Solar panel controller
 

I am considering purchasing a Blue Sky Energy Solar Boost 2000E controller
(regulator) to use with my solar panels. The manufacturer claims an increase
in current power of 30%. Does anyone have experience with these controllers?



John Helgerson

Solar panel controller
 

"John" wrote in
:

The manufacturer claims an increase
in current power of 30%.

What nonsense. The controller turns the panels OFF at the appropriate
time. It doesn't manufacture power from thin air. I wouldn't buy his
product because he lied to me.



Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.

Solar panel controller
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"John" wrote in
:

The manufacturer claims an increase
in current power of 30%.

What nonsense. The controller turns the panels OFF at the appropriate
time. It doesn't manufacture power from thin air. I wouldn't buy his
product because he lied to me.



Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.

IIRC, Practically A Sailor did a test and review on those units, and
verified the manufacturer's claims.

Solar panel controller
 

KLC Lewis inscribed in red ink for all to know:
"Larry" wrote in message
...

"John" wrote in
:


The manufacturer claims an increase
in current power of 30%.

What nonsense. The controller turns the panels OFF at the appropriate
time. It doesn't manufacture power from thin air. I wouldn't buy his
product because he lied to me.



Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.


IIRC, Practically A Sailor did a test and review on those units, and
verified the manufacturer's claims.




How do the Maximum Power Point controllers work?

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle

Solar panel controller
 

On Feb 8, 12:50 pm, "KLC Lewis" wrote:
"Larry" wrote in message

...





"John" wrote in
:

The manufacturer claims an increase
in current power of 30%.

What nonsense. The controller turns the panels OFF at the appropriate
time. It doesn't manufacture power from thin air. I wouldn't buy his
product because he lied to me.

Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.

IIRC, Practically A Sailor did a test and review on those units, and
verified the manufacturer's claims.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes,

Have the exact model controlling 4 x 75 watt panels. Great unit -
Definitely get the IPN Remote display and battery temperature
monitor. Exellent customer service - remedied my situation with class
and speed.

Difficult for me to tell you if 30% is accurate, but I have read
outside verification of the technology, and IMO, even without the
"boost" the product is worth every penny.

I would recommend.

Solar panel controller
 

beaufortnc wrote:
On Feb 8, 12:50 pm, "KLC Lewis" wrote:
"Larry" wrote in message

...





"John" wrote in
:
The manufacturer claims an increase
in current power of 30%.
What nonsense. The controller turns the panels OFF at the appropriate
time. It doesn't manufacture power from thin air. I wouldn't buy his
product because he lied to me.
Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.
IIRC, Practically A Sailor did a test and review on those units, and
verified the manufacturer's claims.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes,

Have the exact model controlling 4 x 75 watt panels. Great unit -
Definitely get the IPN Remote display and battery temperature
monitor. Exellent customer service - remedied my situation with class
and speed.

Difficult for me to tell you if 30% is accurate, but I have read
outside verification of the technology, and IMO, even without the
"boost" the product is worth every penny.

I would recommend.


I friend has one of their products, perhaps the same one. He live at
anchor and relies on 4 large panels for most of his electrical needs.
The last time I was aboard he did a brief demonstration, turning it
off and back on. IIRC, the panels were putting out about 8 Amps
without, and 10+ Amps with the boost, for a 25+% gain. I've been
strongly considering getting one; I would certainly do it if I was in
need of a controller, or had a large number of panels.

Solar panel controller
 

RW Salnick inscribed in red ink for all to know:
KLC Lewis inscribed in red ink for all to know:

"Larry" wrote in message
...

"John" wrote in
:


The manufacturer claims an increase
in current power of 30%.


What nonsense. The controller turns the panels OFF at the appropriate
time. It doesn't manufacture power from thin air. I wouldn't buy his
product because he lied to me.



Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.



IIRC, Practically A Sailor did a test and review on those units, and
verified the manufacturer's claims.



How do the Maximum Power Point controllers work?

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle


OK, nobody's answering me - I'll try it myself...

IIUC, the "power Point' controllers are basically DC-DC converters,
converting the 19 volts or so that the panels produce to 12.6 (or
something), thus drawing from the panels at their output voltage instead
of the battery's voltage. Presuming minimal change in current delivery,
this would represent an increase in delivered power.

OK, where am I wrong here?

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle

Solar panel controller
 

"RW Salnick" wrote in message
...
RW Salnick inscribed in red ink for all to know:
KLC Lewis inscribed in red ink for all to know:

"Larry" wrote in message
...

"John" wrote in
:


The manufacturer claims an increase
in current power of 30%.


What nonsense. The controller turns the panels OFF at the appropriate
time. It doesn't manufacture power from thin air. I wouldn't buy his
product because he lied to me.



Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.



IIRC, Practically A Sailor did a test and review on those units, and
verified the manufacturer's claims.



How do the Maximum Power Point controllers work?

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle


OK, nobody's answering me - I'll try it myself...

IIUC, the "power Point' controllers are basically DC-DC converters,
converting the 19 volts or so that the panels produce to 12.6 (or
something), thus drawing from the panels at their output voltage instead
of the battery's voltage. Presuming minimal change in current delivery,
this would represent an increase in delivered power.

OK, where am I wrong here?

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle

Wish I could give you an answer, but electrically I'm just shy of being a
low-grade moron. I can follow directions and connect wires, but that's about
it.

Solar panel controller
 

John,

Practical Sailor (magazine, or www.practical-sailor.com) tested one of
these types of controllers, don't recall if it was this model, within
the last couple of months and confirmed it's not snake oil. I
imagine the manufacturer can find the article and get you a copy.

Practical Sailor has a history of recommending and trashing products
on a fair basis, and is very reliable.

I recall the explination in practical sailor was something like Bob
posted (DC-DC controllers) above, rather then typical contollers that
throw away the extra voltage above 12.6 (in the form of heat) from the
solar panels, these types of devices will convert the energy to a
lower voltage (and higher amperage) and give your batteries more of
the watts produced by the solar batteries instead of throwing them
away as heat via a voltage regulator.

There are not many caveats, but one important one is that the
controller does not provide a gain in all conditions. Solar Panels are
only producing voltages excessively over 12.6 during sunny days
without excessive shadows (e.g. mast, etc.) over the panel.

Dan

Solar panel controller
 

RW Salnick wrote:

RW Salnick inscribed in red ink for all to know:

KLC Lewis inscribed in red ink for all to know:

"Larry" wrote in message
...

"John" wrote in
:


The manufacturer claims an increase
in current power of 30%.



What nonsense. The controller turns the panels OFF at the appropriate
time. It doesn't manufacture power from thin air. I wouldn't buy his
product because he lied to me.



Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.




IIRC, Practically A Sailor did a test and review on those units, and
verified the manufacturer's claims.



How do the Maximum Power Point controllers work?

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle



OK, nobody's answering me - I'll try it myself...

IIUC, the "power Point' controllers are basically DC-DC converters,
converting the 19 volts or so that the panels produce to 12.6 (or
something), thus drawing from the panels at their output voltage instead
of the battery's voltage. Presuming minimal change in current delivery,
this would represent an increase in delivered power.

OK, where am I wrong here?

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle
Assuming the panels can be modelled as an ideal voltage source with a
(variable) series resistor (they cant but its a useful approximation)
you are extracting the *maximum* power from the panel when its loaded to
half its open circuit voltage, BUT you are unavoidably wasting the
*same* amount of energy in heating up the panel. (n.b. this does *not*
work for getting maximum *energy* out of a battery). I suspect they
will actually be boosting 9.5V up to 12.6.

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
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