Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT Solar Charge Controller 100V, 20A, 48V

This is a very nice, premium controller. High quality, app is nice, and works with Home Assistant when you use a ESP32 running a bluetooth gateway to connect. No problems there. HOWEVER. The unit is rated for 12/24 and 48 volt batteries and solar panels. Ok, not a problem. However at 48 volts you CANNOT put loads on the output safely. The instructions say in the fine print to not exceed 1 amp draws on the load at 48 and there is NO overcurrent to prevent this. What happened to mine was I had a 5 amp load that worked at first but after 2 days the unit blew its fuse. Went out to the shed, checked it, replaced the fuse with a 25 amp rated fuss, reconnected, and watched a small fireball shoot out as the fuse blew again. Internally the FETs are shorted. And this is another problem; the internal fuse on this unit is 25 amps but is an automoblie rated fuse. Which should not be used at above 30 volts. And this can do 48 volts. Fortunately my load center is protected by a 35 amp fuse rated for 600 volts DC. That didn't blow because the 25a one did, but if an arc formed that would be the only thing keeping the unit from becoming a bad problem. Moral: Always properly fuse your batteries to NEC standards. Never count on a little automobile fuse. And in this case, don't use the load output if you're running 48 volts. Victron, I'm not returning it because it was my fault, but this is kind of a design.... thing to think about. Feel free to drop me a line.

Does what it should and works great. Can't speak to durability but mounting and the app are great. Definitely a smaller unit

Summary: I have evaluated quite a few MPPT controllers for Vine, and while all were decent, the Victron Energy (VE) has high ratings, so I decided to purchase one for evaluation. My solar/PV system specs: 1000W of panels; 24-volt, 270Ah marine battery bank (Optima); Voltworks 2000W inverter. Using the system to reduce our electricity bill. Observations: The first thing to notice is that this one, unlike most others, does not have a control panel (just three LEDs); which means you'll need a smart device to read the values. There are two basic VE offerings: this SmartSolar (built-in bluetooth), and BlueSolar (requires a BT dongle). Between the two, I went with the built-in BT (SmartSolar). One great feature of the VE system, is that it allows the MPPTs to communicate with each other via BT; which is a great feature for a larger system. Recommendations: One reason to choose the lower cost BlueSolar over the SmartSolar, is if you do not need the additional features that the BT brings; but for me, I didn't mind spending the extra $30-40 (per controller) to gain those features. Pros: Industrial quality & features; good application support (firmware updated upon first connect); security (bluetooth); good/efficient charging algorithm; good data and graphs. Cons: No built-in display (offset by the much better app and graphs). Conclusion: At $160, rating this 5-stars. Of all the MPPT controllers I have reviewed, this is the recommended one. Related Products (lised in ORDER of HIGH to LOW rating): EPEVER MPPT Solar Charge Controller 10A 60V PV 1206N ~ $60 (5-star) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094JCG6Y1 ACOPOWER Midas 40A MPPT ~ $180 (4-star) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HQB8RYK ACOPOWER MPPT Solar Charge Controller 30A ~ $140 (4-star) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NB1KOOZ Renogy Rover 20/30/40 Amp ~ $112/170/168 (2-star) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRWTAB5 GARNDE Rosefinch XS 30A MPPT ~ $150 (1-star) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094Z7RVXR

Victron is the best, most reliable as always, best app and functions within app, will buy again

Easy to set up, and the built-in Bluetooth makes monitoring and adjusting charging settings simple. It works reliably with my solar panel and keeps my AGM battery properly maintained.

No dropout protection - if your pack disconnects due to a fault, the buck converter's control loop can't react fast enough and the output MOSFETs get smoked by the spike in output voltage from the energy stored in the inductor. This causes the MOSFETs to dead short, so whenever you clear the fault and reconnect the pack, the dead short blows the 25A 80V ATO style fuse. That fuse is no longer available (Littelfuse 166.7000.5252) - but I guess that doesn't matter because the MOSFETS end up fried and would need to be replaced anyway. Victron should consider diverting some of their marketing budget into real engineering.

This product is amazing. There is excellent software development that can be used both on your phone AND your tablet IN LANDSCAPE ORIENTATION. It comes with Bluetooth built in so that you're not having to decided between using an on device display that's the equivalent of a calculator from 1995 or extra Bluetooth dongles for incredibly limited app software development that is only usable on your phone. It has many different presets and the voltage ranges for those are all within reasonable levels compatible with a huge spread of brands. I recently had to replace my battery because my old charge controller was only compatible with its brand of lifepo4 batteries as the voltages were all set at 14.4 including the float voltage. I couldn't have the old controller destroying the new replacement battery, and I had seen the name victron mentioned in forums but I never really looked into it, but I was pushed into the situation so I did my research and was incredibly impressed with the features included, the accessible exterbal 25A fuze, and most importantly the intelligent app design that is also compatible with tablet operating systems to be used as an actual intelligent dedicated display. After installing this with 3x100w mono panels my new battery was able to go through all charge stages to float without error, unlike my other old controller that constantly had overvoltage errors on the old and new battery. Incredibly that company updated the their app to remove several features such as charge limit and imposed restrictions to certain settings, so the charger was literally unusable with the new replacement and I was pushed into getting something else. I'm glad I was, the app support and common sense compatibility is amazing. The size is incredible too, it's not big at all. Victron should be the first name people think of when they start setting up a solar system. There is just no debate now that I've been able to experience both firsthand, and I'm not interested at all in a different company that's willing to burn out the other brands batteries so that you purchase their own. I don't like that at all. Get Victron, don't argue with yourself about it. You'll have a working system much less likely in need of being replaced in two years like I was. You don't need to figure out the hard way like I did that Victron is top shelf reputable quality. I'll definitely be getting more Victron products in the future.

Work as expected, accessories are expensive. App works thru bluetooth not wi-fi (unless you buy more stuff). The app is good, and was easy to setup and use.

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100% recommended if anybody need or think to buy this product or any product from victron. These are very reliable. I appreciate to victron brand to make great product in every catagory. And thanks. In last, i request to brand to keep price genuine, because sometimes these are very expensive on amazon i saw and thanks for this product. 🫡

Produit conforme et perfomant, il permet automatiquement de gérer la production solaire sans rien faire

Excelente calidad de producto y de construcción, la aplicación es súper intuitiva y configurable además tenía otro de otra marca pero este sin duda funciona mejor y más eficientemente

Article conforme à la description donc très bien