This is the BEST straightforward and comprehensive video on mppt controller comparison!!

Nice works Jase & Marty. We can always trust you guys for an accurate, non bias, researched review.

THanks for the great no frills comparison.

I have found the Outback Power/ Epever tracerbn to be my favorite controller thus far. Great presentation. Thank you.

I recently ran into a situation where the SOC shown on my Trimetric 2020 became inaccurate due to repeated deficit charging which we were not aware of. Lessons learned: 1) Don't rely solely on the calculated SOC. 2) Regularly check the Specific Gravity of the battery bank and correct the readings for temperature.

Those massive input terminals sold me. Thats my idea of how to do something right...well Ive been looking for which one to buy...Ive got 390 watts now but getting another 300 watts of panels so Ill give it a good testing...thanks for the great video...

a big thank you for your video. 👍👍👍👍 finally a comparison video on a real test bench and a good final comparison.

Thanks for all that information it was great I have already bought a VictronConnect 100/50 for my boat and it turns out I made the right choice thank you very much

EXCELLENT review, testing setup and charts for showing all of the results. I have the Victron 150/35 that U tested and the Victron BMV-712. Both of these items are going into my DIY Solar Generator. Hope to have a video on this project up in the next 6 months. It will use external Battle Born 100A 12v batteries. This project is being designed for my Amateur radio. Looking forward to more of UR great videos.

I have watched so many videos and I must say this is the best I've seen. Good camera work, good focus and you sir are a good teacher. Thanks for sharing with us.

Excellent review. It is obvious you put a lot of effort into making a very clear and thoughtful presentation. 100% Thank you for doing this.

Very helpful, especially comparing price point and product quality , thx

the BN series also has a wireless and bluetooth adaptor options for data collection direct to pc, tablet and mac.

you are an excellent bloke, I wish you a great time and hope to see many of your videos in near future. Thanks for your work, its a beautiful and well displayed/ analysed review.

Superb comparison videos. You made my decision easy. Went with a Victron 100/20 for my bike camper trailer. Only $25 more compared to Rover+ optional BT module, but the app and small size is worth it. Thanks.

Excellent! Very helpful thank you. 👍🏼

Good concise review, maybe should have started the test with the battery at a lower SOC than 86% to see how the victron stabilised, likely it calculated the watts incorrectly because it hit the max voltage quickly. I have an Epever AN, was debating between BN and that. Did not think BN was worth the extra cash money. Very happy with AN. I had a Votronic controller before and it had flaws, like draining battery in low light level 1.5A, in the end it failed completely so I don't recommend those.

Thanks for the info good video I ended up buying the Epever 30a I'm a beginner at solar and this one seems the most practical and I've seen it in other videos

I'm very new to solar, I bought the smaller 10 amp tracer to go with a 50w panel, mainly due to price and reviews, once I feel more comfortable about solar and learn the in's and out's I will probably upgrade to a victron with more panels, but for a starter learning I think the Tracer is the way to go before investing to much money

The Victron is a top quality product - also that VE Bus means it can talk to a Venus ... and now we are talking!

After I put you on pause to make sure I didn't have a low battery chirp on a CO/Fire Alarm all was good. It took a second to confirm it was you.

I am AMAZED that Outback Power rebranded a Chinese MPPT unit. *That said, I install Outback/Midnite/Schneider equipment, but I use EPEVER equipment myself. I just works, and the price is good.

As a solar charge controller newbie, this helped a bunch! Thanks, going with Victron for quality and accuracy, along with the very advanced app and minimalism (don't need load control or a display so I don't see it as a con for me).

I run the EpEver 4210A (40A) controller into a 24V battery, with 1140W of mono panels in parallel. This has worked well for the last 3 years, and provides 50% of my domestic power, using an EpEver STI 1000-230-24 pure sine low frequency conversion 230VAC inverter. It took a lot of reading specs to arrive at this choice before committing to buy. I like this review, it is neat and well set-out, but does not take into account the specifications of the individual units running at their intended power levels: There seems to be a fixation with maximum voltage, rather than conversion efficiency. The statement of maximum panel-voltage is like your car's speedo or tacho - it shows what it can instantaneously do, not what you should stick to all day long. From the performance graphs in the manual of the 'tracer', it can be seen that maximum efficiency happens when the panel/battery voltage differential is lowest, as long as it fits within the spec. My panel's MPP is at 36.6V, which is 8V above the battery voltage; the efficiency of the system tests at between 96.5% with high input voltage, and 98% at the lower input voltage. Higher efficiency = lower losses = less heat = better reliability. 1.5% of 1000W is 15W, enough to raise the temperature of the system significantly in a hot environment. The only reason for high I/P volts is if there is a long run from panels to MPPT unit. My system can run at 70% continuously, with allowance for cloud-edge peaks and temperature drops. For the purpose of the exercise, I'd like to see this review done again, after study of the manufacturer's data is taken into the equation.

Looks like you went through some trouble to present this video. Thank you and well done! This data was helpful!

That was a good but imperfect review. One comment, you need to draw current roughly equal to how much your are putting out to compare the controllers fairly. As it stands, it could be the SOC of the batteries that determined the performance of the controllers, not the controllers themselves. Regardless, thank you - its not practical to get all four controllers and do this comparison ourselves.

Hey Jason! That was some good info!

The lower indicated Renogy voltage reading is concerning, especially with only current to power it flowing. Because all your wiring is not visible, putting the voltmeter up on the regulators terminal screws instead of on the battery, would be undeniable proof of a problem. That eliminates any installation suspicions, since you did mention it was hard to get wires in and holes were small.

Hi, Thank you for this video-test. It was very usefull for me when I was wondering to choose between epever and victron. :)

I've been using Outback FM 60 and FM 80's for many years now on several differing systems, they are excellent controllers and give the user vast control over many parameters. Interestingly Outback have a fixed price repair or refurbishment service if one does inadvertently disconnect battery bank from system with 65 amps coming in from the solar side. They even paid the return freight from the West Coast USA to East Coast Australia, Far Northern NSW. Very good quality and very reliable units IMO, and worth the higher price, buy well buy once!

Thank you for making this video. This is exactly what I was looking for as I was thinking of buying one of these units.

Nice video. Better cover your panels when u connect/disconnect. I have 3 different tracers including the new tirion. They all make a light high pitch sound when there is no charge. Annoying when there is 1 in the garden house

Good video. Also, the Renogy has 12 months data logging built in. The Victron SmartSolar only has 30 days; and you need a separate logger (eLog01) if you have the EPEver Tracer AN/BN or Triron. Makes a difference if you want to see how much power you are producing over the year.

Victron all the way. Have two thin film panels on the roof of my Land Cruiser with a Victron charge controller , lithium battery and inverter (Victron as well). The MPPT is uuuuultra fast. I observe the output while driving and see how quickly it adjusts going below bridges or in shaded areas of trees etc. Tested in Mozambique with 45 deg C outside and in Lesotho at 2500 m or in winter at -3, also had one day water coming in the box, everything was wet: still working like a charm!

Lots of good information. Since I have limited space in my vehicle's battery compartment, I decided to go with the Victron unit due to its small footprint as well as its performance.

Another advantage of the victron is his size compared to the others, in my installation i could not have fitted a bigger mppt

Epever now has bluetooth and wifi modules available. There is also a lithium charging software available.

Learn more about how MPPT solar charge controllers work here - www.cleanenergyreviews.info/blog/mppt-solar-charge-controllers * Use these timestamps links to skip to the relevant sections: @7:56 - Start real-world performance testing @11:45 - Test results @13:11 - Overall comparison and rankings @13:58 - Measuring battery SOC using a DC shunt - Victron BMV programming and Peukerts constant explained

A few points to note with the Rover MPPT controller: 1. With all loads going out of the devices load terminals the SOC feature could theoretically be somewhat accurate for this MPPT if it calculated the data it has access to, as it could be calculating all incoming and all outgoing power, the output load terminals are rated 20 amps he states, so if you were wanting a decent size inverter or other load/s you could not have it on those terminals. 2. when the Rover had a reading of 12.5volts (0.2 volts below the others) it would have been correct to measure the voltage to the MPPT at the terminals of the device itself to rule out voltage drop in the cable and or cable terminations, not measure at the battery. Another helpful test would be to calculate the MPPTs running power consumptions. I personally recommend the Victron battery monitors, especially when you have invested a lot in your battery bank. My background: I live off-grid, I design and install small solar systems, and I am a Registered Electrician. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

New subbie. That Renogy Rover Li 40 gives out inaccurate voltage readings for LiFePO4 batteries. I'm using it without a shunt and it's a hassel trying to figure out the SOC. I really need a shunt. Great video 👍

One really BIG TURN OFF for me is when they are starting to link these units via APPs to smartphones. I am happy with my two old Tracer units which merely display information and can be programmed manually.

Very good information!

Great . Can you please now do a review of all charge controllers that are suitable for marine use

Interesting comparison. It would be great to see partially shaded performance. In my experience this is where some fall flat on their face, especially with a high voltage panel setup.

The maximum solar input for all these controllers is also a very good feature as some of these are designed current limiting features which mean you can use more solar than what they are rated at great feature for cloudy weather or when there is shade

Going to buy a Renogy in a couple of weeks based on different reviews they seem a good unit,hoping that one was just slightly calibrated wrong,and anyhows been using solar for a good 15yrs now so not worried about that slight difference, and will be running 400watts at 100v for winter so won't affect me..buying Renogy on price and the fact one reviewer opened unit up and inside was quality build..all best

Guarantees and actual costs would have helped also global availability thanks

Very helpful! Thanks!

The biggest gain using MPPT, IMHO, is when it is cold out, or you have panels with good shaded performance(on panel bypass diodes) and/or you have a high Vmp on your panels. I have observed that magical 25% to 30% improvement over PWM. Your single static setting does not cover those use cases.

Its true to say the Victron unit doesn't have a display, but thats not surprising as its designed to be used in conjunction with bluetooth and a mobile phone!

Excellent set-up and testing

Love my Outback Solar 80 amp flexmax MPPT 😃

I use renogy 60 amp and 100 amp units, great units, both support lifePo4 too

Great explanation I have a victron 100/50 and 2 x350w solar panels, but only 1 on my caravan roof so far, the max watts it has gone to is only 190watts which I thought it would have been more, so I am going to put the second panel up. My question to you is over 5 meters what size cable I need to join and run the cable to the controller from the panels, as the controller might not fit the diameter of the cable that is needed for the 500watts all though it handles 500 watts? thanks Wes

Awesome test. Very clear & informative

Great review. Where do you get those switches you have on the solar panels coming in?

Great Video, I purchased this controller (60 AMP Rover essentially ) for my boat and am OK with it. I use it to keep 400 AH lithium batteries charged, monitor with the BT2. My energy consumers use relatively low amperage except for the 12 volt fridge and that is somewhat low. My only issue is the Load terminals, they do not output voltage they are in the off mode all the time. It seems like the design is to output voltage when the panels are not powered (night), this makes no sense to me, unless you are simply using it for a timer after the panels stop producing. I thought the purpose of load is to use surplus energy when the batteries are topped off, that would be a great idea since the solar panels would not have any use for the solar energy after the batteries are at 100%+.

Epever Tracer AN is by far the best of this bunch, especially when used in conjunction with the PC Monitoring Software. Cost, features and build quality are great and the reason I use 3 of them myself..

Sir price for the mppt kantrolar

Good info however, for clarification, the Renogy Rover does not always come with the Bluetooth dongle. You got the kit. The dongle must otherwise be purchased separately.

I am putting together a solar well pump system to feed a pond. I have a 305 watt, 9.28 A, short-circuit current 9.85 A good(Max overcurrent reading 20 amp), 32.9 V rated current, 40 volt open circuit mono panel and plan on getting a 280W 24V/48V Solar Powered Deep Well Submersible Pump 60M Lift Water Pump with a 12V/24V/48V MPPT Controller, I don't intend to use batteries but run directly off this panel during daylight hours. Question being should I get the 24 V or 48 V pump and will these 3 components all work together?

Good test setup. Were those solar panels in the background used for the test?

you should compare them, mmpt vs some pwm in different conditions

It would be interesting if you showed the difference between a PWM and NPPT charge controller in your set up sometime....thanks

I use renology with no complaints

When testing mppt controlers they should also test them for radio interference. My Epever 10a wipes out radio reception with in 100 feet of it.

Are they all with a fan? I prefer fanless. Got 3 cheapos with fans even running in cloudy weather and one failing already. Same for inverters. Fan only in overload but not for regular operation.

Smoke detector battery low?

Hi sir, My solar panel rated as 300watt. Voltage 36, Amp 9 However, my portable power station support only 24v and 10A (mppt controller). May i know, can i use the solar panel with my power station? Let say Goal Zero yeti 400, jackery and so on.

Why didn't you use the epever in your 150/60 review? I'm looking into mppt cc and i see a lot of support for the epever for those on a budget, is the epever just not a good enoug controller in the bigger size.... I can afford the victron, but i like the tracer because of it's wire connections. Can't find it in a 60a though lol. So when it comes down to the victron wire connections being just as poor as the epever, im wondering if the price being doubled for the victron is worth it? Also on amazon the promote buying a victron battery protector? Is that not part of epevers unit but built into victron? I'll research and see if i can find my answers but thought id ask and see if you know. Watched both videos, really great easy to understand content. Much appreciated, God bless!!

Question, being 5 days into portable solar, we have 2 x 100ah deep cycle batteries (not lithium.), connected in parallel. Using the victron smart shunt, battery 1 minus to tje bat minus on the shunt and all system loads connected after it on the system minus Positive from bat 1 to pos bat 2 and system loads connected via bat 2 pos. Also the smart shut pos connected to bat 2 In the Victron app, I set the bat capacity to 200ah Do I need to configure the aux to the value of mid point or leave it as none? I'm assuming using this setting is for when 2 batteries are connected in series maybe? Victron isn't clear on this in their instructions When I set it to mid, I got a high-voltage alarm. Do I need to connect the aux pos to the pos of outgoing positive load on bat 2, or bat 1 pos, or not use the aux monitoring at all?

Ive been using a Victron for 4 yrs - works Great - Very adjustable and app is awesome - wire clamps kind of small tho

Amazing video and comparison truly, now does the Victron support LifePo4 as well? Thank you so much as you have put so much into this video, Excellent.

what was the bluetooth battery level sensor used at 5:21

hi.i have 290 watts solar on my camper van roof.i use 100watt fixed panel connected to epever mppt 10amp to mt50.then 30watt x3 panels to renogy rover 20amp mppt connected bluetooth and just bought epever mppt tracer 10amp will connect to another mt50..I have been using the renogy bluetooth app to read battery voltages .its not far off on readings.you said your renogy was reading low.?steve

Hello, there is a 20amp mppt charge control. Is it efficient to connect 4 50 watt panels in parallel or in series with 44 volts in 2 groups, the system is 12 volts?

I wish there was an ideal one. The Victron 100/50 gets bouncy under 6A, also confused by clouds under 36W, confused by clouds fooling it into float. The Outback, EPEver is very robust, but often gets confused by high temperature panels, and ends up doing MPPT just above battery voltage. It's infuriating to lose half your power. But its slowwwwness means it's not confused by cloudy weather.

will it work with only 22 volt input from solar ??

with this testing wonder who would do good mppt vs pwm

I have two Victrons and an Epever. No question the Victron is of much higher quality, tons of options and a 5 year warranty.

So, if the victron has no load control, is there an easy way around that, other than just closely monitoring the batteries? Do any of the various shunt battery monitors also offer load control?

Nice experiment. Where might these be best found at the moment?

Hi mate. Thanks for a great vid. Can you tell me if the outback tracer is compatable with lithium batterys. And where can I purchase 1 in Australia? cheers

Great demonstrate...

My panels have a VOC or 37 but are all testing at 33V lately. I have a 2kw array so looking into controllers.

Great review, I learned a lot. Question though, why did you use the older Epever Tracer AN model instead of the newer Triron series.

Nice vid

Thanks for the video. i have a question there are certain type of MPPT Charge controller some of them are 30A some of them 50A some of them 70A. can you please tell us what that means. is that means that it can support more batteries to charge ? or it can support more PV's ?

EPEVER has a slow MPPT in the morning ist the battery current under 1.5A runs in PWM mode and need maximum 1h to jump in MPPT mode, is the battery current again under 1.5A runs in PWM again. My setup was a Tracer 3210 and a 235W from Mage Solar loging with Arduino to Thinverse

I have looked at some Victron energy charge controllers they are quite expensive however I have heard good reviews

Ran over my Victron with a 7.5 ton excavator. Warped but still works!

Gute Infos weiter so 😊👍

are you aware yo can get a wifi option for epever - Model: eBox-WiFi-01, and a bluetooth one as well - eBox-BLE-01, really you should have compared all using the same method. Also surprised you did not test them all for performance and operating temperature near full input current, as i am thinking the tiny size heat sink on the victron, compared to the ones on all the other 3, could well be an issue. Seems unlikely to me, that the other 3 had large ones for no reason.

Thanks for this great video comparison. In the end, they are all very similar in terms of perfomance. Would go with victron due to its massive positive reviews on the net.

Great review. I have a 4WD with start batteries (2 in parallel to support winching) and an AGM house battery. The vehicle is infrequently used and I need a solar system to charge the house battery but also maintain the start batteries. Can you do a review comparing Epever DuoRacer and CTEK D250SE . Both can do this, with the CTEK also able to accept alternator charge to the hose battery. The Epever does not specify that it can accept alternator charge; maybe it can't as it's half the price of the CTEK. Edit: EPEVER tech support confirmed it can't but have passed on my suggestion to enhance it so it can to their developers.

Does this controller make it possible to automatically switch (seemlessly) from solar power to mains power while a 220V device is connected to the inverter? Thank you! (edit: seeing the terminal on the devices, there is no mains connection so I guess switching to mains in not possible)

any idea what is the difference between the EPEVER itracer and the etracer

IS THE TEMP SENSOR A SHUT OFF? FOR LITHIUM BATTERIOES

Thanks for nice review,

Good video, but curious if anyone has tested which unit has the least RFI noise.