Renogy10 Amp 12V/24V PWM Negative Ground Solar Charge Controller Compact Design w/LCD Display for AGM, Gel, Flooded and Lithium Battery, Wanderer 10A

Finally, a controller that doesn't lie about being MPPT. This is PWM and appears to work well with my radio room backup ex-car battery. As others have said, the connections for the wire will take a realistic gauge for light solar work - #12 in my case.Instx for setup are plain enough. The readout rotates between incoming solar panel voltage, current from the panels going to the battery, battery charge voltage, current used by the "load" output, and error [or OK] code. I'd like to have seen this pass the full 10A it's rated for out of the "load" teeminals. For a garage or patio/pool lighting scenario, I'm sure it's fine. Turn on a VHF/UHF two-way radio, and the filter caps must confuse this charger's amp measurement as it goes into a protection mode. Not a problem in practice; I'll just keep running the radios off of the battery/AC-DC supply/solar cintroller feed all paralleled, per normal.All in all, a very fair deal for the money.

I built a small, off-grid solar system for my shed to power LED lights and a small ventilation fan that consisted of a 50W 12V-class panel (open circuit voltage around 20V), a 10 amp-hour LiFePo4 battery, and this charge controller. In that setup, it's worked great. It's a basic, workaday PWM charge controller that had worked great in my shed for several years until I decided to upgrade the system and added more panels and put in an MPPT controller.Pros:- Small size.- Reasonable price.- Terminals hold wires firmly and are easy to loosen and tighten. (Tip: crimp ferrules onto the ends of stranded wire rather and insert them into the terminals. Clamping stranded wire into the terminals is a bit harder, messier, and more prone to error.)- Backlit screen.- Easy to configure for flooded, AGM, and gel lead-acid batteries, as well as for LiFePo4 batteries.- Charging voltage is configurable for LiFePo4 batteries (in case you want to stop charging at, say, 14.4V rather than 14.6V).- USB ports are handy for charging phones or powering other devices.- It has options for turning the load on and off at and for various times. For example, the load can be turned on all the time, toggled with the push of a button, or when the sun sets (either until morning, or for various periods of time after sunset).- It supports -- but does not include -- a Renogy Bluetooth module that allows for remotely changing settings, seeing the current status, etc. from the Renogy app.- Manual is clearly written in English and explains all settings and options clearly.Cons:- This is a PWM controller which, while simpler, inherently limits its efficiency and requires a bit more planning relative to an MPPT controller. For example, connecting multiple 12V-class panels in series (or using one with a nominal open-circuit voltage greater than about 20V) provides no benefit. They need to be connected in parallel, and then one must make sure not to exceed the 10A current rating of the controller (it does not have any current limiting capability).- Turning on the load also enables the USB ports, which consume about 100mA of current when idle. With the load off, the current consumed by the controller itself is negligible. Still, it'd be nice to have the load on and disable the USB ports.- The on-device settings for having the load switched on or off at various times of day are unclear and require consulting the manual to know what the various codes mean.- The Bluetooth module is very basic and neither it nor the Wanderer 10 have any sort of data logging. You can see the current status and change settings, but no historical data is available. You apparently need some other Renogy device to accomplish that.- The Renogy app has many features, such as social features, promotions, etc. that distract from the core functionality of managing the controller.- Although the controller is reasonably priced, but the Bluetooth module is costly. Combined, their cost exceeds that of a reputable competitor's MPPT controller with built-in Bluetooth, data logging, a better app, and better integration with other devices and remote monitoring.In short, it's an inexpensive, simple PWM charge controller. If that's what you need, it'll do the job quietly and without complaint for years.However, if you want to use the Bluetooth module with this controller, you're limited to live monitoring and changing of settings only. No data logging or historical data is available. For less money than the controller + Bluetooth module, you can get a comparable-power-limit MPPT controller from a major competitor that includes better monitoring, data logging, and higher efficiency.

4 stars explainedPros-charging algorithm voltage values are correct as measured with DVM (only flooded, agm and LiFePo4 tested)-LiFePO4 charge voltages can be set by user from 14.2 default to most common values depending on battery manufacturer spec. I use 14.6 volts (new). 2018 version default was 14.4 volts-Completely sealed against elements-When equipped with Temp sensor, will include battery temp on the display rotation (new). Previous version required manually toggling the display-shows input Panel voltage (new).Cons-Battery voltage readings can be inaccurate for all battery types and worsen with temp sensor attached (but solar panel voltage readings OK).-Exchange to get a controller that read accurately resulted in an improvement, but attaching temp sensor again introduced .2v to .4v error.-Battery type selected does not display by default (previous versions did, i.e. Gel, Wet, LiFePo4, AGM) Have to push buttons on new version to go into Select Batt Type menu.-Battery type selection button often unresponsive.-Selecting LiFePo4 charge voltage values sometimes not responsive; if desired value is passed up in scrolling, could not scroll back; had to scroll through full range and couldn't get a response for each push of the button.-Panel and battery connection LEDs no longer present. Loss of an EZ visual status observation, possibly an energy saver. Must wait for status to scroll automatically or must scroll manually through display to see status.--Auto scroll interval too long to see 5 parameters. Two secs per parameter should do it.-Hard reset process discussed with Renogy to clear possible errors not described in manual and might or might not work. (later determined attaching temp sensor caused the incorrect readings)In a nutshell, some of the improvements in this version are welcome and some of the old features are missed. But that isn't the problem.This newer version had inexplicable battery voltage reading errors not present in in 2018 versions I own. Amazon and Renogy were great in trying to get a working replacement, but in the end, decided to abandon that effort in favor of a refund for now.LiFePo4 does not use temp compensated charging as lead acid batteries do. So, when the LiFePO4 battery voltage read spot on, backtracked to see what was different. The difference turned out to be the temperature sensor. I used the sensor for flooded and AGM, but disconnected it for LiFePo4. Attaching it caused a substantial voltage reading error for all battery types that made it impossible to accurately determine battery state of charge. Charge algorithms didn't seem to be affected when measured with an external DVM. Neither of the 2018 versions I own are affected by attaching the temp sensor.One other thing to remember about LiFePo4 batteries is they do not like to "float" at much above 13.6 volts after reaching full charge. This isn't much of a concern in solar charging because charging ceases in the absence of solar energy. Thus there is no real need to have a voltage limited float stage setting after the battery is fully charged and balanced.This is the very first time I've given 4 stars to an item I've been dissatisfied with, but this controller, even with the battery voltage reading issue still offers useful functionality once set up. Use an external monitor if you want accurate voltage readings to monitor state of charge when using with the temperature sensor. Otherwise, I especially like the user defined charging voltages for LiFePO4 as values can vary among LiFePO4 manufacturers. It's important to use the right setting.The temperature sensor addition should only cause the controller to do its job of reducing charging voltages above 77 deg F and increasing charging voltages below 77 deg F where temp compensated charging is necessary. It should NOT affect the accuracy of reading battery voltage. An otherwise 5 star controller gets a "pushed" 4 stars. It does all things well except show acceptable values for temperature compensated flooded and AGM battery voltage. Both the original and the replacement returned to Amazon citing the Renogy case number. If the accuracy of the resting voltage is of utmost importance, then 3 stars.