Help me pick a charge controller for my solar install (1 Viewer)

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Just purchased a 60W Solar Panel and now i'm trying to decide on a charge controller.

I noticed there are many to choose from and prices vary. From what i've read it's important to match a charge controller to the battery type you have. I'm running a Diehard Platinum 31M deep cycle battery.

Looked at this controller but decided to ask before i pulled the trigger on it: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002MQW3H8/?tag=ihco-20

Any suggestions?
 
It would work fine, 60W panel will only put maybe 5A into the battery through the charge controller. Deep cycle battery is still a wet cell, nothing special about charging it versus a starting wet cell in this case.

The main thing I see in the spec is that it doesn't provide a float charge - basically it sits at 14.4V (for 12V wet cell). Long term this isn't good for a battery, but I presume you are using it for camping etc and fridge duty and not left connected for days/weeks on end...

cheers,
george.
 
Geroge, thanks for the reply.

I'm using it for extending camping outings. Several times a year i may take trips where the truck might be parked as a "base camp" while we fish for drum on the beach. Thats could be 3 or 4 days with the fridge running, charing a laptop, listening to music.

Is there a reasonably priced option that you suggest?
 
Morningstar is a quality manufacturer - you can find all the info on that charger on their website. Lots and lots of documentation/info.

The manual doesn't mention float charging, yet other docs (like the one linked) mention float charge. Bit of inconsistency. Anyhow, I'd give them a call and verify 'reality' prior to purchase. It would seem unlikely that it doesn't do float, so maybe the docs are in error - phone 'em...

cheers,
george.
 
ntsqd thank you for that! I just looked at the specs on the newer generation unit and it does show a float charge. So i think i'm going to go ahead and pull the trigger on it.
 
one thing that comes to mind is that you mention wanting to run several days with a fridge. Are you sure that 60W is enough? Not obvious. If it's marginal you might want to think about MPPT rather than PWM for the extra power.
 
I know it's right on the edge. Since the longest i've ever been sitting is around 3-4 days and my deep cycle battery handled that, plus, i have a high output alternator in place, i could always start the truck if need be. I figured this panel would at least give me a big help. If need be, i can purchase another 60W panel if needed in the future.

Good point though, and i certainly thought a lot about it. I was originally aiming for an 80W panel, but the price on this one was too good.
 
A
one thing that comes to mind is that you mention wanting to run several days with a fridge. Are you sure that 60W is enough? Not obvious. If it's marginal you might want to think about MPPT rather than PWM for the extra power.

I ran a fridge on high quality ITE 55 watts panel successfully for a couple years in AZ/MX. One problem now with the way panels are rated on your best day you will only see 75-80% of rated output.

Your money would be much better spent increasing the panel size then going to a MPPT controller when dealing with a system of this size.

I have a couple stand alone 100W systems using THIS controller
 
the problem is that the panel is already halfway to my house!!!
 
Then choose a controller with enough ampacity to allow you to add another panel in parallel should you need to.

I say parallel because while there can be some voltage drop due to wire heating from higher current parallel wired panels, going to serial wired panels will push you into a MPPT controller because they're the only units made that can handle the voltage produced by series wired panels.
 
I'm wiring everything up and i "think" i have a question. Would it be stupid to run the charge controller +/- through a 10Amp fuse through the blue sea fuse block that i have installed? Or should i just wire it directly from the charge controller to the battery +/-?

I'm asking about the two connections on the charge controller that are to be connected to the battery.
 
What is the length of wire in question? I.E. how far from the battery is the controller?
 
I was going to mount the controller on the firewall in front of the driver, then run the cable to the battery. So that's, what.... 4 to 5 feet?

But if it's the fuse block you are asking, it's mounted on the back of the battery box, so not more than 10-12 inches of wire from the fuse block to the battery terminal.
 
Sorry, weighing in late on this... but I've heard nothing but good things about Morningstar, so that controller should be a good choice. With respect to a 60W panel, it depends on location. (I know, "location, location, location.") If you're talking about sunny places like AZ, NM, or Mexico, 60W should do fine to keep your fridge going for a long time. If there are clouds involved then "it depends." Either way, I'll bet 3 or 4 days will not be a problem.
 
All done! Controller is installed, i wired it with a 10 amp fuse through the fuse block. I also have 10 feet of wire that will connect to the controller to the panel. Hooked it up the other day and it works! I did not put a volt meter on it to see what kind of voltage i'm getting, but will do that later when i have time and a nice sunny day.
 
You'd want to know the amp output mostly. If you don't have a controller with built-in display there are some very nice but inexpensive meters used for RCs that should work great (V, A, W, Whr etc).
 
A


I ran a fridge on high quality ITE 55 watts panel successfully for a couple years in AZ/MX. One problem now with the way panels are rated on your best day you will only see 75-80% of rated output.

Your money would be much better spent increasing the panel size then going to a MPPT controller when dealing with a system of this size.

I have a couple stand alone 100W systems using THIS controller

I usually do what Phil does, it saves me time, money, headaches, and doesn't pee me off in the end!
 

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