What Charge Controller?

**nwdiver** · 08-12-2019, 12:32 PM

Originally posted by MambaJack

Just purchased 6 335 Watt panels for my bus to charge 8 6v 235ah lead acid batteries setup in a 24v bank.
Was looking at an outback fm80 for a charge controller, would this work well, or is there a batter option?

Also, the reason for that much panel is not just to charge the bank, but to run my 12k btu minisplit ac during the hot hours of the day.

Thanks,
dave

If you're running those panels in series (which you def should) and you don't need a lot of bells and whistles with your charge controller there's a strip down midnight classic on sale at sun elec and renvu for $360 and $290. Seems like an unbeatable deal.

**nwdiver** · 08-12-2019, 12:39 PM

Originally posted by MambaJack

Just purchased 6 335 Watt panels for my bus to charge 8 6v 235ah lead acid batteries setup in a 24v bank.
Was looking at an outback fm80 for a charge controller, would this work well, or is there a batter option?

Also, the reason for that much panel is not just to charge the bank, but to run my 12k btu minisplit ac during the hot hours of the day.

Thanks,
dave

If you don't need a lot of bells and whistles the Midnight classic 250 is on sale at renvu for $290.

**MambaJack** · 08-12-2019, 01:02 PM

Originally posted by nwdiver

If you're running those panels in series (which you def should) and you don't need a lot of bells and whistles with your charge controller there's a strip down midnight classic on sale at sun elec and renvu for $360 and $290. Seems like an unbeatable deal.

Cool, I will take a look?

Couple questions,
I definitely run them in series

**MambaJack** · 08-12-2019, 01:04 PM

Originally posted by nwdiver

If you're running those panels in series (which you def should) and you don't need a lot of bells and whistles with your charge controller there's a strip down midnight classic on sale at sun elec and renvu for $360 and $290. Seems like an unbeatable deal.

Thanks, I will take a look.
Couple questions:
What is the reason that i should run them all in series?
Are any of the stripped down components of the controller big deals?
Characteristics of this SPECIAL EDITION:

**MambaJack** · 08-12-2019, 01:08 PM

Thanks, I will take a look.
Is there a specific reason i should run them all in series?
Are there any of the stripped down components that I will miss not having.

THanks,
dave

**nwdiver** · 08-12-2019, 01:47 PM

Originally posted by MambaJack

Thanks, I will take a look.
Is there a specific reason i should run them all in series?
Are there any of the stripped down components that I will miss not having.

THanks,
dave

Not that I can really think of... it doesn't do boost so your string needs to have a higher voltage than the battery... I don't understand how that would really be useful...

**Mike90250** · 08-12-2019, 03:10 PM

Originally posted by MambaJack

Thanks, I will take a look.
Is there a specific reason i should run them all in series?
Are there any of the stripped down components that I will miss not having.

THanks,
dave

For simple usage it's fine. I bought one as a spare for my classic 200
Has ethernet, can use the Local App for control / viewing status.

**littleharbor** · 08-12-2019, 03:23 PM

Nice that you can run high voltage into it if you need to. If you don't need the high voltage input the regular Classic 250's are pretty pricy compared to the 150 and 200. The thing I don't care for is the 55 amp charging limit @ 48 volts.

**MambaJack** · 08-12-2019, 09:10 PM

Originally posted by Mike90250

For simple usage it's fine. I bought one as a spare for my classic 200
Has ethernet, can use the Local App for control / viewing status.

This seems like a great option. however midnites sizing tool is saying that the 2010 watts is excessive.
I wonder if this would ever actually be an issue with panel inefficiency, and the fact that i am mounting them all flat on a bus roof.
Thoughts?

**Mike90250** · 08-13-2019, 02:10 AM

yes, the midnight sizer can't anticipate panel losses in bus roof mounting, so you are likely OK. Also, with 24V battery, don't wire panels for more than 55V or so, that will keep conversion losses down. (and less heat in the controller)

**MambaJack** · 08-13-2019, 08:07 AM

Ah cool. Thanks for the advice. So my panels are VOC 41 and VMP 34.5. Does this mean running all 6 panels parallel into a combiner box?

**Mike90250** · 08-13-2019, 10:31 AM

Originally posted by MambaJack

Ah cool. Thanks for the advice. So my panels are VOC 41 and VMP 34.5. Does this mean running all 6 panels parallel into a combiner box?

What's your charging voltage for a 24V bank ? About 32V for an EQ cycle. On a sunny day, your VMP is going to be only 33V. That's not enough for a MPPT to work well, so I'd think you have to have 2 in series. Your panels are an unfortunate voltage. Run the Midnight sizer again with higher ambient temps, and see if a single panel is enough voltage. I think it's marginal for hot weather, and you risk not fully charging when hot. So you would need a generator to top off for the last 2 hours daily in heat.

**MambaJack** · 08-14-2019, 01:16 PM

Originally posted by Mike90250

What's your charging voltage for a 24V bank ? About 32V for an EQ cycle. On a sunny day, your VMP is going to be only 33V. That's not enough for a MPPT to work well, so I'd think you have to have 2 in series. Your panels are an unfortunate voltage. Run the Midnight sizer again with higher ambient temps, and see if a single panel is enough voltage. I think it's marginal for hot weather, and you risk not fully charging when hot. So you would need a generator to top off for the last 2 hours daily in heat.

Yea, if .i put a single panel into the calculator, it shows all green.

**MambaJack** · 08-14-2019, 01:17 PM

Originally posted by Mike90250

For simple usage it's fine. I bought one as a spare for my classic 200
Has ethernet, can use the Local App for control / viewing status.

Thanks Mike, Is there a way to confirm that this model has ethernet?

What Charge Controller?

What Charge Controller?

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