Solar Charge Controller
I need some recommendations on a Solar Charge Controller. I want to upgrade my solar charger. I have a 100 watt solar panel with a cheap charge controller with lights only. I want to upgrade to a d...
Forum Discussion
mtnman1989 wrote:
We usually have our small dual sport motorcycles and spend the days riding them. When we get back to camp each night, we shower, eat and sleep. During the day while we are gone the solar panel will usually restored any 12 volt power we used the night before.
Might as well leave it like this. No need to pay big bucks for a real battery monitor, though I would get some of those cheaper meters with amp-hour capability.
100W will harvest 20-25 AH on a good day, enough for a few lights and pump. Your situation is similar to mine, only mine is few times larger, so I'm fine on cloudy days too. You don't need to monitor a battery if you know that it's getting fully charged every day, and it doesn't sound like it's getting discharged too deeply (wouldn't be possible to fully charge with 100W panel then). My controller already has plenty of data on display - amp-hours harvested for the day, and if 14.6V peak was reached, and how long it stayed there before going into Float, and how long it floated. If it didn't have all this info, I would get some meter.
Viewstar I don't know, haven't taught myself to trust domestic Chinese brands yet. Looks like a decent controller though. Plenty of info on display, temp comp. This is not a substitute for battery monitor, no controller is. But in YOUR particular situation the display of Viewstar could be all you need.
