- Yeah, we're going to do an unboxing today.
That's coming up on the next episode of ham radio Q&A.
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I talked a little bit
about my solar project for the camping trailer.
I have a TC teardrops five
by eight camping teardrop camping trailer.
And my plans are to add a full-time solar system
so we can be out for an extended period of time
completely off grid with full-time solar system.
I want to be able to add an electric electric
refrigerator cooler in have enough energy
for portable amateur radio operations.
That means right-sizing a solar system can be critical
in maintaining my power budget.
I think the key
to a right sized solar system, isn't the charge controller.
There are a lot of charge controller choices out there
but they really boil down to two different styles
PWM or pulse with modulation and MPPT
or multiple point power tracking for the solar project.
I chose an MPPT charge controller from DIY solar for you
DIY solar for you designed
and makes in the USA high quality, high efficiency
MPPT solar charge controllers that are a great choice
for home off grid or recreational use.
When I compare the specs of their products, head-to-head
with the others, I was struck by the performance
and purchase the Sol buck boost 20 amp MPPT controller.
So let's open the box and see what's what it's all about
and be sure to stick around to the end of the video
because for a special offer from DIY solar for you.
box is not very big at all.
If you can, you can see it's.
This is a relatively small device, really well packed, man.
This is like a Christmas present almost
so let's get to it.
- There we go.
Okay.
- Once we see the Saul, a buck boost, MPPT charge
solar charge controller, Dy solar for you.com,
made in Michigan.
These are designed and assembled in the, in the U S
- So
really Good, really good starting point there
Opening up the box.
We've got
- A couple of pecking peanuts, which is okay.
Now when I ordered my charge controller
I also ordered a couple of accessories for it.
Number one is this charge controller is a highly EMI proof.
It, it, it has a very extremely low RFI radio
frequency interference level.
And one of the things they do recommend though
is to add a ferrite,
So they got this nice little choke here.
That's pre-write pre-work the wired are ready to go.
That's an optional accessory that it's to like $5.
So a really good, really nice add on if you're
if you're going to use any
of these around a radios, I'd get, you know
I'd totally go with the, with the choke there.
It looks like a good job with that.
And then also the second add-on that
I purchased is a status indicator.
This will tell you the same thing.
That's on the system status panel, but in a
in a remote location.
So this controller is going to be buried, you know
down into the galley of the, of the trailer.
And it might not be able to see the system status
but I can put this panel up in a easy accessible spot.
So you can always see, you know
what your input voltage is, is, are your output voltage
the battery level of the amperage, you know
things that just, all of the, all
of the things you need to know about the controller.
So let's pull this out here
- Moaning screws.
- Yeah. And this comes, and it looks
like the status indicator is already pre-wired
into the charge controller.
So that's really nice.
And it's got five, five feet of cable on it.
This is made out of aluminum.
It feels like aluminum.
And it really size-wise.
We're talking about something that edge to edge is just
under six inches
and a three, three and three quarters.
It's approximately one
and three quarters deep.
So...
this is small.
You know, if you look at some of these
the Chinese charge controllers on the market
there are bigger package, large heat sinks.
This doesn't require the heat sink at all.
It's in a it's in a completely, in a metal case
12 it'll do 12 volt, a 24 volt operation.
You can, one of the nice things about this is
is that you can run.
If you run this in a 24 volt
you can put panels two equally sized panels and series
up to 700 Watts
with in 12 volt
you can run panels in series up to 350 Watts.
My plan is to run a single panel, a 180 Watts
on the top of the trailer and we'll feed into there.
So that'll give me, so in bright sunlight
I should be getting about dough close to
10 or 11 amps.
Amp hours of power in
in full sun should work great charging the battery
and then in Lowell.
And then, and then if I'm in a shadier or situation
hopefully that'll give me more,
you know the bigger panel will grab more sunlight so I
can get a little bit better charge in the, in the shade.
If you notice looking at the exterior
there is no visible heat sink.
One of the features of this charge controller is it's high
high level of efficiency.
99% of the power from the panel is turned into
a voltage DC voltage
and current that is used for charging.
So very little of what you've
got will be turned into heat.
So the, the metal body
of the controller itself is going to be sufficient in order
to reading, you know, in order to dissipate any, any
the very little amount of heat energy.
And it's got a nice
it's a metal box to this is this is solid metal.
So, you know, that's also gonna help in reducing EMI or RFI
and there's going to be nothing there.
That's really gonna keep it from radiating.
Let's open up.
I'm not going to take these screws apart
but I'm going to open, I'll open up the backs.
We can take a look at the back of the, of the controller
- Okay.
- Here's the inside
of the church controller and pretty simple Actually,
these are your inputs.
Solar panel comes in this side, a battery goes out this side
it look well constructed,
large This is the, this is the sign of a DC to DC Converter
will be the, the large inductor
and really what the real, what, what a
MP PT charge controller
doing is it's using an inductor,
a diode and a MOSFET
to and the MOSFET transistor sorta is used
as a switch in order to switch between all the in, in
in the, in the charging, in the charging phase.
So, so classic classic sign of a D of a
of a DC to DC charge.
Converter is your, is your large inductor.
And this is a
this is a beefy one, some capacitors, and that's about it.
And then the circuit board logic
for the display and the control.
It is all on the other side, but we're not gonna
we're not going to take fully take that apart.
I think you can get an idea of its operation here with
as I get the panels installed on the trailer
and we'll do some testing to see, you know
what the output is like under a variety of situations.
over on the DIY solar for your website.
There are comparisons
between the solid and competing charge controller
so you can check them out yourself.
Also, if you're interested in purchasing one
DIY solar for you has provided a coupon code
to our viewers to receive a 20% discount
of the controllers and the accessories on their website.
Use the code radio two zero to receive the discount.
I use the code, the purchase mine
and you can receive that same discount.
And that's my first look at the DIY solar
for you sell 20 amp MPPT charge controller.
We'll dig deeper into it as I install it on the trailer
but do you have any questions
or comments about the charge controller?
We'll leave them in the comments below I'll filter
through the comments and follow up with them.
You know, who knows yours may end up on our next
your questions answered live stream, but for more articles
and information and VHF, UHF, and tennis for sale
- Please check out my website@wwwdotjpaul-antenna.com.
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I'm Michael benign VBR.
You have a great day and 73.