{"id":54,"date":"2024-08-14T19:08:17","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T19:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/?page_id=54"},"modified":"2025-05-26T17:14:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T17:14:31","slug":"charge-controllers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/?page_id=54","title":{"rendered":"Charge Controllers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The charge controllers used for the original arrays were two MUST PC1800F ones. The one for the new array is again a PC1800F. These things are great. Yes, the fan is loud when they’re under over 1kW load, but since these are in a dedicated tech building, I don’t mind. I you want quiet, Victron is perfect. The price is amazing for a 100A (up to 6kW solar input) and it does perform as advertised. The input voltage could be higher (it’s 145V max), but for this price I’m not complaining. I think they have some that support higher voltages now, but I don’t have the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can get them from Aliexpress: https:\/\/www.aliexpress.com\/item\/1005005128835795.html<\/a> <\/s><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are now available as PC18-10015F and MC19-10015E, the latter one increasing the PV voltage to 245V compared to 145V for the original. They’re on Aliexpress here: https:\/\/www.aliexpress.com\/item\/1005005050030397.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of writing, they go for 133 Euro for the 145V and 216 Euro for the 245V option, both 100A version; shipping around 45 Euro. But read further if you need high PV voltage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My code to talk to this device can be found here: https:\/\/github.com\/PurpleAlien\/must-power_grafana<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, I also installed a high voltage (can handle 500V on the solar side) charge controller for a solar array that is quite a distance away. I found this one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s a 6kW model, and you can find it on Alibaba: https:\/\/offer.alibaba.com\/cps\/f4jdbq3f?bm=cps&src=saf&productId=1601042916583<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 500V input capable MPPT controller for a price around US$140 – it’s a bargain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My code to talk to this device can be found here: https:\/\/github.com\/PurpleAlien\/SYG-MPPT-120A_grafana<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In addition to the solar charge controllers, I also have a battery charger which is connected to the generator. While I could use the inverter(s) to charge the batteries, I like to have a separate, dedicated device for this. Instead of buying a special (expensive) charger, I used a Telecom Rectifier (an Emerson\/Vertiv R48-3000e3). The advantage of these things is they are extremely reliable (mean time between failure measured in the hundreds of thousands of hours) and efficient (96%), and are used to keep critical infrastructure powered especially from ‘dirty’ sources such as certain generators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These things are cheaply available from various sources such as this one on Aliexpress where I bought mine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/s.click.aliexpress.com\/e\/_DeSzqo9<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granted, they’re used – but at under 100 Euro including shipping, for a 3000W charger, this is excellent. Settings can be changed over CAN. By the way, if you ever heard of a Chargeverter: it is also made with rectifiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My code to talk to this device can be found here: https:\/\/github.com\/PurpleAlien\/R48_Rectifier<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The charge controllers used for the original arrays were two MUST PC1800F ones. The one for the new array is again a PC1800F. These things […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2,"menu_order":12,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"iawp_total_views":164,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-54","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268,"href":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions\/268"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.upnorthandpersonal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}