Full Product Companies Like Victron?

[aangel]

I'm looking for an MPPT charge controller and as I do my research it seems to me that Victron does a good job with inter-product integration (their own products) and a complete software solution that ties everything together. There seems to be value in going with just their products so that everything "just works."

Are there other manufacturers that have a similar level of product integration and full-featured software?

 

[FilterGuy]

I'm looking for an MPPT charge controller and as I do my research it seems to me that Victron does a good job with inter-product integration (their own products) and a complete software solution that ties everything together. There seems to be value in going with just their products so that everything "just works."

Are there other manufacturers that have a similar level of product integration and full-featured software?

I am not aware of one that has a broad of an 'integrated' product offering like Victron. It will be interesting to see what others say.

As an aside: Victron's connectivity seems to have evolved and changed over time which has left them with 3 or 4 different types of connections (VE Bus, VE Direct, BlueTooth, etc.) You can still get them all tied together, but it gets confusing and to fully integrate you end up with something like their Cerbo GX to make it all work. I wish they would migrate toward a single interconnect and then let a central device (like the inverter) tie it all together.

 

[aangel]

I noticed that (the many interconnection types). I imagine over time harmonization will occur as each product gets a new release.

 

[newbostonconst]

Outback has a large selection.

 

[Boondock Saint]

At first it seemed daunting to look at the Victron offerings, my eyes glazed.

Any decent Victron rep can have you sorted on the product comparability etc. We have a few on this forum like The_Colorist, experts.

The Cerbo GX talks to each Victron SCC to control the SOC for the batteries in unison. They interconnect with the V.E. bus cables. It has bluetooth and wi-fi connectivity for programming and monitoring applications for your phone and PC.

I'm a huge fan of the Morningstar Tristar and Midnight Solar, but the Victron ease of use, inter-connectivity and high uptime sold me. Hope this helps.


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[Horsefly]

Schneider has quite a bit of integration between their boxes, but they are not very consumer / DIY friendly, and compared to Victron they are very slow to adopt technology. For example, I don't think any Schneider boxes have Bluetooth, and virtually everything Victron has does. To upgrade the firmware on Schneider equipment, you have to have another Schneider box (Combox or Gateway).

I used Schneider when we did you mountain cabin solar. It's rock solid equipment and built like tanks, but for the reasons I mentioned I think I would consider one of the other lines if I were doing it again today.