Best 24V regulator for around US$300

 Hello

As mentioned in a previous post, I'm unhappy with my Steca PR3030
regulator. I'd be interested in hearing your advice on a good
regulator for about US$300.

My system: 1000W 24V PV (non-moving) with 12x2V forklift truck
batteries.

The regulator I want should have the following characteristics:
* accurate SOC function
* possible to manually set equalising and float charge voltages
* Handle 35A incoming and 60A outgoing
* accurately measure Ah in and out (Steca struggles to measure Ah out
when used with mod sinewave inverters)

Any advice much appreciated.
thanks
Dave
www.bulungula.com

  On Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:46:22 -0800, jamjamdave@hotmail.com wrote:


Most popular charge controller is probably the Outback MX60
http://store.solar-electric.com/outpowmxmp.html . More expensive than
you had in mind though. Serious monitoring is usually done with a
separate device, see my other post today.

Wayne

 jamjamdave@hotmail.com wrote:

Hi dave
please dont shoot me down if you all ready know about the info below :
you mentioned that your pr3030 will not acuratly measure ah out to an
inverter , as a rule you normaly connect an inverter direct to batt
terminals (via a fuse) in this config you would have to setup the pr to
vol mode not soc , you will still get a sort of load reading from the pv
- batt reading on the pr .
hope this info helps you wilest you make your choice on an other
regulator , regards sam c .

 On Nov 7, 9:20 pm, sam c

Hi Sam, I don't belive in guns so I won't shoot:)
Yes, I do know that one should connect the inverter directly to the
batteries... but then one can't use the SOC mode as the regulator
needs to know how many Ah are going in and how many Ah are going out.
So what I can't understand is why they even offer the SOC mode if it
doesn't work.

As I mentioned elsewhere, the problem with VOL mode is that for
inexperienced users (like the staff and guests at my lodge) it is
difficult to explain what the different voltages mean, e.g. on a
lightly cloudy day at 9am is 26.2V empty or full? Now I can answer
that from experience but inexperienced people can't. Which means if
I'm away from the lodge, I generally have energy-use chaos going on
here. This is why the SOC mode would be great - I could just tell
everyone to begin conserving energy when the SOC reads say 70%.

Wayne, I had a look at the Link 10 meter you sent me. What I can't
work out is how it is connected into the battery bank. Does it just
connect to the + and - terminals or do the PVs and everything have to
go through it? In which case is it before or after the regulator?
Sorry if the above ? is a bit dumb - I'm a self taught solar guy
through the necessity as the nearest expert is 8 hours away off
road...

If the Link 10 works (which I assume it does - although I assumed the
Steca's  SOC would have worked to... so much for German
engineering...) - it still seems a little expensive to buy it in
addition to a regulator... rather just get a good regulator which can
do the SOC thing properly... although I see that MX60 you suggested is
around US$500...

I'm still annoyed that the Steca SOC doesn't work though - poor show -
US$250 essentially wasted.

cheers
Dave

 On Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:46:03 -0800, jamjamdave@hotmail.com wrote:


It comes with a shunt, which you install in-line on the negative
battery cable, between the battery and everything else. So it only
measures the net battery charge/discharge current. It uses a
sophisticated processor to apply Peukert's exponent and calculate your
*true* SOC. http://www.amplepower.com/pwrnews/beer/index.html


The logic to make accurate SOC predictions is more complex than that
required to handle basic charge control, and the shunt needs to be in
a different place. All things considered, it's more practical to use 2
devices.


The MX60 has MPPT, which is a relatively expensive feature, but worth
it for most whole-house setups. It has some basic monitoring and
production logging functions but most users should still have a proper
battery monitor as well.


I haven't looked at it, but the inability to control a proper
equalization charge seems goofy. As for the monitoring capabilities,
lots of charge controls include some basic functionality, but none of
them can match what a real monitor can do.

Wayne