MPPT Tracer 2215RN EP Solar Charge Controller Regulators 20A + Remote Meter LCD Display (MT5) for So

• MPPT technology; Excellent thermal design and nature air cooling; CE certificate;
• Peak conversion efficiency of 97 %; High Tracking efficiency of 99%; Several seconds tracking speed;
• Very fast Sweeping of the entire I-V curve; 4- Stage charge with PWM output; Temperature compensation function?
• Full power output in ambient temperatures up to 45 degree; Sealed, Gel, Flooded battery type optional; ON/OFF, Dusk to dawn, 1-15h timer?
• Diversified load control: Manual, Dusk to Dawn, Dual timer, TEST;

You may find cheaper MPPT charge controllers on Amazon but read the specs and the reviews carefully. Some are ordinary controllers that somehow have been allowed to be advertised as MPPT. This one does what it says and is great for small scale experimental solar projects like the one I'm building. I especially wanted one with a display to easily monitor the parameters and what was going into the batteries without having to be measuring with my multimeter all the time. With the proper gauge wire, fuses etc. this unit (fed by a 100W monocrystalline panel which was doubled to 200W last night) keeps 180aH of batteries charged after an overnight drain running my multiple-tank aquarium set-up (25-125W, 0.25 1.7A draw through a pure sine wave inverter). My old PWM controller used to choke during peak hours (10am 2pm) and default to float mode here in the tropics (10 degrees north latitude). The Tracer keeps going all day and harvesting all the power that the other charge controller just wasted even with the efficiency drop due to panel heating.

If you've been fooling around with solar power long enough like me, this one was a breeze to set up. My only regret was not getting the larger 30A unit but I am gaining enough data to spec out a much larger system. MPPT is the way to go even with "low powered" systems like mine. I've read some comments suggesting MPPT is more useful for over 400W but for my situation with low loads, high solar intensity, high temperatures, overcast but bright, light to heavy rain about mid day to cool panels and other tropical features, this is the sweet spot for MPPT.