Can folks please recommend a smart controller that I can get data from both my panels and from my battery? I would like to have a table of data I can access and both monitor for health and performance but so I can see larger trends over months as well. Thanks PS: I am new to this forum but I assure you your responses will be taken seriously and I will do the hard work to read and study and do my follow up if you just give me a few informed nudges ie: links
NEWBIE: Smart controller that monitors battery Amps/health over time
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Hello wheresjeannine and welcome to Solar Panel Talk
There are a number of charge controllers that can provide charging data but unless you have a way of measuring the specific gravity of the battery fluid you really can't get an honest condition of your batteries. Just measuring the voltage is misleading concerning the health and State of Charge (SOC) of a battery. -
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Nearly any modern MPPT controller can tell you what it is doing and the status of the panels and voltage of the batteries.
Your job is to interpret the data and decide what the state of your batteries are. You will need to develop a long term relationship with your batteries, data and hydrometer.
here's what reporting numbers look like
TristarDatalog_FullReboot.gif
Above is a 3kw array, in typical conditions, "today" was low sun
Below, is a chart from my inverter, showing my running a generator for a couple hours in the morning, no sun that day
XW_Chart_Jan16_noSun-2019.jpg
Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-ListerComment
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