MorningStar Tristar or Midnight Charge Controller For Small Off Grid System?

[rs14smith]

I'm assuming it is a 12V battery system? With an MPPT charge controller, you could change the panels to be wired in series and have 1/4 the current and 4x the voltage on your wire, greatly reducing voltage drop.

Your panels have 5.75A ISC x 4 of them x 1.25 NEC = 28.75A, so at least a 30A charge controller is needed.

I'm not sure if you wanted to monitor the data remotely, only Morninstar's 60A version has internet, their 30A and 45A do not. You can connect the smaller ones to a USB port using their new USB Adapter if you have a laptop locally. http://www.morningstarcorp.com/produ...erbus-adapter/

When I viewed their website, and the specs for the 45Amp model, it appeared that it did have "data" logging capablity which I assumed meant it allows you to use an ethernet cord to see the information.

But anyway, my main question here is, what makes Morningstar's controller better than Midnight's charge controller that is around the same specs? I definitely want to expand my system in the future, but both controller manufacturers seem to allow that, so I'm a bit lost as to which one to go with.

[Amy@altE]

I'm assuming it is a 12V battery system? With an MPPT charge controller, you could change the panels to be wired in series and have 1/4 the current and 4x the voltage on your wire, greatly reducing voltage drop.

Your panels have 5.75A ISC x 4 of them x 1.25 NEC = 28.75A, so at least a 30A charge controller is needed.

I'm not sure if you wanted to monitor the data remotely, only Morninstar's 60A version has internet, their 30A and 45A do not. You can connect the smaller ones to a USB port using their new USB Adapter if you have a laptop locally. http://www.morningstarcorp.com/produ...erbus-adapter/

[rs14smith]

Hi all,

I'm the type of person that enjoys being able to log data from a system such as a solar system. I've seen MorningStar's web portal that allows you to see in real time the different information about your solar system, and also logs data. I've also heard that Midnight's controllers also allow you to do similar things.

I'm at the point where I'm ready to upgrade my current PWM charge controller to a MPPT controller, and the Morningstar TriStar 45A model caught my attention just because I see that used more often, but I just wanted to make sure that's the best route to take if logging data is important to you?

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My current system:
4x 12v 100Watt Panels
Optimum Operating Current per panel (Imp): 5.29A
Short-Circuit Current per panel (Isc): 5.75A
Connection style: all panels hooked up in parallel

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Thanks