Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth) - Charge Controllers for Solar Panels - 75V, 15 amp, 12/24-Volt

Solar energy is a great way to have back-up power for your home or for your RV. Solar isn't super complicated, but there are a lot of things you need to know to make the best purchases. Solar charges (like the Victron) come in both PWM and MPPT. PWM are significantly less expensive, but may fit your needs. MPPT is a better option, and this very affordable Victron unit is a fantastic entry-level charge controller. It's 75/15 name refers to the maximum volts it will accept/use from your solar array, and the 15 amps it can accept/use. The Victron Smart Solar 75/15 can handle up to 300 watts of solar panels wired in series or parallel. In series, that's about 68 volts max, well within tolerances, or 16.5 amps max which will be capped at 15 amps. Truth is, except for perfect sun and panel angle, you're not likely to hit the 16.5 amps. Still, that's not bad! A great part of the Victron 75/15 design is that it has bluetooth built in, so don't need to shell out extra for a dongle. Note: if you want this, look for the "Smart Solar," if it doesn't say this, you'll need a dongle. The size of this unit is just excellent; I bought it for my DIY powerstation. It works great, giving me nearly the full 100 watts from my Renogy solar panels under ideal conditions. For the money (about $65 at the time of purchase) it's simple enough for the beginners, or strong enough to manage a modest RV. Cons: It uses small, flat-head screws, so you'll need a small "pocket" screwdriver to make the connections. The input for the wires is pretty small. I had a ferrule kit, so I was able to insert 12 AWG with no trouble. I don't know how you'd easily get 10 AWG (somewhat standard for solar) but what I had worked and I'm happy.

I use this charge controller between a solar panel and a battery. The panel is a single 120-Watt 12/24-Volt unit with a maximum (open circuit) voltage of 33.7 V. The battery is a pair of 12-Volt lead-acid batteries wired in series to make 24V. It appears to be working well. It charges and maintains the batteries at about 25.8 Volts. The controller is easy to wire and set up. The iPhone app took some fiddling around to get going - a couple extra minutes that may have been my fault. Once up and running the app connects the phone to the controller via Bluetooth over a modest distance, maybe 10 yards. The app shows charge current, panel voltage, charge power, and battery voltage. The controller is compact and appears to be solidly made. I would buy another if I have the need.

I have a small, off-grid solar system for my shed to run lighting and a ventilation fan. It has two 50W panels connected in series, two 10 amp-hour 12V LiFePo4 batteries, and this charge controller. I had previously used a competitor's simple PWM controller but wanted to upgrade to MPPT for greater efficiency and to take advantage of having installed two panels rather than the single 50W panel I had earlier. This controller had ~50% higher voltage and current handling capability than the PWM controller. Pros: - MPPT allows for greater efficiency and using panels in series for higher voltage (~40V nominal in my case). - Very simple setup. - Supports LiFePo4 batteries. - Terminals are large and easy to connect wires to. (Tip: crimp ferrules onto stranded wires rather than trying to insert bare stranded wire. Ferrules help the wires stay together and make a better connection than bare wires.) - Built-in Bluetooth support that connects to Victron's excellent app that makes setup and configuration a breeze. - The Bluetooth data module will log data for at least several weeks and you can view it using the app. - Built in charging profiles for a variety of common batteries, such as flooded, AGM, and gel lead-acid batteries, and LiFePo4 batteries. - Lots of little additional options, like being able to enter custom profiles for batteries, limiting the boost voltage to 14.4V rather than 14.6V, setting a "tail current" to switch from absorption to float modes based on charging current rather than time, customizable float voltage, etc. gives the user a high degree of flexibility. One can also limit the charging current to below the maximum rated value if desired. - It's trivial to connect to a Cerbo GX or a Raspberry Pi running Victron's Venus OS to send data to Victron's free VRM service for remote monitoring, graphing, and allow for remote monitoring. - The user can set a PIN code to prevent unauthorized users from connecting via Bluetooth. - With the latest firmware update, certain settings can be locked and prevent even authorized users from making changes that might cause damage or be otherwise problematic without additional authorization. (This owner retains full control, and can unlock those settings so they can be changed if desired.) - Replaceable standard automotive ATM fuse offers overload and short circuit protection. - Extremely well-written, comprehensive manual and online resources are available. English-speaking staff can answer questions if asked. Active user forum for support from and discussion with other users. - Robustly made, feels hefty to the hand. - Easily mounted with screws. - No discernible RF noise from the controller. I'm a ham radio operator and my radios are sensitive to RF noise in the area, but the controller produced no noticeable noise. Cons: - No on-device display or buttons. It has colored LEDs that are either on steady or blink to indicate its charging mode (these are described on the face of the controller and in the manual), but has no LCD screen to show solar/battery voltages, currents, or other information. All configuration must be done via the app. - No built-in shunt to monitor state of charge for the battery. An external SmartShunt can be purchased at additional cost (more than the cost of the controller, in fact) to provide state-of-charge data for the battery and send that information to the app via Bluetooth or to the VRM service. The controller monitors voltage and current, but not state of charge. - The on-device data logging takes place in the Bluetooth module, not the controller itself. When you connect the controller to VRM via a Cerbo GX or Raspberry Pi running Venus, logging data is sent to the VRM service and can be plotted there or downloaded for offline analysis, but the smallest time interval on VRM is 1 minute. The Bluetooth module logs data at 1 second intervals. You can use the app to connect, via VRM, to the device and view the 1-second-interval data trends, but you can only see that short-interval data starting when you connect (you can't see historic 1-second-interval data if you're not connected by Bluetooth). In short, this is an excellent controller. Having built-in Bluetooth is very help and does not require any external module. It is easily connected to a monitoring device (not included) that can send data to Victron's VRM service and allow for remote monitoring and control via WiFi or cellular connections using that device (for clarity, the controller itself only supports Bluetooth and has a port for a data cable, but does not have built-in WiFi or cellular capabilities). It offers a huge amount of value for money, and I strongly recommend it.

The Victron 75/15 smart charge controller is working exactly as it should and I have been using it for 30 days and have had no problems whatsoever. Victron is a quality product and is extremely simple to set up. The Bluetooth function works well with the app and offers plenty of information. Highly recommend.!

Provato quasi tutte le funzioni del Victron e devo dire che funziona tutto alla perfezione. Il collegamento wifi e l'app sono semplicissime da utilizzare e abbastanza complete anche in termini di statistiche. Il prodotto sembra robusto fatto di buoni materiali. La morsettiera e' vermente fatta bene e ben dimensionata per il mio 15A. Le impostazioni del caricatore, tutte impostabili con app in wifi, sono veramete elementari, il voltaggio della batteria la riconosce automaticamente e per ciascuna tipologia e' tutto preimpostato ma se si vuole si possono cambiare i parametri. E' un MPPT al 100%, infatti aggiusta la potenza assorbita in funziona di quella massima disponibile. La corrente erogata a carico da servire (load + batteria) e' maggiore di quella in ingresso da FV ed a tensione inferiore (12 o 24v) come deve essere per un Buck converter. La gestione del carico funziona bene sia in termini di programmazione sia in termini di gestione della potenza. Provato varie situazioni (ad esempio Potenza FV > e < di quella richiesta da carico e dal caricabatteria etc). Funziona veramente bene, come un orologio, un prodotto semplice ma professionale che non crea sorprese. Ho letto di molti MPPT che si comportano in modo strano nella gestione del carico. Ad esempio ho letto di caricatori che non gestiscono correttamente attivazione/disattivazione carico a seguito transizione giorno notte, notte giorno e giorno notte (hai detto niente!!! da buttare) o altre situazioni strane. Non ha ventola e quindi e' silenziosissimo ed io non sono riuscito a farlo scaldare fino a 80W assorbiti. Il prodotto e' eccellente ma ha un lato negativo, il costo che non e' proprio economico soprattutto per correnti da 20a in su. Comunque se non volete problemi e non volete andare a caccia di problemi ve lo consiglio vivamente, io non mi addentrerei in caricatori MPPT da 100A che costano pochissimo, anzi, ve li regalano addirittura, il perche' lo scoprereste certamente in seguito.

De momento satisfecho con el producto, comparado con mi controlador chinorris anterior que no ofrecía ningún dato sobre consumo o amperaje o potencia es un gran salto de calidad. Se nota cómo cuando la placa está aportando por ejemplo 3A, desde el controlador a la batería está enviando en torno a un 30 o 40% más de amperaje al convertir el voltaje sobrante también en energía aprovechable. En un panel de 125w, me ha registrado puntos de potencia de 115w. El voltaje en la salida Load lo veo bastante estable, incluso con la batería a tope, cosa que mi anterior controlador PWM se quedaba cómo conectando y desconectando los paneles y provocaba cambios bruscos en el voltaje de alimentación de la nevera 12v que he conectado para probar. Este sí que le mantiene un voltaje estable. Además con la batería en flotación limita la potencia de la placa adaptandola a lo que necesita el sistema, pasando de 10 o 12w de la carga de mantenimiento, a 75w cuando he conectado la nevera (38w) y un pequeño inversor para cargar el móvil, de manera que mantenía el pequeño flujo de 0.5A aproximadamente hacía la batería y aportaba el resto de amperaje directamente a los aparatos conectados. Mi única duda es en días nublados o con el panel en sombra qué el amperaje que me aporta es muy bajo, cosa de 0.5 A, 0.6 en las primeras horas de la mañana, pero puede que se deba a que la placa no proporcione más en esas condiciones, ahí no tengo datos de qué haría otro controlador. Este lo veo muy completo, ofrece un montón de datos por bluetooth al móvil. Si llevara wifi para acceder a esos datos a través de Internet ya sería genial, pero bueno, no se puede pedir todo.

We've had it installed one summer in our boat and it does what it's expected to do. Perfect shipping and easy to install!

Régulateur mppt victron que j'ai pris pour remplacer mon mppt epever, J'ai remplacé ma batterie au plomb par une batterie 50ah lifepo4 et je ne parvenais pas à mettre mon ancien régulateur à jour afin qu'il puisse charger ma batterie lifepo4 en sécurité, Le problème est que l'epever restait en mode plomb avec une tension constante de 14.6v toute la journée alors que la batterie ne demandait plus de charge, Ce régulateur est vraiment efficace et me permet de rentabiliser au maximum la production de mon panneau solaire ( 120w sous une tension de 33v max ), Je peux entièrement le commander avec mon téléphone et surtout, je peux voir l'historique, c'est principalement cela que je voulais afin de vérifier la puissance max de mon panneau et la puissance totale accumulée par la batterie, Évidemment le réglage pour la batterie lifepo4 était un indispensable également, Je suis très content du matériel.

I bought it to replace a Chinese Mppt controller with a broken Bluetooth. Installing took 5 minutes and had to upgrade software and firmware and ready to go. I installed it in December on a cloudy day, two panels 250 watt max on a 12v installation. I already noticed how fast the controller works! In adjust in real time the conditions. I use a phone just for the Bluetooth reading and with the option in the app to keep the screen on can you monitor the controller easily. I can only recommend this controller especially for the price.