Is MakeSkyBlue MPPT solar worth it?

I

Idiwzr

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Mar 5, 2019
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Hi guys.
I'm looking for a good but cheap charge controller for my diy 18650 power wall 7s (29.4) 4kw. I want something that have user-defined parameters.
I'm thinking of make skyblue mppt charge controller. I don't know if they work as advertised.

"MakeSkyBlue MPPT Solar Charge Controller for 12V 24V 36V 48V 72V 96V AGM Lifepo4 Lithium Battery Not PWM Charger Regulator"
http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bIaW64a4
Thank you
 
Never used one but many i've seen have been happy with them.
 
I have 3 of them and they are working great for me.
Tracking seems to be pretty quick and I am happy with them so far.
The only thing is they don't talk to each other so even though they are set up the same there is always one that will take the lead.
That should change once I am Li based instead of PbThe 40A oneis for a 12V 650Ah AGM battery set and the 50A ones are for my 48V 250Ah Pb deep cycle battery bank picture taken in the afternoon 4.25 PM overcast.

image_njbrzb.jpg



On a good day I can get quite some amperage out of them. I bought them twice the rating that I needed Just because they are chinese.

image_emanih.jpg


To be able to use heavier wire with the 2 contacts rater than run 2 wires I used a roundterminal end and cut the end off to give me 2 spades to slide in and tighten.

image_qpplpf.jpg


Wolf
 
They are ok as long as you have the later firmware builds. I have 3 of them hooked up to 7kW of solar.

The tracking in the earlier models is a bit erratic with cloudy conditions and not really fit for purpose as the tracking get's stuck at a low output. Later firmware corrected this.

Temperature wise they run reasonably cool until you load them up and the internal fan will probably last 3 years tops, so I'm going to end up replacing the fan with an external airflow.

The back of the case is effectively a heatsink so mounting them on a large sheet of alloy or steel helps a lot as your effetively making the whole mount into one big heatsink.

I have had around 95 Amps comming from 3 units (2 x 60A, 1 x 40A) into a 48V battery earlier this month.

With the terminals, the easier option is just split the strands of the cable and share them between the two connectors, way easier, no additional component cost and electrically just as good..


Beware though as there are at least 3 different manufacturers of them... check the adverts and sellers. Original boards are marked internally. Check the firmware is possible.
 
So does v118 have the later firmware? Is that the difference between v117 and v118?


The controllers in the link the OP posted are sold by MakeSkyBlue factory store so they should be genuine right?
 
MakeSky are the original units and the copies are made by downloading the firmware via the connector internally and ripping off the design.

The earlier firmware has a slower traking method, which could hold the output low (trapped into thinking shading was dropping the output) and also a rather strange instance the other day with the output oscilating by about 900W from one unit when it was doing about 2.8kW. This was a MakeSky with older firmware.

The other advantage these units have is they can accept a higher voltage (quotes of 180V I think - check before you try!!!!) so it allows for 4 x 260W panels (37Voc) on my units.

The copies are cheaper with a few cheaper parts, but otherwise run ok, the horrible little fans in all the units start to vibrate because the bearings have worn loose after less than a year. On the project list was to re-mount all the units onto a separate bar to act as a larger heat sink and remove the fans, but that might never occur as I may end up reverting back to a grid tie inverter for the majority of the solar output (charging via separate method).
 
I apparently have an early version and the tracking sucks. Don't know what version. They say it appears on the display but I never found it. I wouldn't mind reflashing it myself. What is the experience actually sending it back to be done? Don't want to send it back, easier to just get another controller. I have issues with a company that would send out a product so poorly programed without sufficient testing
 
I did say that they were working good for me and they kind of are.
I had one of the units go up in smoke on me and had a lengthy email discussion about that.
The short story is thatXinquan Hu [mailto:xinquan.hu@hotmail.com] US name "Steve"
did NOT honor the warranty.
I ended up buying another unit and had to purchase a main board for the failed unit.
I did repair the failed one with mosfets from aliexpress and now have one complete spare and a repaired main board.
So if another one smokes on me at least I won't be out of commission.
Hu promised me a replacement unit in an email many months ago but I gave up holding my breath as I was turning blue.
I'm sure the newer units have better firmware but I personally would look elsewhere.
If Hu honors his agreement and sends me a replacement with the new firmware I would be more than happy to report on it and give my opinion on how well it works.


Wolf
 
Wolf said:
I have 3 of them and they are working great for me.
Tracking seems to be pretty quick and I am happy with them so far.
The only thing is they don't talk to each other so even though they are set up the same there is always one that will take the lead.
That should change once I am Li based instead of PbThe 40A oneis for a 12V 650Ah AGM battery set and the 50A ones are for my 48V 250Ah Pb deep cycle battery bank picture taken in the afternoon 4.25 PM overcast.

image_njbrzb.jpg



On a good day I can get quite some amperage out of them. I bought them twice the rating that I needed Just because they are chinese.

image_emanih.jpg


To be able to use heavier wire with the 2 contacts rater than run 2 wires I used a roundterminal end and cut the end off to give me 2 spades to slide in and tighten.

image_qpplpf.jpg


Wolf
Click to expand...

Hi Wolf,
I was looking for reviews onMakeSkyBlue CC and you nail it, Im curious on this CC, because manual say that to charge 48v battery should a PVinput 70-110v, and I see that your PV input 50-52v
So I can use this tis CC with my PV input of 60-66v my furute 14s Li Battery ?

Thanks and sorry to bring this old threat up :)

Cheers from Panama
CG
.
 
507PowerWall said:
Hi Wolf,
I was looking for reviews onMakeSkyBlue CC and you nail it, Im curious on this CC, because manual say that to charge 48v battery should a PVinput 70-110v, and I see that your PV input 50-52v
So I can use this tis CC with my PV input of 60-66v my furute 14s Li Battery ?

Thanks and sorry to bring this old threat up :)

Cheers from Panama
CG
.
Click to expand...
@507PowerWall
Unfortunately you are looking at the wrong screen of the MakeSkyBlue. That is the Battery voltage.
In this pic the Battery V is in red boxes and the Array V in the yellow boxes.
My main arrays (2 and 3) maxout at ?100V each with no load as when either it is early in the morning or the batteries are full.
While charging and good sun they run around 80V to 90V.
Array 1 is just a shed array that powers a 12V system for the cooling fans, lights etc.
Also a screenshot of current conditions.

image_wipplx.jpg


image_rkxrrq.jpg


Wolf
 
Wolf said:
507PowerWall said:
Hi Wolf,
I was looking for reviews onMakeSkyBlue CC and you nail it, Im curious on this CC, because manual say that to charge 48v battery should a PVinput 70-110v, and I see that your PV input 50-52v
So I can use this tis CC with my PV input of 60-66v my furute 14s Li Battery ?

Thanks and sorry to bring this old threat up :)

Cheers from Panama
CG
.
Click to expand...
@507PowerWall
Unfortunately you are looking at the wrong screen of the MakeSkyBlue. That is the Battery voltage.
In this pic the Battery V is in red boxes and the Array V in the yellow boxes.
My main arrays (2 and 3) maxout at ?100V each with no load as when either it is early in the morning or the batteries are full.
While charging and good sun they run around 80V to 90V.
Array 1 is just a shed array that powers a 12V system for the cooling fans, lights etc.
Also a screenshot of current conditions.

image_wipplx.jpg


image_rkxrrq.jpg


Wolf
Click to expand...

Oh Oh Oh, Thanks !

My Panels are 30-36 Voc and my inverter GTIL will be 90v Max,
So I cant series 3 panels because will be more than the max allowed by the Inverter....

so... Im thinking get or get a MPPT that charge when V is above of the batt voltage..
or
series the 2 30v panels with one of a lower voltage so I can be within boundaries....

my setup is Solar -> Batt -> MPPT GTIL.... and when battery is full It will pulling 100V to the GTIL...

or it will read the lower voltage source which is the Battery with 48v and not the 3x36v from PV ?

I hope I explained myselff appropiately :D

CG.
 
507PowerWall said:
Oh Oh Oh, Thanks !

My Panels are 30-36 Voc and my inverter GTIL will be 90v Max,
So I cant series 3 panels because will be more than the max allowed by the Inverter....

so... Im thinking get or get a MPPT that charge when V is above of the batt voltage..
or
series the 2 30v panels with one of a lower voltage so I can be within boundaries....

my setup is Solar -> Batt -> MPPT GTIL.... and when battery is full It will pulling 100V to the GTIL...

or it will read the lower voltage source which is the Battery with 48v and not the 3x36v from PV ?

I hope I explained myselff appropiately :D

CG.
Click to expand...
OK If I understand you correctly.
Are your panels going directly to the GTIL? if so then yes 2 in series.

If your panels are going to the charge controller (MakeSkyBlue) then 3 series is good. The charge controller will then charge the battery to 57-58V and the GTIL will feed off of that.
I would not recommend using different voltage panels in series. All series strings should be the same Voltage. If you have another set of lower voltage panels those get put together in series but with another charge controller.

Your setup should be Solar-> MPPT-> Battery -> GTIL
Your solar panels x 3 is ? 100V that goes to your MPPT it will reduce the Voltage to 58V or whatever you set it to. The GTIL will gladly take that 58 Volts and turn it into 120V AC.

Wolf
 
Wolf said:
Your setup should be Solar-> MPPT-> Battery -> GTIL
Your solar panels x 3 is ? 100V that goes to your MPPT it will reduce the Voltage to 58V or whatever you set it to. The GTIL will gladly take that 58 Volts and turn it into 120V AC.

Wolf
Click to expand...

You are the man!Thanks for straight this one out....
Im close to me proy thank to you and all experienced guys here!
CG.
 
Thank you to the folks who have posted information in this thread! I had initially seen the low price of the MSB charge controllers and dismissed them as cheap PWM unitsthat someone had magically transformed by putting "MPPT" stickers on them. :p

If these are actually functional MPPT units that incorporate the adjustable voltage targets needed to run different battery types, then I may need to take another look at them. The $130 for a 60 amp MSB is definitely attractive compared to the prices of similarly rated Outback units. I'm only looking at running 1500-2000 watts into one of these for an RV systemanyway, so it's not as if it would be hard driven.

Lucas
 
I've been looking at this model in these days because I'm choosing a low cost MPPT regulator. From what I found it should be from 72V to 100.8V for both 72V30A and 72V50A versions. Somebody who bought it could confirm.

72V30A 72V50A.jpg
 
Wolf said:
I did say that they were working good for me and they kind of are.
I had one of the units go up in smoke on me and had a lengthy email discussion about that.
The short story is thatXinquan Hu [mailto:xinquan.hu@hotmail.com] US name "Steve"
did NOT honor the warranty.
I ended up buying another unit and had to purchase a main board for the failed unit.
I did repair the failed one with mosfets from aliexpress and now have one complete spare and a repaired main board.
So if another one smokes on me at least I won't be out of commission.
Hu promised me a replacement unit in an email many months ago but I gave up holding my breath as I was turning blue.
I'm sure the newer units have better firmware but I personally would look elsewhere.
If Hu honors his agreement and sends me a replacement with the new firmware I would be more than happy to report on it and give my opinion on how well it works.


Wolf
Click to expand...
Hi Wolf, I had a v117 60amp burn out(my BMS open circuit the battery).
Where/how much are the MOSFETs?
 
I don't remember how much but I believe I got the MOSFETs from Mouser.
I have since switched to 2 Victron Controllers for my main arrays and only have 1 Make Sky for my shed 12 Volt supply.

Wolf
 
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