Closer look at Midnite Solar's Kid solar charge controller

www.altestore.....
We take a closer inside look at the capabilities and improvements of the latest version of Midnite Solar's MPPT solar charge controller, The Kid. It is able to manage the power from solar panels in a variety of types of deep cycle batteries, ranging from 12V - 48V. It is simple to install, yet has powerful customization abilities.

[@shortbus]

My Kid has worked for around 3 years now. I just removed it from my house and re-installed it into my 'skoolie' bus conversion. I've always loved your videos, you explain things very well. Thank you!

[@johnslingerland8192]

just purchased The Kid a few weeks ago from alte, have not started the installation, still gathering material, thanks for the overview!!! john

[@AltEStore]

Great. Let us know how you like it.

[@byates59]

Bought the marine version from you guys a few years ago, it has been flawless, great charge controller! Thanks for the video!

[@AltEStore]

Glad you like it! Midnite makes great products.

[@just-dl]

Dang, that's an action packed little gem right there. The stacking capability is particularly attractive, for those of us who want to "grow a system," without having to jettison perfectly good gear, just because we outgrew it. Great presentation, m'dear....though, for production purposes, if you can, I'd suggest putting your note cards (or the person to our left/your right) closer to the camera, so your glances that way aren't so noticeable to us old camera operators. (Yeah, I know...90% of viewers won't notice....just us cantankerous old studio guys....)

[@AltEStore]

Yah, I've been struggling where to put my monitor in my tiny studio, I don't have the space to put it in front of or below the camera. I may need to move everything around 180 degrees to get things to fit. Thanks for the input.

[@just-dl]

Sounds like you need a slightly larger studio. (Tell the boss I approved the expense....) :-) I used to do presentations, and found that working from an outline was best for me. I could tape it to the bottom of the camera lens, for "looking-ahead" cheat sheets! Forgetting, of course, all the threats I made to others if they EVER taped anything to "my" camera when I was on the other side of that process....heck, I'm only human...can't remember EVERYTHING, can I? :-) BTW, love your YT channel...very helpful stuff!

[@AltEStore]

Bigger studio's not an option. I do take my bullets under my camera, which is why it's tough to also have the monitor there. I'm about to record a few more today, I'll play around with locations and see what works best.

[@just-dl]

Hmmmm... I guess my "approval" doesn't carry enough clout. (sigh) sorry...I tried! ;-) Seriously, glad to know the old school scotch tape is still in vogue, even with all the tech toys we have today! makes me feel less like a dinosaur. Good luck with it! Post away! I'll be waiting with mucho anticipation!

[@joehopfield]

Brilliant product - love the cooperation.

[@infotech4990]

I wish your closeup pictures were clear so I could make out the details you are pointing to - thanks for trying tho.

[@notheisenbear5686]

Awesome thanks, just packed with the info I needed.

[@spiritelemental]

Hello Amy, I'm considering buying the controller your showing here but I have just one question I was hoping you'd be so kind to answer first. What is the maximum Wattage the controller can handle from the solar panels? I want to set up a 600 Watt solar panel system but I'm not sure if the Kid can handle that much power? Thanks!

[@AltEStore]

It depends on the voltage of the battery bank. 600W / 12V battery = 50A. That's too much for the 30A charge controller. But if it is a 24V battery bank, 600W / 24V = 25A. That's fine.

[@michael931]

I had the same question. Thanks.

[@sentimentalbloke7586]

needs some redesign to accommodate larger sized cables

[@waqarayaz3594]

very informative video.

[@banisankar2908]

If the battery bank is 12 v can I run different 12 v appliances at the same time?

[@yvonbelliveau7631]

Does anyone know where find a diversion wiring diagram for the kid?

[@B33SON1]

From the wiring diagram, it looks like the Midnite Kid acts as an automatic transfer switch between the generator and the panels. Is this correct?

[@AltEStore]

No. The Kid will send a signal to a remote start generator to start or stop based on battery voltage. The generator will be connected to an AC charger, either stand alone or through an inverter/charger to use the AC from the generator to charge the DC batteries. All the Kid does is tell it to turn on or off, other equipment does the rest.

[@Devin82m]

I bought one a few months back to work with new AGM batteries, but now I want to switch to LiFePO4 batteries, will it work with LiFePO4?

[@AltEStore]

Yes. There is a lithium setting and you can customize the charging rate if needed.

[@subproc05]

What inverter would you recommend for a 36V littium battery bank?

[@AltEStore]

Most inverters are made for 24V or 48V. But as some boats and golf carts use a 36V battery bank, there are a few 36V inverters out there. I know Outback makes a 36V marine inverter, www.outbackpower.com/outback-products/make-the-power/mobile-marine-inverter-chargers/item/vented-vfx3236m-60hz?category_id=446

[@thefaeryman]

thanks, what is the standby power consumption when there is no input power?

[@AltEStore]

1 watt or less depending on if the LCD display is on.

[@ekoms108]

My battery charges at 14.2 volts so does that mean the KID can safely output 400 watts? (14.2v x 30a = 426w)

[@AltEStore]

Yes.

[@jrgenthomsen8692]

Hi altE Thanks fore Video You are doing great ... I an trying to config a mobil device using 6 SunPower SPR-X21-335-BLK moduls 2 in serie and 3 parallel, They are raidet a little bit to high, but with a reduction to 80% as the realworld performance i think it will be fine, I am using the power to run a 250-1700W bike motor with 48V max 37Amp, and then I have 2x 550Wh 48V 11.5Ah Li-Ion battery parallel, as the backup for the consumption for the 37Amp the motor are using to run at full load, and I am Thinking that The only Solarcontroller that I found useful was the Midnight Kid 30 Amp because of the high Volt the SunPower cels have, and when I go to the Midtnight webside and ..config. the solarcels with the Midnight Kid I just reduces the solarpanels output to about 279w and that will be about the realworld output... The way the solar cell are mounted on the mobil device (Imagine a square box without ends) and solarpanels mounted 2 in line....2 x panels facing south ...2 panels facing right up with a little angle, ...an 2x panels facing North,.... and of cause everything in between because it's moving all the time, so lots of variation ....."So everything will be fine"......But the option to charge a Li-ion battery as the Midnight Kid claims to do, but WHAT about making balancing control with the Midnight solarcontroller ......I can't finde anything that are related to that option on the Midtnight webside ore anywhere else .....What do I do to make it charge and control from 3.3V to 4.1V pr. cells- 13S 10P ( pack volt 42.9-54.6V = 48V Li-ion) AND keep the cells balanced ......What I can se They have done a lot to get led acid batteryes changed well,......But What about Li-ion PACK's.... ore am I wrong....Pleace Help me, I am a little bit stuck here ...The only thing I can se that the Midtnight Kid are missing That is the energy reporting to web Ore accumulated data to file so you can se your total POWER production over a Month ore so maybe a year ...so maybe time for Midtnight to update the unit..........Best to all JT Denmark DK

[@majidmajid1848]

😊

[@PecanPie1102]

Like your vids you never mention the price or cons vs pros.

[@AltEStore]

Since the videos are online for years, we never mention the price, because that may change. But we always include a link to the product page so you can see the current price. For example, the Kid can be seen here, www.altestore.com/store/charge-controllers/solar-charge-controllers/mppt-solar-charge-controllers/midnite-solar-charge-controllers/midnite-solar-the-kid-30a-mppt-charge-controller-150v-black-p11138/ You are right though, I need to do more cons to go with the pros. For the Kid, I'd say the biggest con is that it can only take up to #10 AWG wire, so if you need bigger wire, you need a way to connect the wire to a bus bar.

[@jamest.5001]

Why doesn't someone make something more like a 300 amp charge controller? 100 amp is the largest I seen, I'd still need 3, at 24v, . For the price, I think id save a few more $$ and buy a classic 150, 96amps, and crazy features, I really like the fact it can track a pma or basically anything, ibeven saw a guy connect a classic 200 or 250 to a rectifier and his 120v gas generator! It worked perfectly,

[@AltEStore]

300A is a tremendous amount of current. The biggest DC breaker we sell is 250A, it would require a 375A breaker. It is easier to make a modular solution, with multiple controllers. That also gives the advantage of redundancy, if one controller fails, you still have others working, so your system is at least generating some energy.

[@jamest.5001]

@@AltEStore yeah I have 3x 60 amp controllers, and a 30amp and a 40amp, and will be needing more, this is why, the 60's are running between 45 & 50 amps, being of Asian descent, I don't want to push them much harder, and 25a on the 30, about 36 on the 40amp, and will be needing about 4 more 60 amp, if I contenue as I am, all these controllers I would much rather have less but larger controllers. A midnite classic150 can take the place of two 60's but the price! Even a classic 150 SL is a bit spendy, but a flexmax 80 isn't quite enough, I'm going to continue as I am for now, I will probably get something bigger later when these fail,

[@xxxmobxxx1]

What the maximum solar panels watt can these 30 amps out put take?

[@AltEStore]

It depends on the battery bank voltage. Watts in / volts out = amps out. See the list at 0:40. Reply

[@AltEStore]

Note that you can put a bit more solar in to make up for less than ideal conditions. For example, 30A x 14V charging voltage = 420W solar, but you can use 500W of solar input, it will just restrict the output to 30A, so on perfect days, you may clip the output to not output the full 500W.

[@just-dl]

the chart reads 12v...360w 24v...480w 36v...1080w 48v...1440w don't forget the "daisy-chain" as well...connect to "kids" configured for 48v, and you're at 2880 watts of solar joy.

[@emmyann8214]

I need a child proof automated set up I'm open for any recommendations pleas send

[@HappyfoxBiz]

nothing in this world is child proof, NOTHING! any recommendations will be resistant to a degree.

[@emmyann8214]

Happy Fox OK thanks very much. I was hoping there was a system that didn't need constant monitoring

[@AltEStore]

What are you trying to do? Are you connected to the grid and looking to reduce your electric bill? If so, most grid-tied systems are pretty much set it and forget it for at least 10 years. The inverter may need to be replaced once or twice in the 30+ years of system life. If you are looking for a battery based system for off-grid, they take a bit more babysitting than grid tied. But with sealed batteries, no maintenance is really needed for quite a while once the system is well balanced to suit your needs.

[@420bars]

Why do I feel like this lady is trying to sell me a Bible?

[@samualwhittemore228]

Martin Godinez I thought she was teaching a class full of 3rd graders. However, I bet she is a very sweet and honest lady. Not at all like the battle Ax that I had in 3rd grade. :-)

[@SpineChillingChronicles]

Hello, I have a question I currently have 3kw solar panel, I have microinverters on them dc to ac......running them thru house outlet 2 seperate circuits with their own 20a braker of course.....Now I am thinking about adding a battery back up maybe a 14kw system..how and what would you recommend to install to charge the batteries and use them at night for the entire home? Also if this works I might be installing more panels......to charge battery bank faster.right now I only use about 1.5 kw during the day but produce about 2.5kw and would like to charge a back up or night use battery bank. Thank You in Advance!!!

[@AltEStore]

To add batteries to an existing microinverter system, you would use a technique called AC Coupling, where you add a second, battery-based inverter to the system. You can see a video we did on it here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jauao32MZamApc0 We have AC Coupling kits available here, www.altestore.com/store/solar-power-systems/ac-coupled-and-dc-coupled-systems/midnite-solar-4kw-ac-coupled-retrofit-battery-backup-system-p11119/

[@agustus101]

true no internal fan however I run 750 watts "96 volts in to a 24 volt battery bank" through mine, runs so damn hot I cant even touch it, so I have to run an external fan negating the benefit from mppt, i'll just stick with the classic this cc is not up to midnite reputation very very disappointed in this CC, the heat this thing produces scares the living shit out of me. due to the heat I haven't got the wiz bang which I was really looking forward to. for the money $450.00 this also doesn't track info over time only 24 hrs wth good does that do...really 1 day of info I'll skip the whole stacking thing that I was also looking forward to...wont be adding another...

[@just-dl]

Patrick, I came across a reference to a firmware update that allows for 31 days of data logging. If you haven't already, you may want to dig into that. Also, I'll readily admit I'm not God's gift to off-grid, but, the 750 watts, "96 volts in to a 24 volt battery bank" makes me think the amps might be running higher than they ought. No clue as to your config, but, if you're running roughly 7.8A off your PV or whatever you got for input, and cutting into 1/4th the starting voltage, you're quadrupling the amps (at least nominally). That's putting you just over 30A - which might be taxing. Changing voltage may not help directly (as the math comes to 32A no matter what), but, can you setup a load that uses direct 24V. I'm not sure it'll work this way, but if you siphon off enough direct load enough, it may give the charge controller less watts to play with, which reduces the numbers. I wonder if 720watts is your safe to run maximum? In any case, I've spent awhile writing this, trying to wrap my head around the numbers and the ups and downs. I you have time, I'd love to hear more about your real world experience with the kid.

[@michael931]

I think you are exceeding the 30A rating, however I don't think their literature is clear on that point.

[@jamest.5001]

it does have a fan! I'm a fan! just not a fan of the price! that's why I do not have one!

[@swedensy]

Did i only one noticed a scam? On casing it is MPPT but in settings and it is PWM looks like they forgot to rename it.. Same shit different title?

[@AltEStore]

Not sure what you are saying. It is an MPPT charge controller. It can take up to 150V input and be used on a 12V, 24V, 36V, or 48V battery bank. PWM cannot do that.

[@IJoeAceJRI]

I got a PWM controller and it can turn 50V to 12 or 24V

[@voneschenbachmusic]

Looks MPPT to me.... check out giant inductor next to Amy's right hand at 4:00.

[@AltEStore]

Double check its capability. It is likely able to be used on a 12V or 24V battery bank, and can have an input up to 50Voc with temperature correction for the 24V battery. But if using with a 12V battery, you are likely losing a huge percentage of the power if you do nominal 24V in. PWM simply opens and closes its connection to the the battery. So if you have a 24V solar array connected to a 12V battery bank, the battery will pull down the voltage to right around the battery voltage. But what it won't do is increase the output current like an MPPT will. So while it will work, it won't work well. Since watts equals volts x amps, if you decrease the volts and leave the amps the same, you get reduced watts.

[@IJoeAceJRI]

ok thx