New PV controller for Lifepo4

[Wilbor]

Received this from Morningstar the other day. Could be interesting

Morningstar's New ProStar MPPT™ Charge Controller

Morningstar is pleased to announce the introduction of our new ProStar MPPT with TrakStar™ Technology. The 25 amp and 40 amp versions of this new mid-range MPPT charge controller are capable of charging all battery types, including Lithium Ion.


Morningstar's New ProStar MPPT Controller includes the following features and capabilities:

Low voltage load disconnect
Lighting control
Up to 200 days of data logging
High efficiency at all power levels
Continuous charging and no damage from PV oversizing
Allows multiple 60-cell modules in series for 12 and 24 volt battery systems
Optional meter and wire box

[Mrcoolabah1au]

Wow wait till terry has a look at it?


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[bagmaker]

Lighting control??
I wonder if you can link 2 together for those of us with more than 40 amps input

[T1 Terry]

Do you have a link Rob? So many regulator manufacturers claiming they can charge LiP04 batteries now with nothing but a voltage change in their charging routine, labelling it LiFep04 and think that is all that is involved Unless there is some form of interaction between cell voltages and the charger on/off then it's just a lead acid battery charger, not a lithium battery charger at all and it will damage lithium batteries if there is no charge control interface between the charger and the battery.

T1 Terry

[Jon and Kay]

So many regulator manufacturers claiming they can charge LiP04 batteries now with nothing but a voltage change in their charging routine, labelling it LiFep04 and think that is all that is involved

T1 Terry

Maybe off topic but would hate to start another Lifepo4 thread

PL Charging regime

Boost 14.0 max CC
Absorb 14.4 1/2 hour CV
Float 13.8

Seems nobody wants to show what they've got

[Wilbor]

I have had a look through the manual and it looks like this has the ability to turn on and off relays etc. There are a number of charge parameters and a custom one as well. Morningstar pv controllers can be run in parallel

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/prostar-mppt/

[T1 Terry]

At least one thing in its favour, it has battery voltage sensing so easy enough to control with a secondary cell protection interface. Quite a good controller for lead acid batteries but none of the advanced features suit Li batteries and would actually cause damage so they would need to be defeated in the custom settings. I have asked them about linking these controllers is a master/slave configuration, this is the biggest issue with MPPT controllers and without this capability they will not work together successfully. The problem is compounded when using Li batteries as the normal operating voltage is much higher than standard lead acid batteries causing the additional units to think the battery is fully charged.
These controllers are not Li compatible in standard trim but it appears they can be custom programmed to do the job.
Can't seem to find a price on them yet, maybe too new

[T1 Terry]

I have had a look through the manual and it looks like this has the ability to turn on and off relays etc. There are a number of charge parameters and a custom one as well. Morningstar pv controllers can be run in parallel

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/prostar-mppt/

I contacted Morningstar to check if these new controllers could be paralleled, the answer is no, each unit runs independently and the suggestion was to buy a bigger controller.... but the biggest they make is 60 amp, not much use for 130 amps of solar input I will stick with the tried and proven Plasmatronics Dingo and solid state relays, one controller and virtually unlimited capacity.

T1 Terry

[Wilbor]

They confuse me with their literature, I read this an assumed they could be in parallel but on re-reading it I see I have no idea what they are referring to

PROSTAR MPPTTM SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLER
WITH MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING
The Prostar MPPTTM solar charge controller with TrakStar TechnologyTM is an advanced maximum power point tracking (MPPT) battery charger for off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems up to 1100 watts. This controller allows two modules in series on a 12V battery system and two or three modules in series on a 24V battery system.

[T1 Terry]

They confuse me with their literature, I read this an assumed they could be in parallel but on re-reading it I see I have no idea what they are referring to

PROSTAR MPPTTM SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLER
WITH MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING
The Prostar MPPTTM solar charge controller with TrakStar TechnologyTM is an advanced maximum power point tracking (MPPT) battery charger for off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems up to 1100 watts. This controller allows two modules in series on a 12V battery system and two or three modules in series on a 24V battery system.

They are talking about solar modules, not combining controllers, clever wording designed to mislead I reckon, most MPPT sales brochures use similar tactics. I love the 30% increase claim...... never a mention of what it is 30% better than because they know they would be in the poo if challenged to back up that claim. The other one is up to 95% efficient, designed to lead you into thinking they can harvest 95% of the advertised solar capacity. It actually means at their very best they waste 5% of the energy they harvest, most of the time they waste a lot more than that, but they never say it like that do they