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Solar Equipment needed

Guy

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Jan 5, 2021
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I am designing my system for RV. I have 2-100W panels and I will be getting an MPPT controller, so I can add Li batteries later. I also want to put in a battery monitor. The monitor that I am looking at is a 500 amp Renogy Battery Monitor. It has a screen that tells me power going in and power going out and total charge and other stuff. Questions is....since it tells me all this information, it seems that it is telling me also what my solar panels would be putting in, or shore power. If that is correct, then I would not need a Charge Controller that had any type of readout, or am I wrong. Thanks.
 
It depends on if you value that info.(I do)
For example,
Battery monitor says you are charging at 50watts. Do you care to know that panels are producing 150watts and you are using 100 watts. (Because extra light loads are currently on).
Or... Battery monitor says charging at 50 watts - panels are producing 75 watts - 25 watts are your base load.

I like all the info I can get on my elec system on my MotorHome. I choose to go all Victron with the CCGX- because it puts all the info together in one easy to understand place. I value that info and am willing to pay extra for it - other people may have different views.
 
It depends on if you value that info.(I do)
For example,
Battery monitor says you are charging at 50watts. Do you care to know that panels are producing 150watts and you are using 100 watts. (Because extra light loads are currently on).
Or... Battery monitor says charging at 50 watts - panels are producing 75 watts - 25 watts are your base load.

I like all the info I can get on my elec system on my MotorHome. I choose to go all Victron with the CCGX- because it puts all the info together in one easy to understand place. I value that info and am willing to pay extra for it - other people may have different views.
All I really care about is the net in or net out and how full the batteries are. Where I am going to put the charge controller is in a battery box area and I really don't want to have to open doors and read it. The battery monitor would be inside RV and also could save money without charge controller readout. Also it's about money. Don't want to spend $400-500 on a charge controller for 200W of power.
 
Last edited:
In that case - don’t buy the one with a display. Because for you it doesn’t have value.
 
My solar charge controller doesn't have a display. I interface with it through bluetooth. I do find the information useful in a geeky way. At least for my ground deployed portable panels, it's interesting to see how the tilt (0° to 90°) and aim (east to west) affects the output.
 
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