Solar regular

[Mrcoolabah1au]

What the difference between a pl20 reg and a dingo 20/20 reg got a change to get One cheep of a mate not sure if there is any benefit in swapping the old one for a new type

[Craig]

The PL is negative controlled whereas the dingo is controlled by the positive input.

[Newcastle George]

Craig, the Dingo20/20N is negative ground. The Dingo40/40P is positive ground.

Wayne, what controller do you have at the moment and what does your mate have?

George

[Craig]

George, the op is WRT 20 amp dingo and 20 amp PL. The PL unit is controlled by the negative input. The dingo is controlled by the positive input.

[Mrcoolabah1au]

George a pl 20 mate has two three and kept’s playing around to try and get better not sure he will get what he want he a bit like ( step and son )

[T1 Terry]

George a pl 20 mate has two three and kept’s playing around to try and get better not sure he will get what he want he a bit like ( step and son )

The control to the SSR's will need to be changed to suit the Dingo. They are both good controllers but the PL series can not be linked to a computer with an operating system any more advanced than the '95 versions so limited to pre Windows 7. The Dingo has a much longer memory storage if you add a shunt but again, the PL series stuff doesn't work with the Dingo series stuff, so everything would need to be replaced. I had a PL20 controlling 3kW of solar back in Lake Illawarra and there is a Dingo 20/20N controlling close to 4kW of solar In Crystal Brook working in conjunction with an 80 amp MPPT solar controller that is part of the 5kva inverter used in the system. The MPPT controller is always the first to stop charging but that's ok because the Dingo using PWM control harvests more per solar watt than the MPPT controller anyway.

The off grid 10kW system I'm building at the moment will be the first all MPPT control system I've ever built, that will be rather interesting to see how it performs.

T1 Terry

[Mrcoolabah1au]

Wow that sounds great but this wet weather is not helping my solar if reasonably maybe I can change the system

[jon_d]

Terry,

may I ask which controller you're using?

thanks JD

[T1 Terry]

Terry,

may I ask which controller you're using?

thanks JD

For which system Jon? The Inverters are 5kva linkable with 60 amp mains chargers and 80 amp MPPT controllers all built in that we are having made for us so I'm trying out the 60 amp MPPT units in parallel on this 10kW system because both the 80 amp units in the inverter and 60 amp add on units come out of the same factory so if they don't work together they have to sort the problem. If these work then the next step is to get the 80 amp units built in stand alone cases with external voltage sensing so I can have my secondary control over ride the built in control. I was going to use the Morningstar MPPT units because they come with external voltage sensing but @ $850 a piece the price was way out of the question compared to simply running all the panels in parallel groups and controlling them with a single Dingo and multiple SSR's. As it is the price is still higher than the Dingo/SSR control method including the difference in cabling costs but it does save me having to climb onto a roof 3 storeys or more off the ground to wire up the panels and junction boxes I don't even have a ladder that will reach that high and I'm certainly not keen to get up there cause the wind is likely to send me sailing off the edge if the wet slippery tin roof doesn't do the job first
All there units have communication links back to a computer so I might dig up one of the old computers I have here and access it via the web for reference and monitoring etc .... well maybe I'll get Margaret to do that part for me

[Mrcoolabah1au]

What need to be changed in mine t1 if I was to use the dingo should have most after you set it up last time