wag at it.

The new Kid is bad ass and if you compare it to the new Morningstar 30 amp don't forget to include the morningstar remote meter in your cart.

-Jeff

BFL13 wrote:
Horribly expensive! $400 for a 30a controller. My Solar30 does 30a and cost $34. PWM though.

Right. My wheel-barrel costs 20 bucks. No engine though.

BFL13 wrote:
Reminds me of when a Canadian company got banned from selling peanut butter in the States. Turned out that the US Govt required that nobody was to under-cut American peanut butter sellers, who had to pay $10 a unit from US peanut growers. (Goober peas?)

The Canadian company was buying peanuts at $4 a unit ("world price", not "USA price") from Argentina...

Now imagine - hypothetically - what would happen if peas required not farmlands but hi-tech equipment, know-how and production lines. And all Canadian and US pea industry would've moved to China. Heck with those Canadian and US farmers :)...

pianotuna wrote:
Hi mena,

Past tense on the Rogue? Did you buy something else instead?

I thought you knew.? I bought the Morningstar 45A PWM because there's a possibility of putting 600W on the roof. Someone suggested I just use extra long panel mounts to get above all the shadows. I might be able to get 4 150W panels up there.

Almot wrote:

This is called "market share", not a "respect" :) ...

No, Midnite solar is well respected because they work. Check the off grid solar forums. Do you think someone would trust a POS with their home? No idea on their market share. Besides, I'm in the group that says if 6 million people buy something, a POS it is not.

mena661 wrote:
Midnite makes a great controller regardless of where it's made and has quite a bit more respect in the market over the relatively unknown Rogue or Intronics (never heard of these guys) controllers.

This is called "market share", not a "respect" :) ...

Companies that moved manufacturing to China, are selling in big numbers, and the main reason is the price. Small US players can't sell that much because their margins are low and they can't sell to retail stores wholesale, and have to sell factory-direct instead.

I haven't heard of Intronics either. But I haven't heard anything but respect from consumers who bought Rogue. There are few here on the board.

This says it is "built" in Arlington, Washington. (not that I care if it is built in the States or in Peru --sorry about that! :) )

http://www.wegosolar.com/products.php?product=MidNite-MPPT-KID-Solar-Controller-30A

Horribly expensive! $400 for a 30a controller. My Solar30 does 30a and cost $34. PWM though. Oh well.

Reminds me of when a Canadian company got banned from selling peanut butter in the States. Turned out that the US Govt required that nobody was to under-cut American peanut butter sellers, who had to pay $10 a unit from US peanut growers. (Goober peas?)

The Canadian company was buying peanuts at $4 a unit ("world price", not "USA price") from Argentina, so they were able to sell for less.

In steps the US Govt to "protect Americans." Hooray! Except not the American shopper who had to keep paying $10 instead of $4 for peanut butter. The Americans who got saved from those nasty Canadians by their grateful government were the peanut farmers who were able to keep their price at $10.

Hi mena,

Past tense on the Rogue? Did you buy something else instead?

Midnite makes a great controller regardless of where it's made and has quite a bit more respect in the market over the relatively unknown Rogue or Intronics (never heard of these guys) controllers. Not saying Rogue or Intronics makes junk by any means (Rogue makes a great product. I WAS going to buy one) but if I were going by reputation or what the market uses, it would be Midnite, Outback or Morningstar.

Intronics and Rogue are probably the only two that are designed and made in the US.

80V input of Intronics pretty much limits series connections to the same 450W array as Rouge, so to utilize their 75A capability you have to wire panels parallel. Not a big limitation - an array generating more than 50A out of controller will be so big on RV roof that will suffer from shading, so it's better to wire parallel anyway. OTH, parallel wiring of array with more than 50A on controller will need a monstrous cable. Which makes me think that in RV appliactions Intronics is only useful to ~30 or 40A.