Anyone have experience with Renogy vs WindyNation PWM solar charge controllers?

[jimindenver]

Both panels flat would be ok with a TS-MPPT-45, Rogue or other 30a controllers but you are looking at the $400 range and nice controllers. I have used multiple smaller controllers, one per panel, it worked out well because I could combine the for 34a or separate them to keep multiple banks up.

[Amy@altE]

What voltage is the battery to be charged. If it is 12v you will need a MPPT controller to convert down the voltage. The least expensive for one of the panels would be $102 for a Eco-worthy 20a MPPT, functional but limited.

20A is not big enough for 2 panels. He needs at least 35A. 20V / 12V x 8.23A x 2 x 1.25 = 34.29A.

Amy

PS I just re-read and see you said for one panel. Yes, I agree, that will work for 1.

[Amy@altE]

Yup, those are 60 cell, 20V nominal panels. You cannot use a PWM, you have to use MPPT. Go to YouTube and search for altE Store, watch my video on PWM vs MPPT. If you use PWM, you will lose around half of your panels power. Big waste. I get this call pretty much every day, people get a great deal on the panels, but have to spend more money on the charge controller.

You need at least a 35A MPPT charge controller. Blue Sky makes a 40A SB3024iL. You'd have to wire the panels in parallel. Or MorningStar's TS-MPPT-45, you could wire the panels in series or parallel. We are talking $350 - $400 range.

[jimindenver]

What voltage is the battery to be charged. If it is 12v you will need a MPPT controller to convert down the voltage. The least expensive for one of the panels would be $102 for a Eco-worthy 20a MPPT, functional but limited.

[overtak3n]

Here are the specs:

http://www.civicsolar.com/sites/default/files/documents/jinko-solar-jkm-p-60-datasheet-156848.pdf

Looks like they are indeed higher than 12 volts. Also, looks like they are 60 cell solar panels.
Looks like it's either 30V at max power or 37V open circuit, I'm not sure which one I should be looking at. Let me know.

If that is the case, I'm not sure if those solar charge controllers would still work. Let me know what's possible.

Thanks!

[Amy@altE]

If you have 250W panels, I would say they are not 12V panels. Are they 20V or 24V? 60 cells (squares) or 72? What is the model so we can check the specs.

[overtak3n]

I am looking for a charge controller that's cheap and works. This is not for a home setup, just for a little solar project and it's on a limited budget, and thus won't consider MPPT solar charge controllers since PWM are a lot cheaper.

I have seen a Renogy and a WindyNation PWM controllers, links below:

Renogy 30A PWM Digital Solar Charge Controller

WindyNation 30A PWM Digital Solar Charge Controller

Does anyone have experience with any of these? What is your experience?
I have read about Renogy's excellent customer service, though looking at the controllers and documentation it appears as if Renogy's controller is a clone and WindyNation's is hard to tell if its a clone. WindyNations documentation looks more original. They appear to be the exact same controllers. From this, it would appear to me that WindyNation controller would be better to get, but I'm worried about customer service in case something goes wrong so I would like to know your experiences.

We were given two solar panels 250 watts each. At 12V and 30A rating of the solar charge controller, I think wiring the solar panels in parallel to charge the battery together would require at least 40-50A charge controller so I'm probably only going to use 1 solar panel to charge the battery unless someone can recommend a charge controller that can handle both panels and is affordable (at most about $100).

Thanks!

Edit: Solar panel voltage was determined to be 30-36V, not 12V as was stated in this original post.