Cheap Boosting MPPT Solar Charge Controller - 12v Solar Shed

Boosting MPPT solar charge controllers are pretty rare. Normally it's beneficial to have your solar panel voltage higher than your battery voltage, but that can be difficult if you need a high voltage battery system.
This cheap MPPT solar charge controller boosts the solar panel voltage up to a higher battery voltage and is sold primarily to the eBike community.
This item was bought from eBay:
❗️These links are affiliated and I may earn a small commission if you purchase❗️
CTK EV300 Boosting MPPT Solar Charge Controller: goo.gl/Xv4qoU
Other items used in this video:
❗️These links are affiliated and I may earn a small commission if you purchase❗️
Portapow Premium USB Power Monitor: goo.gl/LtkwjK
2.1mm 5.5mm DC Power Connectors: goo.gl/cAAcgB
I've done a bit of an update and a teardown here: • Quick update - Boostin...

[@gadgetcaches5485]

Really appreciate your effort! My controller arrived with instructions in Kanji. Your clear and thorough instruction enabled me to get my solar bike up to speed! Thanks.

[@AdamWelchUK]

Good to hear. Thanks for letting me know.

[@trevortrevortsr2]

This is a brilliant gismo - I have it hooked up to a REC 280 watt solar panel on the shed and it charges my 36v e-bike at 6amp + in bright sunlight at 36v it cuts off the charge at 41.6 - what I like is the way it charges at a high rate up to 41v and tapers off for the last 0.6 v to give the BMS a chance to trim balance the cells without overwhelming it - imagine how much a good 5 amp charge would cost - I like running around on the sun power - might get one in my camper

[@dylandesmond]

you do the best reviews out there...

[@voneschenbachmusic]

Very interesting MPPT charge controller. For portable applications, it seems a bit odd to have more than one or two panels, so the ability to boost seems pretty useful for higher voltage batteries. Thanks for reviewing this one!

[@mickd6942]

Mine arrived today , thanks for the excellent review, made setting it up a doddle

[@iangill6761]

Thank you for this. Just what I need for my e bike conversion kit.

[@GadgetAddict]

It actually seems like a decent little unit!

[@mickd6942]

Thanks Adam , I am at this moment charging my 36 volt ebike at 1AH in autumn sun using a folding 60w allpowers panel and this black magic box , if it wasn’t for your review I wouldn’t have known about it

[@AdamWelchUK]

That’s great to hear. Thanks for letting me know. :-)

[@fromtheflightdeck252]

Did you lock the settings? How do you use the dip switch? Move 1 and 2 both?

[@JamesStJohn-zn6uy]

Hello Adam. Thank you for your Grait Reviews. Very Good Information... Has Helped me Tremendously. ⚡👍

[@johnprester7428]

Hey Adam, I work in Solar and have been looking for what we call an inexpensive Solar optimizer, the difference being we are "combining" the outputs and letting the unit balance the currents so all are contributing but not are being overworked. The other usual problem is load loss on the wiring. This is solved by stepping up the voltage so you can use smaller gauge for long lengths. If you take this controller and set it to 75 (or more) tie multiple units output together then run all of this into a normal charge controller which will perform a stepdown at the destination. The reason you want to do this is this unit will not be able to do equalization nor be able to go over 10 amps. This would be the equivalent of buying those insanely expensive solar optimizer setups that require "their" central gateway and inverter. With this, you can you "any" inverter with "any" step-down charge controller. If you were to attempt to run this charge controller direct to a battery with any decent length cable at the desired voltage you would drop efficiency drastically.

[@tabineshhtc]

P is panel voltage, B is battery voltage, C is current from panel. Why are you so confused. And you are charging 24 v battery from 12 v panel so controller is making more voltage and less current for battery to charge. Working Like a boost converter. If voltage boost so current will be decreased from panel.

[@SuperBrainAK]

cool piece of kit, i like the manual charge termination setting. you can use it for any chemistry, SLA, Li-ion, Li-Fe, or supercaps :D

[@emmyann8214]

Great video sir. Ooh m a beginner and trying to learn as much as I can before I start burying solar components. Thanks very much

[@AdamWelchUK]

Thank you. I've done a fair few solar videos so I hope you stick around and watch a few :-)

[@prblakeslee]

Great controller......using with 100W panel to charge 36V ebike battery. I'm putting in maximum of 102W (16.3V @ 6.3A), delivers 41.6V @ 1.83A). This figures to about 75% efficiency.

[@sturmBAQ89]

prblakeslee is the controller still working ?

[@evil17]

I have a Bus with 24v, so it would be a good tender for batteries on a single 12v panel. Good vid, thanks for sharing

[@slash2314]

I started experimenting with the MPT-7210A recently. It does do assisted power point tracking. It seems to use that setting to as a starting point for the search. I just set mine to 18v for my solar panels and it searched down to 17v when they were in less than optimal conditions. It may be worth looking at, even though the device you tested in the video seemed very efficient.

[@AdamWelchUK]

Cheers - that's interesting. As I said I haven't used one myself but that was my understanding. Thanks again

[@jakobhovman]

Hello Adam...interresting controller and great review...Thank You. This can be useful, for charging 18V powertools from a 12V solar panel on the go.

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Jakob Hovman A nice suggestion. Cheers.

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

that's why I'm here - got a 20 volt battery

[@fixerofthings]

Thanks for the thorough review, the feature where you can customize the output voltage limit is quite interesting. Do you happen to know the range of that setting, how low and how high it can be set?

[@backwoodsbungalow9674]

Sounds like it might be useful for charging a 24 volt lawnmower eg Robomow from a 12 volt solar panel. Solar power is a good seasonal match for lawn mowing.

[@AdamWelchUK]

+BackwoodsBungalow Sounds like a nice plan. EBikes and eMowers - I wonder what else.

[@attiliopavone]

Hi Adam, thanks for your video, I'm testing this device and it seems quite a good and fast MPPT tracker, suitable for e-bike trips. The only minor flaw, I've noticed charging my 52V battery with my 100W panels, is that it significantly drops the charge current before reaching the final Voltage (about 0.5V earlier, and yes, it seems the 'c' value is the current on the panel side, although not precisely calibrated). I also have the Ming He MPT-7210A and it is very good, although it is a bit too slow at tracking a fast changing irradiation like that on a moving bike trailer, but the adjustable amps makes it safer when using a power supply as source.

[@tony-qj3yk]

With your 52v battery and 100w panels (how many?) how much current is going into the battery? I know very little about electrical stuff, but I do know its better for the battery to charge at around 2-3 amps. I have a 52v 17.5ah shark battery and am playing around with charging with solar for a long trip (4000km). Lots of info about boost controllers, but nothing about controlling output amps into battery. So, how do you control the amps into the battery while using, say 200w of panels in series that put out, say 5-6amps with this controller Adam has reviewed, which I have. Looks like it can’t be done with this unit. Maybe I need the MPT-7210A instead as it apparently has adjustable amps.

[@Seldomseen2u]

Attilio. I’m testing my Mppt with my 52v mini cube Ebike battery. I too have the C=0 though my self setting is 58.4. So have you changed your final voltage to compensate? So how much solar panel wattage have you designed for to charge you to ~2amps charging ? Thanks

[@Tore_Lund]

@@tony-qj3yk It is a charge controller, so naturally it has a current limited output. If given enough solar power, the power capability of the MPPT, 300W is the limiting factor for 52V that'll be 5.5A. The usual limit is the power of the solar panel, If you think this is too much, use a smaller one.

[@freetrailer4poor]

This is a real nice controller. Most 60 cell panels are 995mm x 1650 mm and 230-250 watts. Most 72 panels are 995 mm x 1950 mm and 270-300 watts (3 can fit on 10 foot pipe). Thus, this is perfect for one large panel if you want to charge 48V golf cart and old electric cars 72V. If you get a 12V panel, you can charge 24V. The 7210A I believe is MPPT. You set the panel voltage but it is just to get to mppt faster. I think it takes that setting the moves the voltage a little higher and lower than that value and takes and average of the power. If the lower voltage produces more power it sets the voltage to that value. Then takes a higher and lower reading and averages. The voltage you put in it only gets to the mppt faster. Basically it is a trial and error mppt controller. I probably don't need it but bought it. IN USA you can buy a quality 60 or 72 cell panel less than $100.

[@AdamWelchUK]

I'm quite fond of this little controller. I think there is lots of scope to using it - as you suggest. I'm glad to hear the MingHe doesn't simply and blindly use that MPPT figure I'll remember that for the future. Cheers

[@LetArtsLive]

I just got one of these it looks like nice quality. I bought a bluetti 200 watt solar panel and EB 55 which is really heavy like 15 lb. I am going to be on a bike trip. 30 so that saves like 14 lb. I hope it works as good as people say cuz I could be hundreds of miles from home and I have one leg and I cannot pedal. Seems like a good solution.

[@tengelgeer]

Was I the only one who was screaming to the screen? P = Panel voltage b = battery voltage c = current panel F = finish charge battery voltage It is a bit off but the current is jumping around quite a bit and probably bad calibrated. Because hé, it does not care what the actual current is, as long as it scales with current and it finds the point where "current" times voltage gives the highest number it did it's job :D

[@AdamWelchUK]

+tengelgeer Probably not the only one screaming! It was a hot day - that'll have to be my excuse.

[@tengelgeer]

Hehe, no problem. Scream at the screen is part of the fun :p

[@ehsoule]

Does the self set voltage feature try to float the batteries when voltage is reached? Would be a nice feature for lithiums if it didn't float the batteries and just cut off.

[@gerrycasey7892]

Hi Adam, Have you reviewed any dual battery solar controllers as I need to replace my existing controller and would ideally like MPPT. Gerry

[@SockFluff]

This looks to be exactly what I need to charge my 48v E-bike battery from my 12volt solar setup on my shed roof. Though I'm a little worried about blowing up my battery. It was reassuring to see it reduced the current when near the maximum set voltage for the battery. At 2:23 the instructions say the 48v setting will charge the battery to 57.6 which I think is too high for a Li-Ion battery that should only be charged to 54.6v I assume you could just set the self setting to 54.6v instead? I don't have any test equipment to test its doing what it says, so it would be a gamble to risk trying it on my battery. Though I would love to have the option to charge my E-bike from the sun.

[@LetArtsLive]

I need to know where I can get those 8 mm plugs for my e-bike because I will cut the wire off so I can plug it back in or remove it from the mppt and put it back on the battery charger if I need to when I am home. I could not find an XLR that was enough gauge I looked everywhere.

[@biogreenz6613]

Can u use a 33v panel voc 42.3 to charge a 36v lithium battery max 42v? Panel nominal is 33v under load I think. Target voltage is 41.7v to charge battery I think

[@carlitomadrona6211]

I have one like that, the only solar device so far that amazes me, I use mine to charge my 48v 10ah li-ion battery pack. It can do 9.0A, according to the digital dispaly, via 200watts x 18v panels in bright sun it shuts off at 54.6v. I didn't test it through a watt meter, just looking at its display.

[@fromtheflightdeck252]

How do you lock the self settings? Bring both the dip switches forward to On?

[@marksicheri7205]

I have a 3000w grid tied inverter w/- 12 x 250w solar panels and .have acquired a heap of 18650 lith cells and because of the difficulty of 3s,4s lithium cells I would prefer to make 24v cells, is there some way of using boost mppt solar charge controllers Any ideas guys as these boost solar charge controllers seem the way to go but are way too small

[@dustinhoepker3051]

Brilliant. Thank you.

[@Deliverance-Childrens-Bread]

Question. When charging a battery you should use a pure sine wave inverter to protect the battery. What type of current does it make?

[@Electronzap]

Looks pretty nice.

[@kiryutinaleksey]

What do you think, can one connect two of these device in parallel. I mean outputs, but inputs are separate, isolated connected to two solar panels?

[@welshwarrior797]

Hi Adam, New subscriber love the videos. Would this be ok to run a 12.6v car battery. I plan on attempting to run my pond pump via solar

[@mfkman]

Does this work for a 14S (52v) battery? In the menu in your video it seemed to jump from 13s(48v) to 60v.

[@RWBHere]

Thanks Adam. How long it will it be before the fake ones start to appear is anyone's guess. At the moment, it looks like a very useful unit for small solar setups.

[@12vLife]

Valuable. Are these reliable vs Genasun? For 48v ebike charging even a 400w 50v solar panel would need a boosting right? Anything good or new coming that can handle the bigger 400w solar panels coming out? Its too bad that 48v batteries do not come with built DC charge controllers like solar generators do.

[@E-bikeeverything57]

Thanks for the menu instructions mine came with Chinese only This boost charger is out performing my 7210A 2 to 1

[@minekoiwa2971]

My battery only allows a maximum charge of 2A. But my solar panel has 5A peaks. Any way to regulate the output intensity without changing the solar panel?

[@eldiagrama]

great video!

[@dedspace5537]

Hi! In the 48V battery mode, can the final voltage be set to 54.6V?

[@TheBarrettrussell]

Adam, love the channel! I wonder if you can answer this. You didn't state, or not that i caught, are you charging off a 24v series or are those numbers from a single 12v panel? I am wanting to combine a 7s lipo bat, 24v (two panels in series) and utilize my 12v alternator. Because most charge controllers are buck converters of sorts (or so i think), I was going to run two 12v panels in series to obtain >24v for the majority of sun. Would thing handle an alternator? and can it buck as well? lets say ~34v from two panels mid day and drop to 24v? Moreover, any idea of what would happen if I connected my alternator to my panel wires and connected them all to the input side? Thanks for any input!

[@AdamWelchUK]

This is a boosting solar charge controller, so the solar input must be lower than the battery voltage. I’ve never attached an alternator to a solar charger input, theory has it should work but some alternators these days are ‘smart’ and loading it with a reasonable load using a switching converter may or may not cause issue. It’s out of my area really. Sorry. Thanks for the kind comments though!

[@kaszak9912]

Hey My bike has 6 battery 12v ebike how many watts solar panels I will need and what size mppt

[@integr8er66]

One important reason you might want this is if you have to deal with shaded panels, if you put your panels in series and one is shaded then you lose all power, if you put them in parallel and one gets shaded you still get power from the others.

[@jeffreyawalling6184]

If set to "Self" charge rate will this unit charge a 12 volt battery? Thank you - great info from your videos...

[@AdamWelchUK]

Unfortunately not. This can only charge an 18v battery or above - it’s a boost converter.

[@fit2fly]

Does it go into 'float-charge' or does 'terminate' the charge at a certain point (if so , at which voltage?). As you know a Lipo-battery doesn't like float-charge

[@AdamWelchUK]

+fit2fly I need to try this - but sadly the sun seems be ignoring my part of the country for the next few days!

[@davidmcnellis319]

I've been toying with an idea of making a solar charger for my E-bike that would fit in one of my pannier bags . It's an 48v 11.6 ah battery. I'm thinking thinfilm cells since this needs to be portable and will probably take some bumps and bangs. Do you think this would be possible/practical?

[@AdamWelchUK]

Possible yes - practical I'm not sure. Andy has been doing this for a while... kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWeXlJecfdqon7M In this video I think he's using a Turnigy balanced charger and having some trouble. I think he did buy a Minghe 7210A boosting solar charge controller though and had some reasonable results. Might be worth asking him on that video. For me it's practical if you can get your panels small and powerful enough so it's worth carrying and plugging everything in when you have your sandwiches at lunch time. If the effort in carrying and setting up doesn't gain you much in the way of range then it seems a waste of effort.

[@franciscoortunoabad3811]

Hello !! it's a great tutorial. 👍 Just a couple of questions. Could this controller be used to recharge 12V lead acid batteries? Or is it only for voltages from 24V onwards? Thanks in advance . ............................................................ Hola !! es un estupendo tutorial. 👍 Solo un par de preguntas. ¿Este controlador podria usarse para recargar baterias de plomo acido de 12V ? ¿ O es solo para voltages a partir de 24V en adelante ? Gracias de antemano.

[@marktheunitedstatescitezen185]

Can I use this with my 5 KVA 230v Inverter charge Controller 58v GVW ? It’s not an MPPT !

[@brantgoose]

Why is my boost thingy saying I'm using 5 amps when my battery can only possibly charge at around 1 amp?

[@MrBrymstond]

It does make a sweet project case if all else fails

[@stanleytolle416]

How about boosting voltages to transmit power longer distances with smaller Gage wire?

[@glorytoallah753]

Smaller gauge will bottle neck and, will be a fire hazard.

[@yt225984]

Could c be a current reading ?

[@mattc825]

Hi Adam / all.. It's cloudy here, so to test it I've hooked it into the 12v DV port on my power station. Both lights come on and it goes into 48v mode ...but I can't change the voltage. Even the 10 second push doesn't do anything... UPDATE: The unit was faulty

[@kresimirpecar4925]

Do you have any info on float voltage ?

[@wndhl4347]

Great video. I've watched it quite a few times. I have 6x12v agm batteries @ 120AH each. I've been thinking of wiring them in series to give me 72v for my up coming electric sailboat conversion. I'm thinking this might be perfect as I can't really install anymore than 2x100W solar panels. Do you imagine this neat bit of kit would be ok for such an application?

[@serhandereli7280]

i have set up similar system on my boat. but 2x100w panels would take ages to fully charge 72v 120ah (7.440watt) batteries. at best conditions about 10 days. i have installed 3x300watt, it takes about 1-2 days to fully charge 72v 60ah (4000w) batteries depending on the weather

[@wndhl4347]

@@serhandereli7280 Thanks Serhan. Do you have this particular boosting charger or is there another you'd recommend?

[@kuhrd]

The labels on the display seem pretty straight forward. P=Panel Input Voltage c=Panel Input Current and b=Battery Output Voltage. I have seen similar labeling used on some of the other charge controllers from China. Watching the other meters confirmed this. One Controller I have uses P=Panel Voltage C=panel current c=battery current b= battery voltage. Too bad they didn't include the meanings in the manual. They had enough blank paper to do so.

[@kuhrd]

One added thought, they also likely used smaller gauge cable since you are likely going to be passing a much higher current on the input than the output since this is being sold to boost the input for higher voltage battery banks.

[@AdamWelchUK]

Cheers for your comments. I think you're correct on each point. The current figure sadly doesn't seem well calibrated and that's what confused me. Higher guage cable on the input makes sense but it does surprise me that they've gone to that limit to save a few cents - I guess every saving adds up.

[@DmitryOlyenyov]

Can you give an advice on what should I buy if I want to charge my daughter's self balancing scooter. Wall charger outputs 42v 2A. Is it possible to somehow tune this controller to output 42v? The only "mppt" thing on aliexpress that is capable of tuning output voltage is green "mpt 7210a" But it's not a true MPPT. I have 18v "100W" solar foldable panel.

[@Thomas_P_aus_M]

No problem. This controller has the option for userdefined voltage (Display shows "SELF"), everything between 24 and 84 volt is possible (AFAIR).

[@HubbHubbs]

Does anyone know if any harm would likely come from connecting the input side of this to a car cigarette lighter socket, and boosting the 14 or so volts to charge a 54.6v lithium battery?

[@mareck6946]

this works as long as you dont exceed 8A on the Input ( Most cig lighter sockets are rated at that maximum or 10 A tops ) - so as long as your charge Amp isnt higher than 2A it should be ok.

[@ilanozana9652]

The mppt is changes depending on the pv. In optimum sun the mppt is as the nominal values or isn't it?

[@Tore_Lund]

Yes at lower irradiation levels with part cloud cover or shadows, the MP point is lower.

[@jerrydensmore2887]

I would suspect that you should've hooked battery up first so it could do it's own settings. Then the C would represent current.

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Jerry Densmore I will check that. Cheers

[@ahah1785]

Thanks for the review man, im getting this to charge a 48V 300W solar panel equipped cargo bike...sure hope this one works better than the green one...total junk... This one looks promising tho..

[@Seldomseen2u]

Yes. Can you comment on your luck?

[@olivervomhofe7802]

Falls sie einer mit liest der Funker ist, ich wollte das unterwegs als portabel benutzen um den 48 Volt Akku zu laden und damit dann einen 12 Volt runter aber leider macht der MPPT soviel Störungen auf der kurzwelle hat da vielleicht einer eine Idee?

[@Anonymous-jm3mg]

My c.000, never changes. My solar and battery leds light up. I have 48 volt lit up but still c.000 ? My multimeter gets readings at the charge plug up to 58.0 volts when set to 48 volt. Seems normal, everything but showing zero solar panel input @ c.000. Any ideas?

[@superfreak19]

same issue here, only thin i can piece together is the batt wires may be reversed, so that iot may read voltage, but not charge.

[@parikapustina1398]

Thanks for the video. I would like to know, how to connect both 1.the normal charger and 2.the solar charge controller output to the same lithuim battery pack? When connecting the battery to the normal power outlet charger, do i need to disconnect the solar charge controller from the battery? Thanks.

[@Tore_Lund]

The video shows there is a diode in the output of the mppt controller, which there always is in a switching regulator. Likewise wall outlet power supplies also have diodes in their output, so you are fine paralleling them permanently.

[@parikapustina1398]

@@Tore_Lund Thank you for the clear reply!

[@Tore_Lund]

@@parikapustina1398 Your multimeter is your friend in situations like this, you can measure the output with the diode test function (red test wire to red positive battery output of the charge controller, and black test wire on the black battery output wire) Then there should be no current flowing, display showing "00.000" and you know there is a diode in there which blocks reverse current, which makes sense, when this is for battery charging and we can't have the battery discharge through the charger when it is turned off. Your wall charger works the same way and you can test it too. I installed a 15kW battery charger the other day, and even if the datasheet clearly stated that the output was reverse current protected (diode), I still did a diode test with my multimeter, before I connected it to the battery bank.

[@DavidBeede]

Great review as usual Adam. I bought one of these to use to charge my 48v e-trike battery. I have a flexible 300w solar panel (as a sun shade) as charging source. The panel specs are: Solar panel: Pmax: 300watt * Ipmax:7.1 amps * VPmax: 42V * Isc: 7.8A * Voc: 50V Will the panel amps overpower this charge controller? Thanks

[@mickd6942]

Rated for

[@tomkeyser8384]

links in the description are not working

[@stevekb1dig]

Awesome video. Super information 👍👍 hello from Urdaneta City, Pangasinan Province, Island of Luzon, Philippines. I have been doing a few KZbin channel uploads on the practical application of this device.

[@jamieh9351]

Not sure about the MPPT thing but you're over 90% efficiency on the boost conversion, which is good going. Did a random calculation on 29W from the panel and 27W to the batteries...

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Jamie H Yeah it does seem to convert reasonably efficiently. Cheers

[@MaggieTHouser]

You also have to realize that if it's always using say only 2 watts of power, at lower power inputs the % is always gong to be skewed. 30 watts in - 2 watts off the top already starts the max efficiency at 93%, but if you had 200 watts coming in the 2 watts would be almost rounding error.

[@jamieh9351]

If you had 200 watts coming in from the panel, the output would be more like 186 watts (if the efficiency remains 93%). But I doubt the metal casing would be able to shift the 14 watts of heat...

[@alexp2011a]

I wonder if it will work as a DC to DC voltage converter? I'm trying to set up emergency power for blackouts in Ukraine, and I have 36v battery and 24v to 220AC inverter. So need to convert 36v to 24v first. And I have this fella lying around, as it happens ) Thanks for the video.

[@alexp2011a]

Looks like it might work for stepping up voltage, although not for stepping down, unfortunately.

[@antpowell5974]

looks good. darned if I can find it on eBay UK.

[@AdamWelchUK]

Here's a link for them for sale on ebay.co.uk but they are all coming direct from China: goo.gl/hXm8zE

[@johnlomasney]

Interesting informative

[@richardmorenski5217]

Hello, thanks for your review. I tested last year 7210, it's was working quite well with power supply but have a lot of issue about the tracking under changing wetter condition. We makes some internal modification to improve tracking performance. Do you have already tested in a real situation (with solar panel) the tracking function?

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Richard Morenski it was on test for about three hours while I made this video. Not had much sun since then (or time). It did seem to track as clouds went over but I can't really say how efficient it was at the moment. I need to test it for a bit longer and check it properly terminates the charge. Ran out of time previously though.

[@richardmorenski5217]

Ok so no real issue detected for the moment. Your checking with this "new" MPPT boost charger will be interresting with real weather condition so I will continue to follow your test.

[@kevincai96]

Please let me know if it's better than the 7210a, which I also have. I did the capacitor mods and that helps it find the MPPT faster, but it will drop out from drawing too much power from the panels and dropping the voltage as a result.

[@IrishFuryan]

@@kevincai96 Did you sort this?

[@kevincai96]

@@IrishFuryan I upgraded to a Tracer MPPT charger (buck style, not boost). Ended up having much higher voltage array while not increasing the battery bank voltage.

[@MrBrymstond]

It's a small c not a uppercase C so is that The usage of the converter? quiescent?

[@AdamWelchUK]

+MrBrymstond The numbers for me made more sense as the loss in conversion in watts - but that seemed like an odd parameter to display. I'm really not sure.

[@geekmystique]

They can get away with a thinner cable on the output as current is less due to the higher voltage?

[@AdamWelchUK]

+geekmystique Yes absolutely. I guess the small amount of money saved will all add up but it seems surprising that it's not easier to manufacture with the same both sides.

[@RWBHere]

The difference in wire type and thickness also makes it less likely that a user will mix up the input and output leads when they are in a wiring harness.

[@bobbrueckner7498]

Adam, You are one of the rare few that are answering their comments and I want you to know that I, for one, appreciate it. Would you tell me the exact address that I can go to to find the exact controller that you used in this video? I want the one for e bikes with the e bike sticker on the back. CTKEV300. I have gone ABSOLUTELY BONKERS trying to find it on eBay, amazon and everywhere else on the internet.

[@AdamWelchUK]

I’m sorry but I don’t seem to be able to go that far back in my eBay purchase history. I’d like to help but I haven’t got the details. Sorry. I’m pleased you’ve noticed I answer comments. I try to be helpful where I can, but this time I’ve fallen short.

[@GeertDroid]

please fix the link to ebay !

[@Vamire6666]

Hello dude. Can I found somwhere this booster for a 12volt battery system? And what is the best way to connect this charger on my system? I have ane epsolar mppt 20A solar charger but I want to use this booster when my solar panel dosen't get too much solar voltage. Thanks in advance and thank you for your videos are really helpful

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Vamire George these boosting charge controllers tend to start at 24v battery systems because most solar panels are 12v or more. Placing this before another solar charge controller might work - but I expect it would be very inefficient and that's not what you're after when your panels aren't creating much power.

[@Vamire6666]

So that means that I can't get one and use it as booster for my system right? I see so many times my panel voltage to be on 28volts or a little more but the epever won't give any charge to my battery. I have to get 30volts or more to get a charge and my solar panel is an amerisolar 260watts 30.7V. I don't know why it works like this but the efficient of my charging controller is wrong I think. Any advice?

[@Vamire6666]

It's brand new and I can get all the watts from it. The mppt is not working well. I get only 5-10watts when the panel gets less than 30volt. :/ So is not good mppt. Maybe with a 24v system would it be better.

[@Vamire6666]

Ι can check the amps from the app that it has. So is the mppt...

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

@@AdamWelchUK so any 18 volt or 20 volt batteries can NOT be charged? Dang - it boosts MORE than needed!

[@odessabee6160]

Hello, what's the maximum voltage of this device? Im need 72v(88.2v) 21S Thanks a lot!)

[@trevortrevortsr2]

The instructions show 86.4 on its 72v setting - the capacitors on the solar side are rated up to 62v and on the output 100v

[@smithsunday9839]

hello i have 2 300w panel and 2 210ah battery is this charge good for me please adverse me.

[@AdamWelchUK]

If your panel voltage is lower than you battery voltage then yes. Otherwise you'll need to look for a more typical MPPT charge controller.

[@ronny1734]

Get a victron charge controller and youll be fine but also get one that can handle your solar watts

[@antonhoegh9468]

Hi Adam Is it possible to set it up to 12v batteries manually

[@AdamWelchUK]

Hello. It’s a long time since I used this but I think the answer is no. It’s a boosting charge controller, so you’d need a solar panel with a lower voltage than 12 volts and they just don’t exist in anything over a few watts to my knowledge.

[@antonhoegh9468]

@@AdamWelchUK Thanks for the reply, it's because I already bought it on Amazon and only discovered it when I unpacked it. So I figured I might not get the full benefit of it, but that it might be useful anyway.

[@Chinhnguyen0497]

is it MPPT or it just PWM?

[@itsaustraliadayeveryday7234]

P = panel B = battery C= current

[@BAphotomania]

Hi Adam, I have just ordered a 12 volt dc modified sine wave inverter with a peak 6000 watt and running 1500 watt output capacity. My intention being to charge my 36 volt 10 amp lithium ebike battery whilst driving. However although the inverter would easily handle this on doing the maths I realise I would be drawing around 35 amps dc from my 55 amp alternator and 85 amp leisure battery, which seems somewhat excessive. Having watched your video I wonder if this MPPT boost charge controller would work safely from my 12 volt battery / alternator. I realise the voltage would be around 14 volts rather than the 17.5 volts from a typical solar panel. This would only be intended to top up charge my lithium battery from perhaps 50% between campsite stops. You are obviously well versed in electronics. Could you enlighten me please. Regards, Brian Andrews.

[@t.h.o.r.]

P is for panel

[@emmanuellacourse]

p = pannel voltage c = pannel current b = battery voltage

[@travelairborne9060]

solar panel watts?

[@Thomas_P_aus_M]

It depends on your panels/voltage. Current of this controller on input side is 10 A max. P = U * I or watt = volt * ampere

[@ahaveland]

Great review Adam! Was the 10A fuse on the solar side? Mine kick out about 16A @ 17.6V I suggest the input wires are thicker because they're carrying more current than the stepped up output side. As a solar ebike person with 3 folding 100W solar panels and a 14S 2kWh battery made from 224 harvested 18650s, it's definitely an interesting product for me, though 1 kW version would be nice. :-) I could carry 10 of my panels quite easily! I took the bike on a 340km round trip last weekend, but only used the panels for a couple of hours at midday while getting some sleep in a field! Put about 20% into the battery, and got me about 120km before switching to the backup lipo for the next 50km. Next morning spent 5 hours in a coffee shop charging up for the return trip - quite an adventure, and virtually free! twitter.com/ahaveland/status/882645128539762690

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Andy Lee Robinson Hi Andy. I did think of you whilst making this video. It's ten a,ls on the battery side so I expect it'll come down to your pack voltage wether this is the right product for you. Sounds like a super trip - well done. Cheers

[@ahaveland]

Thanks Adam, nice to know we're helping to get solar and ebikes into the public conscious. 300W is still quite useful, and with 14S @ 58.8V that'd only be about 5A. Two of these controllers together could charge 7S each at nearly 10A in isolation with 2 panels each. Pity that it's only boost - if it did buck too, then could use 5 controllers with two 20V panels each to charge 4 sets of 3 cells + 2 cells to get all 14 charged even quicker. They can take a 20A charge current. There are lots of creative ways these could be used!

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Andy Lee Robinson Yeah I guess there's various ways you can use them - cheers

[@ahaveland]

I bought one :-)

[@AdamWelchUK]

+Andy Lee Robinson I knew you couldn't resist! :-)

[@alansedgewick]

Your link takes me to coins on eBay 😟

[@ranscam]

Alan Sedgewick all the links seem to go to ebay and search "merchant"... something up with the link shortening service?

[@AdamWelchUK]

+ranscam Thats odd. Just checked one now and it's listing the right product. Perhaps eBay partner network had a blip?

[@ranscam]

still not right? taking me to this link for some reason... on a samsung s6 edge plus with chrome as the browser. m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=merchant&_ex_kw=&_mPrRngCbx=1&_mwBanner=1&_nkw=24V-72V%20MPPT%20Boost%20Solar%20Panel%20Battery%20Regulator&_sacat=&_sop=12&_udhi=&_udlo=&isRefine=true&rmvSB=true&rmvSB=true&ul_ref=http%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F711-53200-19255-0%252F1%253Ficep_ff3%253D10%2526pub%253D5575189419%2526toolid%253D10001%2526campid%253D5337903455%2526customid%253DCTK%252BeBike%252BMPPT%252BSCC%2526icep_uq%253D24V-72V%252BMPPT%252BBoost%252BSolar%252BPanel%252BBattery%252BRegulator%2526icep_sellerId%253D%2526icep_ex_kw%253D%2526icep_sortBy%253D12%2526icep_catId%253D%2526icep_minPrice%253D%2526icep_maxPrice%253D%2526ipn%253Dpsmain%2526icep_vectorid%253D229466%2526kwid%253D902099%2526mtid%253D824%2526kw%253Dlg%2526srcrot%253D711-53200-19255-0%2526rvr_id%253D1253036320781&ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F711-53200-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D10%26pub%3D5575189419%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5337903455%26customid%3DCTK%2BeBike%2BMPPT%2BSCC%26icep_uq%3D24V-72V%2BMPPT%2BBoost%2BSolar%2BPanel%2BBattery%2BRegulator%26icep_sellerId%3D%26icep_ex_kw%3D%26icep_sortBy%3D12%26icep_catId%3D%26icep_minPrice%3D%26icep_maxPrice%3D%26ipn%3Dpsmain%26icep_vectorid%3D229466%26kwid%3D902099%26mtid%3D824%26kw%3Dlg%26srcrot%3D711-53200-19255-0%26rvr_id%3D1253036320781

[@antpowell5974]

Alan Sedgewick Same here.

[@simonbarnes5776]

Adam, I would suspect that "c" would be current.

[@AdamWelchUK]

+storksb 255 Now it could be that obvious, but unless it's not terribly well calibrated it didn't ever seem to correspond to the current I was seeing on either side. Most likely you're right and I just look silly.

[@simonbarnes5776]

I suspect it is not well calibrated, also voltage and watts did match that well either

[@AdamWelchUK]

+storksb 255 True. You may well be right.

[@Thomas_P_aus_M]

Is there really no way to calibrate that? (I have ordered the regulator, but it will take a few weeks before it arrives.)

[@bobp5715]

don't forget adam welch didn't connect the battery to the mppt before he connected the solar panels to the mppt. It might make the values on both meter readers match better.

[@ElectronicMarine]

it's not peculiar... all the 24 v boats with small flexible pannels need one of thiese and also for maintainingthe charge on golfcarts ecc...

[@slybunda]

silver wire? u sure its not nickle plated copper? scratch it up and see

[@MrJim310]

C=Current

[@bernardcharlesworth9860]

Different wire material is required for battery in ideal world

[@MrBrymstond]

That's all it is, it's a boost converter

[@alansedgewick]

Is it me but your link takes me to coins 😕

[@Chris_1024_]

No, it's a mppt boost charge controller. It doesn't only boost, it also operates the panel at the most efficient voltage.

[@AS-cy1jt]

its tinned for corrosion

[@mjp0815]

I will keep my warranty when I open these screws.... never laughed this hard...

[@ericb.4358]

Why would you want a CHEAP solar charge controller? For my system I want only the best so it will have reliability.