Solar Charge Controllers

Over the years I have had numerous manufacturers send me boxes of various charge controllers and I have found them to be complete junk, over-priced or missing key features. This is a scary problem because if a solar charge controller fails, your vehicle can be burned to ashes. Due to faulty quality control issues, cheap materials and bad designs, many solar charge controllers are a danger to use. 

Key features that you need to look out for:

• It is a true MPPT Controller which will deliver 99% efficiency
• Can be used for over-paneling (which means you can add more panels than what it is rated for). This feature is very hard to find, but present in all of the controllers that I recommend
• Temperature Compensation- This increases the life of your batteries
• Manual charge profiles (charge any type of battery): Only for advanced users. This will allow you to fine tune your charge profile to a specific battery
• Large and strong input terminal that can accommodate large wire gauges (very hard to find) 
• Great reviews on amazon

Solar Charge Controllers are cool, but you can save a ton of cash by using an "all-in-one" solar system box. It usually has a massive solar charge controller and this option is much cheaper than any of the controllers below. Check them out by clicking here

Solar Charge controller options
​(I Make A Commission For Purchases Made Through The Links Below)

All of these charge controllers have great reviews and will do a great job, but they have some key differences:

Renogy Rover Series MPPT
Best Value, easy to program
​and lithium specific

• Easy to program and works great with lithium batteries
• Bluetooth module can allow remote operation
• Terminals are now upgraded and super strong

Best controller for the price

Victron MPPT
Best of the best
Easy to use, expensive, highest quality

• Best quality, most expensive
• No remote screen, it connects to your phone to see system statistics. Some remote screens available, not available on amazon and not that great of reviews. 
• Bad quality input terminals.
• Easy to Program custom charge profiles with bluetooth app (use it with any chemistry of battery, even custom built lithium). If you are building custom lithium-ion batteries from scratch, this controller will make you happy.

If you are using a Lithium Battery or Custom Charge Profiles, get this controller.

Epever Tracer-BN Series MPPT
Great quality and lasts for years,
but hard to program.

• Good quality, solid metal case
• Remote screen is great. Can be mounted far from the solar charge controller
• Great quality input terminals! Better than the victron and tracer. Can handle 4 gauge wire!
• Medium difficulty programming custom charge profiles with included mt-50 screen (see my tesla battery page for information on how to do this). Extreme difficulty trying to get this thing to connect to a computer for programming. Don't even try it. Use mt-50 screen. 

If you are using standard SLA/FLA/Drop-in Lithium Battery, get this controller

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Best Value Controller: Renogy Rover Series

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​​20 Amp MPPT Charge Controller kit:
Max. Solar Input Power:
260W (12V battery)
520W (24V battery)
​Click Here for a cheap price

​30 Amp MPPT Charge Controller kit:
Max. Solar Input Power:
390W (12V battery)
780W (24V battery)
​Click Here for a cheap price

40 Amp MPPT Charge Controller kit:
Max. Solar Input Power:
520W (12V battery)
1040W (24V battery)
​Click Here for a cheap price

100 Amp MPPT Charge Controller kit:
Max. Solar Input Power:
1300W (12V battery)
3900W (24V battery)
5200W (48V battery)
​Click Here for a cheap price

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If you want the best quality controller with bluetooth monitoring, easy charge profile editing,​ and you are ready to drop some money, buy this:

• Built-In Bluetooth Smart: Monitor or update the controller via smartphones or other devices. (No longer requires a dongle)
• Up to 220 watts 12 volts, 440 watts at 24 volts
• Ultra-fast Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) and 98% peak efficiency
• Multi-stage charging with intelligent battery management
• 5 Year Warranty

100 volt max input, 12/24 volt Battery Bank Compatible
Solar Charge Controllers:

​15 Amp controller 
Max Solar Array: up to 220 watts with a 12 volt battery, 440 watts at 24 volts 
click here to purchase

20 Amp controller 
Max Solar Array: up to 290 watts at 12 volts, 580 watts at 24 volts 
click here to purchase

30 Amp controller 
Max Solar Array: up to 440 watts at 12 volts, 880 watts at 24 volts 
click here to purchase

50 Amp controller 
Max Solar Array: up to 700 watts at 12 volts, 1400 watts at 24 volts 
click here to purchase

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If you want the best of the best, and you have a large solar power array
​that will produce under 150 volts, use this:

• Built-In Bluetooth: Monitor or update the controller via smartphones or other devices
• ​Ultra-fast Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) and 98% peak efficiency
• Optional SmartSolar pluggable display is available but not included
• 5 Year Warranty

150 volt max input, ​12/24/36/48 volt Battery Bank Compatible
Solar Charge Controllers:

45 Amp controller 
Max Solar Array: up to 650 watts at 12 volts, 1300 watts at 24 volts, 2600 watts at 48 volts
click here to purchase

60 Amp controller 
Max Solar Array: up to 860 watts at 12 volts, 1720 watts at 24 volts, 3440 watts at 48 volts
click here to purchase

70 Amp controller 
Max Solar Array: up to 1000 watts at 12 volts, 2000 watts at 24 volts, 4000 watts at 48 volts 
click here to purchase

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If you are building a massive system, check out Victron's new RS line up. They can handle up to 450V!

This is the best of the best when it comes to solar charge controllers. Multiple trackers (great if you have multiple arrays), can handle over paneling and you can program everything how you see fit. You cannot buy a better stand alone solar charge controller. 

100 Amp Controller
Max Array Size: 14,000W! Max Output of 5,760W
Click Here to Purchase

200 Amp Controller
Max Array Size: 28,000W! Max Output of 11,520W
Click Here to Purchase

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Reliable solar charge controller that is hard to program

If you use a AGM Sealed Lead Acid or Recommended Drop-in Lithium, you do not need to program anything. You plug this controller into your system, and you are done. 

This controller can do it all, but it is difficult to program custom charge profiles. If you read the manual and give it an hour or so, you can make this controller work with any chemistry out there. If you are using normal batteries, you do not need to worry about this at all.

​40 Amp MPPT Charge Controller Kit:
Max. Solar Input Power:
100 volts open circuit (solar panel array voltage)
520W (12V battery)
1040W (24V battery)
​Click Here for a cheap price

If you wish to use this controller to charge exotic/strange voltage lithium battery banks (such as a tesla/nissan leaf battery), you can change the charge controller parameters manually with the mt-50:

1. Go to the main menu and select "4. Control Para.". In this menu, use the arrow keys to navigate around and see the current charge profile parameters.
2. If you want to change a parameter, hold down the "ok" button. If it asks for a password input, leave it blank and hold down "ok". You will see the number flash, and you can use the arrows to change the parameter. 
3. When you are done editing the parameter, press "ok" and it will ask you to save the settings. Press "ok" again. You need to repeat this process everytime you change parameters on a screen (so you can only edit two parameters at a time).
4. When you are done editing, use the navigation arrows to ensure that all changes have been saved. 
5. Connect your system to solar power and watch the charge voltage. If it charges up to the charge limit voltage that you programmed, you are good to go. 

It is much easier to use the mt-50 screen to program this controller than to connect it to a computer. If you try to connect it to a computer, you will have problems. It usually takes me about an hour to get it to connect. Its a big pain in the butt.

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