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2024.02.25 LiFePO4 controller testing:


Yesterday I was out comparing panels. Last night I was working on a way to set up stable test conditions to
be able to compare solar charge controllers, but during that test one of my LiFePO4 controllers refused to work.
So I decided to go out again today since it was so nice and sunny and see if that little controller was working
at all. (and to see if it performed better or worse than the higher capacity sealed controller)

I brought out two of the 4lb flexible panels and hooked them up in parallel, since the 150w controller that was
the focus of my testing can't take over 28v PVoc. To give it a load to charge, I brought out my 100AH lithium
battery, and a 38 amp 12v space heater to keep the battery drained a bit.

The 150w controller worked fine, as did the 300w sealed controller, with them both hitting about the same power
level. Despite running at half its rated capacity, the heat sink on the 150w controller never really got warm.
I hadn't really noticed the indicator LEDs on the board before, so that was a pleasant discovery to see it has
a red indicator for charging and a green indicator for fully charged. (no LEDs mean no panel power) The 150w
controller tracked fairly quickly, but the 300w controller was a little faster.

I also gave the cheap power meter a quick test and found that the multiplexed segments made it impossible to
get a picture of the display fully lit But overall the meter worked okay. I also tested my larger meter with
the PZEM meter when measuring the heater load. I'm a little disappointed in that better meter - the 6GA wire
going to the powerpoles makes the contacts pretty immobile, and I don't get quite the satisfying "click" when
connecting the SB50's. (and they pop out rather easily)

Being February, the sun is only at around 35 degrees at noon. I gave the panels a little tilt and immediately
was rewarded with a substantial boost in power from 85 up to 120 watts. I'm sure I would have gotten more power
with a sharper angle, but that would have been a lot less convenient to try.

12.25.00 test setup	12.25.36 150w controller	12.28.18 300w controller	12.36.12 35a 12v heater	12.36.22 430w heating	12.37.54 cheap meter testing
12.41.32 red means charging	12.42.56 supercap bank	12.45.26 150w charging caps	12.47.26 red means charging	12.48.22 green means charged	12.49.50 green hard to see
12.53.26 charge test 2	12.55.34 angling panels	12.55.40 angled power boost	12.56.28 approaching full chg	12.56.32 approaching full chg	12.56.42 approaching full chg
12.57.02 approaching full chg	12.57.08 approaching full chg	12.57.38 fully charged

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last updated 05/20/2025 at 15:52:14 by make_www_index.command version 2025.05.20.B