Charge Controlling
Not a whole lot to showcase here so far. This is one of the two MakeSkyBlue 60A MPPT charge controllers. I have one for the Mighty Max panels and one for the Renogy panels. They seem to be pretty good and have settings for both led acid and lithium batteries. Once the panels are mounted properly, these numbers should look a little better than they do with the panels under the trees on the patio.
There are two of them!
Warning: Not for the O.C.D.
Both charge controllers are now wired up and ready to convert some power! One controller (left) is designated for the 150 watt panels, while the other (right) is designated for the 100 watt panels. Each charge controller should be able to handle ~2800 watts (60A controller x 48V battery = 2880 maximum watts. Technically the battery isn't 48V (14 cells x 3.7 nominal volts = 51.8V), so we could get away with a bit more I think, but why risk it?
I had to solder small pieces of copper to the end of the 8 gauge wire because a) it is fine strand and b) it doesn't fit into the hole for the charge controller. I used 10 gauge solid for the tips and for running everything else to the battery. I will make a second run with the 10 gauge to the battery some other time to reduce amperage per wire and minimize losses.
safety added: two 60A breakers
I added two 60 amp breakers to protect the cheap charge controllers. I am generally happy with the price of these little units, but I want something that is a little more reliable. On occasion these will ignore the maximum pre-set voltage and continue to charge the battery beyond the maximum voltage and need to be rebooted. One (the left) has some loud rattle noise when the fan kicks on, which makes me think that it will soon quit working. comparable 60 amp controllers are much more expensive ($500-$700 each). These little MakeSkyBlue ones were ~$110 each. I guess it is a lesson in "getting what you pay for."