Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100V 30 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth)

I purchased a couple 100W Renogy panels for our travel trailer as dry camping opens up a lot of sites for us and I don’t like firing up the generator unless I have to. The panels are deployed on folding stands which is really the only way to get them in the sun in the wooded campgrounds we frequent. I used them the first weekend with the PWM controller that came with the kit. It blinked nicely at me, but even with a voltmeter added to our control panel inside the camper there wasnt really a way to see what was going on. I started looking at adding monitors with shunts, but things start getting rather involved for my particular setup. At home in the off-season the camper is covered and plugged into shore power to keep the batteries up. I realized a few things. First, I’m paying for electricity to charge the batteries when I have two solar panels in a box. Second, the on-board inverter/charger is OK for maintaining batteries, but really lacks the ability to keep them at a full charge as they hover around 13.4-13.6 volts regardless of battery condition and with no temperature compensation. Third, to charge the batteries requires the battery kill switch to be on, meaning I’m also powering gas and carbon monoxide detectors and who knows what other parasitic loads in the camper. Not a monetary issue but things without power on them can’t cause unforeseen issues. I had originally fallen prey to the argument that you’re better off buying another panel vs. paying for an MPPT controller. That works on paper but I realized that I’ll set out 2 panels, but I will never set out 3 or 4. That meant the Victron SmartSolar 75/15 would work nicely and the cost was within my threshold of pain. The need for a separate monitor was also negated. Installation was easy as I was just replacing the PWM controller. My setup is a couple of group 24 lead acid deep cycle batteries with around 160ah. Power is brought into the storage bay of my travel trailer with 4/0 wiring where it splits off to a 3000/6000 pure sine inverter. The Victron is wired into the 4/0 cables which are only about 18” away with 10 gauge cabling. The Zamp plug that came with the camper was replaced with a 10 gauge wire unit, and the 20’ of Renogy cable going to the panels is 10 gauge. The storage bay isn’t heated so it’s within a few degrees of the batteries which are on the tongue. After doing an update the unit automatically selected 12v and the default charge setting was for deep cycle gel batteries. I was initially a little worried that there wasn’t a specific setting for lead acid batteries but the parameters of this option are apparently fine from what I can gather. Equalization is off by default. After installation I zipped the camper cover back up all I have to do now is walk by and log in to see what’s going on, no need to unzip/unlock or interrupt my nap when we’re actually camping to check our state of charge. The attached screenshots were for the first few days. I’m only using one 100W panel as I felt this would be sufficient. The battery bank was at 90% charge the first day (see handy chart) and I was pleased to see that it got fully charged but concerned that my 100W panel was only putting out 35W in full sun. A 100W panel is going to max out somewhere around 70W in the northern hemisphere on the best day in the summer and this was in January, the lowest amount of available solar energy (insolation) of the year. The following days were even worse until I understood that Pmax isn’t your panel’s peak wattage, it’s the peak that the controller will draw from the panel as it manipulates current and voltage to get what it wants. You’re not going to see a Pmax that resembles the published output of your panels unless you have a big load on them (or drained batteries) and maybe not then. This is a layman’s explanation, but if it keeps you from thinking you have a bad panel or connection it’s worth the keystrokes. Of the following three January days the first was sunny, the next was cloudy and the next was rain. The Victron doesn’t care, it still pulled plenty of voltage out of the panel and quickly went into float. It’s like a honey badger. Perhaps more interesting will be what happens when a live load is applied (such as when we’re actually camping and using power). Toggling the electric tongue jack gets an immediate response from the controller as it ramps up to offset what you’re using, then it goes back to putting the battery back to the state of charge that it wants. Comparisons between PWM and MPPT controllers are made in somewhat of a vacuum, you can spend hours reading them. In the real world of RV use the MPPT probably offers more advantages than published. On cloudy and rainy days MPPT wins, but though it’s hard to quantify it also wins when you have partial sun exposure due to your location. I love wooded/private campsites. Most examples use a sunny day with no loads and the PWM can do what the MPPT does, it just takes longer. Let’s say I’m fully charged by noon and at 4pm I decide to take a shower (water pump, exhaust fan, lights). Which one will have a chance of recovering the batteries given the limited amount of remaining daylight? Exactly.

Works better than I expected to it does exactly what it says and it works perfect for a battle born battery no problems with it very happy purchase Having built-in Bluetooth helps a lot if you dont have to buy the extra dongle for communication I really like the fact that its customizable you can set the parameters that you would like for your setup which is extremely helpful For whatever reason it seems to produce a little bit more voltage and current then I would expect it to thats probably what its designed to do but its a major Plus to me

These chargers are so versatile, especially when paired up with a simple 30-ish Volt power supply. Yes, Its a solar charger, but what most folks dont realize is that when used with a power supply you can charge nearly any 12 or 24 volt battery at any current rate from 1-15A that the power supply will support. Ive been using Victron Solar chargers for about five years. Back then they had external Bluetooth dongles to communicate with them. I never cease to be amazed at how well engineered and supported they are. Firmware updates are automatic via your cellphone and the VictronConnect app. The only caveat that Ive found with the new ones with the internal Bluetooth module is that the signal range is more limited. Other than that there is a lot of functionality built into one unit without the headache of extra parts. Put some SAE or PowerPole pigtails on the unit and make up a few adapters and youre ready to connect to nearly any kind of automotive, power equipment, or RV battery. The built-in data logging is a big plus in trying to diagnose charging system problems or determining the state-of-charge. You can also pair these up to increase your charging rate.

I really expected to like the Victron Smart Solar. I already own the 100/15 Blue Solar plus bluetooth dongle, and have good results with it. However, after struggling with the Smart Solar I was disappointed and returned it. In my view its a step backward from Blue Solar. If youre thinking of buying the 75/15 Smart Solar, you may want to reconsider and get the 75/15 Blue Solar and buy the external bluetooth dongle. There is really no benefit to the Smart Solar over the Blue Solar + BT dongle. You might save $10-$20, but you end up with an inferior product in many other respects. First, the integrated bluetooth range is much less than the BT dongle. Were talking 5 feet vs. 20 to 30. This also gets to the heart of my main gripe: Victrons choice of Bluetooth transceiver. Theyre using newer BLuetooth Low Energy technology (BLE) vs older but more widely supported BT 4.0, as used in the external dongle. In my view it wasnt a good move. BLE, is not supported by the majority of BT enabled devices. If you want to use iOS or Android, be aware that even if they have BT, they will likely NOT work with the Smart Solar bluetooth! Obviously this isnt a good selling point and Victron sales literature doesnt warn customers about this ahead of time. Youll end up downloading their app and get frustrated trying to connect to the controller, and eventually learn that your 1 year old device wont work with it. Nearly every device in the world with BT will work with BT 4.0, but Victron went with the BT low energy and gave up compatibility with the majority of the worlds devices. Was that a smart decision? Well they saved a few cents per controller, and I suppose low energy in theory saves some power. But, the charge controller is NOT lacking for power. Its either getting power from a PV array or a presumably large battery, not a tiny batteries where BLE might be useful. I would much rather have 20-30 foot range and use a few more micro watts of power than need to stand 5 feet from the controller. And youll find with Android, that BLE *requires* that you enable location/GPS for the Victron Connect app to work! No kidding. Victron says they dont care about your location, and probably dont. But youll need to accept that and enable location services to use their app with Smart Solar. With Blue Solar and the external dongle its not necessary. This is forced on everyone by Google/Android not Victron, but again, the choice of using BLE was Victrons. Finally, IMO the 100/15 is better constructed than the 75/15, albeit at a higher price. The 100/15 has an external heat sink and the 75/15 does not. That could be a benefit in a hot environment like the desert. You may want to take a look at it. The next step up is 100/20 which also has an external heat sink like the 100/15. All of these have separate load terminals which is really useful because the controllers have a configurable low voltage disconnect (via the app) and can also track how much power the load is actually using. When you get over 20 amps, for example 100/30 amp controllers and up, they do not have separate load terminals. Update: I measured the current draw of a Blue Solar 100/15 and Smart Solar 100/20. Connected to battery at 12.8v. No PV or load connected, and not connected to app via BT. Blue Solar 100/15: 24 mA. With BT dongle 25.5-26 mA Smart Solar 100/20: 34 mA. With BT dongle 35-36.5 mA I dont have numbers for the 75/15, though its likely not more than above. The point is, the BT 4.x dongle takes only 1 to 1.5 mA. Unless youre using a 15 amp MPPT controller with a battery bank the size of a coin cell battery, the BT dongle is the way to go (IMO).

12V Solar Generator project up and running with this Victron 100/30 MPPT Solar Charge Controller. This item was a little pricey but you get what you pay for. Good investment for my project. Range on bluetooth is limited but app works great when in range.

This product is amazing. There is excellent software development that can be used both on your phone AND your tablet IN LANDSCAPE ORIENTATION. It comes with Bluetooth built in so that youre not having to decided between using an on device display thats the equivalent of a calculator from 1995 or extra Bluetooth dongles for incredibly limited app software development that is only usable on your phone. It has many different presets and the voltage ranges for those are all within reasonable levels compatible with a huge spread of brands. I recently had to replace my battery because my old charge controller was only compatible with its brand of lifepo4 batteries as the voltages were all set at 14.4 including the float voltage. I couldnt have the old controller destroying the new replacement battery, and I had seen the name victron mentioned in forums but I never really looked into it, but I was pushed into the situation so I did my research and was incredibly impressed with the features included, the accessible exterbal 25A fuze, and most importantly the intelligent app design that is also compatible with tablet operating systems to be used as an actual intelligent dedicated display. After installing this with 3x100w mono panels my new battery was able to go through all charge stages to float without error, unlike my other old controller that constantly had overvoltage errors on the old and new battery. Incredibly that company updated the their app to remove several features such as charge limit and imposed restrictions to certain settings, so the charger was literally unusable with the new replacement and I was pushed into getting something else. Im glad I was, the app support and common sense compatibility is amazing. The size is incredible too, its not big at all. Victron should be the first name people think of when they start setting up a solar system. There is just no debate now that Ive been able to experience both firsthand, and Im not interested at all in a different company thats willing to burn out the other brands batteries so that you purchase their own. I dont like that at all. Get Victron, dont argue with yourself about it. Youll have a working system much less likely in need of being replaced in two years like I was. You dont need to figure out the hard way like I did that Victron is top shelf reputable quality. Ill definitely be getting more Victron products in the future.

This solar charge controller comes with Bluetooth and is a bit higher in price than the competition, but for good reason. Victron makes high quality products and backs them up with a 5-year warranty and support. You can adjust the amount of power it delivers to your batteries too. I have 800w of panels in a somewhat low light area and Im able to bring in a solid 430w of power at the 15A charge setting (max for this controller) even in low light. Just dont go over the Voltage rating. 100V is a HARD limit, meaning if you surpass it, it will damage the controller. Ill need to upgrade it soon so I can get all the available power from my panels. I also love the integration between the different products and the open source nature of the company. The fact I can use a Raspberry Pi to run Victrons Venus OS and any good quality USB to TTY serial adapter to connect it all is a HUGE win for Victron. The phone app is also well designed and they even offer free logging of your data to their VRM web portal. Ill be coming back to Victron for more stuff in the near future.

I love the Victron SmartSolar charge controller. Weve had 2 of these and just ordered a 150|100 unit for our 1200W expansion on our new RV. These are simple, operate via bluetooth so I dont have to cut any holes and mount a monitor anywhere. It would be cool if I could see the stats via wi-fi, but honestly I dont care to pay for that feature, and bluetooth is more than enough. Its easy to mount, the app is stupid-proof to set up and use, and my only complaint would be that the wires get a little too close to each other for my own comfort while wiring them up. Otherwise, this is the top of the line for charge controllers, and youll certainly pay for it. Just cry, get it over with, and enjoy your purchase.

Love this charger !!! Very easy installation and it works fantastic. The only complaint I have with it is the bluetooth capability. A large part of the reason I purchased this controller was so that I could monitor my charging from a mounted tablet on the wall using Victrons Bluetooth app. I can only mount the tablet about 10 feet away from the controller or it keeps losing Bluetooth connection. This seems to be a very common issue with these as well as most Victron products. I adjusted where I was mounting my tablet and it works well, just not where I had originally wanted it.

This is my 3rd Victron unit, but my first with the LOAD terminals. I am thrilled with it. Very pleased. Easy installation. The only thing I noticed is that I couldnt find in the software where to select a battery type (I remember having done this with my previous units, but it is the same software.) However, it does have the ability to fully configure whatever battery settings you would like.