Solar Display Yes or No

[MichaelT]

Hi

We have a Votronic MMPT solar controller fitted by the dealer. All works fine and even after 10 weeks we went to the storage yard and the MH fired up first time. I was wondering if it is worth fitting a display to show the charge, battery status etc. was looking at THIS one as it looks plug and play. Just wanted to know is it £75 well spent?

 

[Stealaway]

I think all you need is voltage meters. I have one for each set of batteries .
You can see when they are filling during the course of the day and watch them drain as you use them in the evening.
My domestics are full at 12.8V but I turn the TV off when they have dropped to 12.4V. - however much they have managed to charge during the day.

 

[Bolti]

Hi

We have a Votronic MMPT solar controller fitted by the dealer. All works fine and even after 10 weeks we went to the storage yard and the MH fired up first time. I was wondering if it is worth fitting a display to show the charge, battery status etc. was looking at THIS one as it looks plug and play. Just wanted to know is it £75 well spent?

It's a nice toy but.
Does your control panel not give an indication of the charge in the leisure batteries?
Look outside you can see if it's cloudy.
And the Votronic unit itself tells you if the batteries are 80% or 100% full.

 

[Pete5996]

I installed the solar computer module when I fitted my Votronic a few months back - then a week later I bought a NASA BM-1 battery monitor and fitted that. The only advantage of the solar computer is that it gives an instantaneous readout of the watts and accumulated watts/amps since reset. In hindsight, the BM-1 at just over £100 and which indicates the usage in the whole system was the more useful purchase.

 

[MichaelT]

The van does show if the batteries are getting charged and of course the level so thinking about it I think it was probably a nice to have toy so better save the dosh for something more useful.

Thanks everyone.

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[MichaelT]

It's a nice toy but.
Does your control panel not give an indication of the charge in the leisure batteries?
Look outside you can see if it's cloudy.
And the Votronic unit itself tells you if the batteries are 80% or 100% full.

True but its under the passenger seat so cannot see it but the van control panel does show if amps are coming into the battery and the discharge as well.

 

[Nomadian]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=163775587195

 

[Ninjabob]

Red - panel voltage
Green - hab battery
Blue - cab battery

Cheap motorcycle voltmeters from Banggood. The Votronic display does show the current being sent to the hab battery.

 

[Minxy]

Its not the solar input that you really need to know, but what is actually in your batteries, so unless you've got money to throw away just stick with your battery readout.

 

[Richard n Ann]

View attachment 391211
Red - panel voltage
Green - hab battery
Blue - cab battery

Cheap motorcycle voltmeters from Banggood. The Votronic display does show the current being sent to the hab battery.

Can you switch them off? I hate stuff draining the battery 24/7. The BM1 has a very low power drain, around 2ma. Not absolutely necessary but I love gadgets

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[eddie]

What do you do with the information? On its own it’s useless

We have customers that insist they want to know, then knowing that the panels producing 8amps aren’t frugal with their consumption having a false sense of security

Establish that they have hammered their batteries are were actually in a negative situation

Better to fit a battery computer, which is you turn everything off will still accurately tell you what the panels are doin, but, will give you a true reading of what’s going on and how long you can sustain it

 

[eddie]

What do you do with the information? On its own it’s useless

We have customers that insist they want to know, then knowing that the panels producing 8amps aren’t frugal with their consumption having a false sense of security

Establish that they have hammered their batteries are were actually in a negative situation

Better to fit a battery computer, which is you turn everything off will still accurately tell you what the panels are doin, but, will give you a true reading of what’s going on and how long you can sustain it

Written on my phone! Just re-read it lol sorry for the rubbish

 

[Reallyretired]

I have fitted a BMS. Its very useful to see exactly whats going in and out of the batteries, though of course doesn't actually make anything work better. Interesting to see my 1.5kW inverter uses 700mA when switched on with no load but less than 100mA when switched off.

 

[Richard n Ann]

I glance at the battery monitor when going out, can instantly see if something has been left on, even if it's just a phone charger it will show 0.1 instead of 0.0

 

[AdamB]

Just reading your thread and I thought I would give you my thoughts - I have a portable double solar panel and have just paired that with a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 75/15 from Amazon. This also has a Bluethtooth connection and there is a myriad of information for all to enjoy. Extremely happy with the product and far better than the solar controller issued with the panels.

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[Off da Grid]

I bought the solar display for my Votronic 350 mppt duo, only really look at to see what amps the panel is producing when under load from our 255 watt 8.something Amp panel have seen over 11 amps when it’s really pushed on a sunny day.
I probably wouldn’t get another if I was to build the system again.
The elektroblock fitted in the van shows the battery voltages of starter and hab.