jaycocreek wrote:
In a test I saw,a $15 PWM controller got 2 watts less than the Victron $$$ MPPT,in fact,all the different PWM controllers were only 2 watts lower than the various MPPT controllers..
So,I guess it depends on if those 2 watts are worth the huge step in price..Myself,I am trying to justify the MPPT controller price over the much cheaper PWM, for my upcoming solar instal.
Repeat the test with the battery at 50% state of charge, and the panels configured to have 2X the voltage going into the MPPT controller.
Then check what time the first charging happens with PWM vs MPPT, and what time charging stops in the evening.
When a battery approaches full charge the MPPT will move into pwm mode.
That said, if there is LOTS of room on the roof, an excellent system based on PWM will be less expensive and give good results.
On the other side, if you want every erg of power from the panels and there is no room left for more panels, then go MPPT.
When I got my system in 2005 the panels were $5.50 per watt and that was a tremendous bargain. So going to series/parallel and using MPPT was the best bang for the buck.
