Solar Regulator

[mudski]

TLDR.... as per cuppas suggestion donkey's ago I bought the suntrans and change my supply lead as I found even in good sunlight the 180w panels weren't up to scratch. After changing the two, albeit not the best but at an affordable rate, and still mounting the reg on the back of the panel. The difference was outstanding.
I could have spent more and mounted the reg at the battery but I didnt but it still made a massive improvement. Its all different now my setup but the last setup work great for the money I spent.

[Cuppa]

TLDR - ha ha I learned something today!

[mudski]

TLDR - ha ha I learned something today!

Geez! I knew something cuppa didn't. You learn something everyday hey mate.

[Cuppa]

geez! I knew something cuppa didn't. You learn something everyday hey mate.

........tsdr

[mudski]

........tsdr

Yeah but you did....lol.

[dakka1]

hey guys been reading the comments on here and just wondering if this mppt item on ebay is a waste or will do the job. im running a 120w panal and a 200panal and yeah this may be over kill but we run a few things. the reason this regulator appeals to me is it seems user friendly in the way that all I would have to do on my camper is open the toolbox and have a look at the power input and the amount being drawn out to see if im sucking out more then whats going in. so if anyone in the know could let me know if this would be a worthy purchase that would be great thankyou. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/30A-MPPT-...item4856f77a42

[megatexture]

I'm currently doing my head in to find a good regulator MPPT 20 maybe 30A any suggestions I can look into?

[mudski]

I'm no expert but cuppa a long time ago suggest for me to upgrade my reg on my panels I had to Suntrans mppt reg. Even though I still had the reg on the panels, I also upgraded the spaghetti that was used for wire to 6 mm solar cable and the difference was outstanding. It actually would charge in even partial sunlight. Whereas before they were useless, but only if there was full sunlight they would actually work.
Might not be the best reg, but for the money it was well spent.
Just thinking your probably looking for something a lot better than the Suntrans. Good reg for people on a budget though.

[Cuppa]

If you want top quality MPPT Blue Sky Energy has a very good reputation. Their prices seem to have dropped since I last looked at them too. I have have no experience of them myself but a friend who is very into the technical side of such things tells me that the development which has gone into producing the charging algorithms is about as good as it gets. He has used one worldwide & found it made a significant difference in winter in the UK, but far less so here, although does provide a small increase in the charge into his battery bank earlier & later in the day. I would suggest that Blue Sky are the ‘benchmark’. How much better they are in terms of performance, reliability & longevity than something like the Suntrans is difficult to quantify.

http://www.blueskyenergyinc.com/prod...ar_boost_2000e

http://www.blueskyenergyinc.com/uplo...e_Overview.pdf


This Morningstar MPPT reg is the 30 amp MPPTversion of the 45 amp non MPPT reg I’ve been using for the past 8+ years & I have been very happy with it.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Morningst...item43c899eb3e

If MPPT is not essential to you I recommend this
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Morningst...item43c67442c8

or

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Morningst...item43cf9ac887


I continue to believe that quality solar regs without MPPT, but with the connections for remote battery temperature sensing & temperature compensation are a far better option for your batteries than the cheap MPPT regulators & that if squeezing those few extra amp hours into your battery each day is really important, that a slightly larger solar panel will achieve the same result. Given the choice between temperature compensation & MPPT, temperature comensation wins hands down (& will also squeeze as much extra into your battery as MPPT in many Australian conditions).

[megatexture]

Thanks cuppa for the recommendations, I do like the morning star units but am in 2 minds about the price vs the frequency we will use it. I think I can justify up to $250 personally ATM, sorry I should have specified!.

we would only need 20 amp unit but I'm upgrading my work ute to a truck and will be putting solar and an inverter etc on it and was thinking of having these panels removable to take camping also hence a 30 amp unit

However the 45amp unit (2nd last link you posted) might be the go for the work truck and I can just make it easily removable..and take it camping also at work expense..