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Need advice on solar charge controller setting


rtate

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Obviously, I'm not very savvy about electrical stuff. I have an HP Series Smart Solar Charge Controller with an unintelligible (at least to me!) manual. I'm not sure what "load working mode" the controller should be set to. The choices are:

0  Pure light control mode (it's currently on this)

1-14  Light control + time control (with settings for 1 - 14 hours)

15  Manual mode

16  Debugging mode default

17  Normal on mode

I've been on shore power since having a new solar panel installed and just realized that I don't know if it's set to the best mode. I'd appreciate any advice!

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If I know which one you're talking about it's the SRNE (China) PWM correct?

If so, that's kind of a "hybrid" solar controller. Not truly "smart" as in dynamic/feedback charging, but rather a timed controller... with the "smart" part of it only being that it will continue charging as long as the controller is being fed juice from your panels, w/limited temp compensation, or the option to control the amount of time charge is applied to your battery. It's a step up from the older on/off charger, but shouldn't be confused with an actual "smart" in terms of what's on the market these days.

A bit will depend on the type and size of battery/ies you are charging, how many watts of solar you have feeding the controller and which controller you have (10A or 20A)

Off the cuff... you're likely best to stay on "pure light control mode" unless there is a particular reason to limit the amount of time (current) you're feeding into a battery. Even with a 20A model... and the number of solar panels to support 20A's... you would be hard pressed to overcharge a typical 12V automotive/marine/deep cycle battery of any size during the limited solar production hours in a day.

Not that you couldn't, but for a definitive answer we would need to know the type and size (group) of battery/ies you plan to be charging and size of the solar array (watts).

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I have 2 6V AGM batteries and a total of 160W of solar panels.  "HP Series Smart Solar Charge Controller" is the name of the controller on the manual. The model number on the unit is SR-HP2440-B and I found a page via Google that seems to suggest it's a SRNE, @Yarome

http://www.pandelta.com/brands/srne-solar/108-brands/srne-solar/247-srne-sr-hp2440

The label on the unit says the current is 40A.

Thanks!

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26 minutes ago, rtate said:

I have 2 6V AGM batteries and a total of 160W of solar panels.  "HP Series Smart Solar Charge Controller" is the name of the controller on the manual. The model number on the unit is SR-HP2440-B and I found a page via Google that seems to suggest it's a SRNE, @Yarome

SR(SRNE)-HP24** (** denotes the amp rating)...  That's what I thought.

You should be fine keeping it on "0" (pure light control mode) then.

 

 

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