Canine
Well-known member
If you had the opportunity to build a charge controller, what options/features would you want? What would you not want ?
This can get incredibly complicated as some of you out there will want to talk about the pros and cons of different types of diodes. I don't want to get that detailed as that would overwhelm most of us and the laymen would get no benefit. (Hopefully, I'm not a hypocrite and don't get too detailed.) If you want to talk about that level of electrical nuance, another thread toward that end would complement this one well. Also for simplicity, this will be for 12 volt battery banks only, off grid only, and for mobile RVs/vans/trailers only. Not for houses, grid tie systems, or 24 volt batteries.
1) Can handle minimum 450 watts of solar panels.
2) Can handle minimum 80 voc (volts) from solar panels
3) Can handle minimum 40 amps from solar panels
^^^ A more simple way to describe the first three specs above is that it will be able to handle at least one of the largest, most powerful panels made today with a little room for advances in solar panel technology.
4) Has an interactive, digital panel with limited or no DIP switches. Kind of like the 3000i or the Midnight Kid.
5) One distinct menu for each menu. Such as one menu for displays- displaying inputs, outputs, amps, volts, level of charge, days from last full charge, total of amps in, total of amps out, highest voltage recorded, etc. The next menu for setting battery specs. The next menu for setting charging specs. Set up options , display options, and reset options should not be in the same menu.
6) No buttons should have multiple uses. One button as the select button only; press and hold for 3 seconds to select. One button as the next button only. One button as the back button only. One button to increase, one button to decrease. You should not have to first press the next button then press the back button while holding the next button to decrease an amount when in the set up menus. This is NOT intuitive.
7) If the buttons have a shape, they should intuitively do what they are shaped as. A right arrow button should not be a select button- it should be a next button. A square button should not be a next button (not intuitive). A left arrow button should be a back button (intuitive). Up and down arrows could be to increase or decrease values. Round or maybe square could be select. Left and right arrows could be back and forward. Probably 6 buttons total.
8) Wires should not have to bend at a right angle in order to be attached.
9) Lights should not be bright. Avoid most blues and most greens and stick with reds. When I'm sleeping, I don't want bright lights disturbing my sleep. Red is much, much, much less disturbing and preserves night vision far better.
10) The ability to be networked with other controllers. If that is the case, make it easy to get twisted pair wire.
11) A control panel with a shunt for more accurate charging. I'm not sure if it should be an option or if it should be automatically included. Probably separate due to price. When a shunt is included, twisted pair wire should be an easy option to get.
12) No fans.
13) Maybe switches to shut off the solar panels before shutting off or disconnecting the charge controller.
14) A switch to shut off the charge controller. We shouldn't have to add a switch so that we can get a nice, crisp connection. Sometimes, it's hard to get a good, crisp connection when hooking up wires on the battery.
15) Maybe have a fuse block at the connection points.
16) I'm not sure how important it is to be able to connect to a lap top. If it does connect to a lap top, it should not be a necessity to be able to make detailed changes to accommodate specific batteries' needs. I have no desire to get into the programming software and change that. Having a data log that can be printed would be cool to see. Maybe be able to put info into pie charts or graphs to see how much electricity is used throughout the year. This is not something I would want, but it could be a popular option.
17) When it is in bulk, acceptance, float, and equalization modes, a flashing light that flashes at different speeds is terribly hard to try to decipher when you aren't used to it. You should be able to easily see which mode you are in at a glance instead of looking at a blinking light then figuring out how fast it is flashing to figure out which charging mode it is in.
18) A temp sensor to the battery should be optional. No temp sensor on the controller itself.
19) $300 with no display. $350 with minimal display/options. $480 or so with advanced display/full options. This is important because if more than one controller is networked, not every controller needs a display. All that is needed is one minimal display or an advanced display for all the controllers since they would all be connected together. A minimal display would be standard and a less expensive option than an advanced display and still be able to be networked. An advanced display with full options would be optional. No display would be optional to keep costs down when networking several controllers. I would like to be able to make the advanced display fit right on the controller instead of a separate unit, but that might be asking too much to put into too small of a space.
20) Mounting should be easy. Some controllers are stupidly hard to fasten to a wall.
Anyway, you can see how detailed and lengthy this can be. Hopefully, my expectations are somewhat realistic. Try to be not like me and keep it short.
This can get incredibly complicated as some of you out there will want to talk about the pros and cons of different types of diodes. I don't want to get that detailed as that would overwhelm most of us and the laymen would get no benefit. (Hopefully, I'm not a hypocrite and don't get too detailed.) If you want to talk about that level of electrical nuance, another thread toward that end would complement this one well. Also for simplicity, this will be for 12 volt battery banks only, off grid only, and for mobile RVs/vans/trailers only. Not for houses, grid tie systems, or 24 volt batteries.
1) Can handle minimum 450 watts of solar panels.
2) Can handle minimum 80 voc (volts) from solar panels
3) Can handle minimum 40 amps from solar panels
^^^ A more simple way to describe the first three specs above is that it will be able to handle at least one of the largest, most powerful panels made today with a little room for advances in solar panel technology.
4) Has an interactive, digital panel with limited or no DIP switches. Kind of like the 3000i or the Midnight Kid.
5) One distinct menu for each menu. Such as one menu for displays- displaying inputs, outputs, amps, volts, level of charge, days from last full charge, total of amps in, total of amps out, highest voltage recorded, etc. The next menu for setting battery specs. The next menu for setting charging specs. Set up options , display options, and reset options should not be in the same menu.
6) No buttons should have multiple uses. One button as the select button only; press and hold for 3 seconds to select. One button as the next button only. One button as the back button only. One button to increase, one button to decrease. You should not have to first press the next button then press the back button while holding the next button to decrease an amount when in the set up menus. This is NOT intuitive.
7) If the buttons have a shape, they should intuitively do what they are shaped as. A right arrow button should not be a select button- it should be a next button. A square button should not be a next button (not intuitive). A left arrow button should be a back button (intuitive). Up and down arrows could be to increase or decrease values. Round or maybe square could be select. Left and right arrows could be back and forward. Probably 6 buttons total.
8) Wires should not have to bend at a right angle in order to be attached.
9) Lights should not be bright. Avoid most blues and most greens and stick with reds. When I'm sleeping, I don't want bright lights disturbing my sleep. Red is much, much, much less disturbing and preserves night vision far better.
10) The ability to be networked with other controllers. If that is the case, make it easy to get twisted pair wire.
11) A control panel with a shunt for more accurate charging. I'm not sure if it should be an option or if it should be automatically included. Probably separate due to price. When a shunt is included, twisted pair wire should be an easy option to get.
12) No fans.
13) Maybe switches to shut off the solar panels before shutting off or disconnecting the charge controller.
14) A switch to shut off the charge controller. We shouldn't have to add a switch so that we can get a nice, crisp connection. Sometimes, it's hard to get a good, crisp connection when hooking up wires on the battery.
15) Maybe have a fuse block at the connection points.
16) I'm not sure how important it is to be able to connect to a lap top. If it does connect to a lap top, it should not be a necessity to be able to make detailed changes to accommodate specific batteries' needs. I have no desire to get into the programming software and change that. Having a data log that can be printed would be cool to see. Maybe be able to put info into pie charts or graphs to see how much electricity is used throughout the year. This is not something I would want, but it could be a popular option.
17) When it is in bulk, acceptance, float, and equalization modes, a flashing light that flashes at different speeds is terribly hard to try to decipher when you aren't used to it. You should be able to easily see which mode you are in at a glance instead of looking at a blinking light then figuring out how fast it is flashing to figure out which charging mode it is in.
18) A temp sensor to the battery should be optional. No temp sensor on the controller itself.
19) $300 with no display. $350 with minimal display/options. $480 or so with advanced display/full options. This is important because if more than one controller is networked, not every controller needs a display. All that is needed is one minimal display or an advanced display for all the controllers since they would all be connected together. A minimal display would be standard and a less expensive option than an advanced display and still be able to be networked. An advanced display with full options would be optional. No display would be optional to keep costs down when networking several controllers. I would like to be able to make the advanced display fit right on the controller instead of a separate unit, but that might be asking too much to put into too small of a space.
20) Mounting should be easy. Some controllers are stupidly hard to fasten to a wall.
Anyway, you can see how detailed and lengthy this can be. Hopefully, my expectations are somewhat realistic. Try to be not like me and keep it short.