I’m building a new solar setup and need controller/charger advice. I’ve done so many hours of research and at the end I just feel dumber and less confident.
I have the “REDARC BCDC1225D 25A In vehicle Battery Charger” in my truck now for 3+ years. So far bulletproof. Will charge from solar or truck alternator, whichever is providing more power. Works for various battery types. No display. I ended up adding a monitoring shunt so I can monitor my charge levels.
I only have 1 Lithium battery, 100Ah. With 2 you may want a higher amp charge capacity???
Don’t know max temp rating, although I was in Joshua Tree last month and outside temp was in the low 100’s, no problems.
It isn’t cheap, but I got on sale from Walmart online at a reasonable price.
Good luck.
Thanks. This looks like a good choice for me. Happy to spend money on quality.
400W @12V would be ~33A at the battery side, assuming no losses. So more than 25A charging capacity might be a good idea.
Renogy lithium batteries claim a max charge current of 100A. Seems insane.
This video was helpful. The BCDC “classic” is sealed, which I want. So is the BCDC Alpha. Alpha may be the answer for me since it’s smaller, has nice terminals, and is roughly the same price.
Looks like the Victron equivalent might be the SmartSolar Charge Controllers MPPT 100/30 (Datasheet).
Unfortunately the operating range tops out at 60C/140F.
I think the only lingering question for me is whether or not I’ll regret buying a 50A Redarc vs a 25A Redarc. They say that the 25A systems are recommended for 200AH and below, and 50A for 200AH+. But I’m right on that border and will probably expand later on.
Since you’re already going down the Renogy brand, why not use their MPPT DC Charger? It’s a great unit, if you don’t want to use an app just get a shunt with a display.
I’ve been running my renogy system for years in different variations. I’m currently using the 30A MPPT Charger and it works great! Charges off the alternator, uses solar and it’s affordable.
i use Renogy because it was the only one available in stock ready to ship at the time.
Redarc would be my first choice when looking for DC-DC with MPPT but it was out of stock at the time and estimated delivery date was way too late… well beyond my departure date for the Big North Trip last year.
If both were available ready to ship, I’d go with Redarc. Unfortunately Victron doesn’t have an option for DC-DC with MPPT in one unit, at least not at the time when I was putting everything together.
Correct, I don’t believe Victron has a product similar to the Redarc BCDC. @vice_chief , is alternator charging a requirement? I feel that with the amount of power you have plus the battery capacity, you shouldn’t be nearing 0% unless you are parking in a garage for extended periods of time?
Also, I would recommend a single 200ah battery over 2x100ah. It would save space and probably weight, depending on brand. Have you looked at SOK batteries? I wish I planned my drawer build out better but got stuck with room for a 100ah renogy instead of a 206ah SOK. Even with my 300w solar I never dipped under 40% during a camping trip.
Your power requirements may be different though.
Yep, alternator charging is a requirement. I’ve had a few situations with my Goal Zero + 200W where I couldn’t run my laptop + fridge for even a full day. That said, it’s been totally adequate for fridge and lighting and even a heated blanket at night.
I use my GFC mostly for work trips and I could stay in the GFC as an “office” instead of going in to the office if I had that extra power. Especially since I’m looking at adding Starlink.
Very much appreciate the suggestions and anecdotes. I’d never seen SOK. I am still probably going to go with 2x 100AH batteries because of the weird space constraints I have - they do take up a little more volume individually, but I can position them better as individual units.
if you running starlink then… here’s what happens to mine:
I have starlink gen 2 with motorized dish. I plug it into my Ecoflow Delta 2 with Delta Max add on battery for a combined 3kw capacity using 110v AC. The D2 combo also runs my fridge.
On summer days, even with the dish set to “flat” and deicing turned off, Starlink and fridge drains up to 70% in a 15 hour time period.
Now, if I used the DC Conversion kit for the Gen 2 it will reduce consumption for sure, and with Gen 3 or Mini it will reduce consumption even more, but i’d say shoot for about 1500wh usage in the same time period.
my math can (and is probably) be wrong, but when estimating I like to overestimate the consumption and overkill the capacity than just to get “exact” because things do degrade overtime.
so yes, buy the biggest battery/ powerstation you can afford and go from there!
I’d also spend a little extra and go with the Mini, or get a refurb mini. Much less space needed, simpler setup, and lower power draw. After having both standard dish and mini, the only difference I’ve seen is the internal router in the mini doesn’t give you quite the wifi coverage area that a dedicated router would, but that is easily solved with a cheap external router if you plan on working quite a ways from your truck.
So the nice thing is, I’ve been saving for this build for almost two years now. So budget is not really a factor. Space and weight are far bigger constraints this round. Starlink Mini and potentially getting a 3rd 100Ah cell into the setup seem like wins.
Thanks - kind of sobering to see those numbers, but that roughly lines up with my experience. I’m usually doing CAD on my laptop, and it’s no joke in terms of constant power consumption. The PSU is 230W. No MacBook Air for me.
oh yeah that’s for sure!
I am waiting on my friend to find me a $12 mini kit (he found one when going through the Amazon return warehouse) because realistically i don’t really need to spend the money on a mini kit since I can’t use it while driving anyways… wireless carplay uses wifi signal and it’s a conflict lol
and even now unless I’m solo-ing or i’m camping with different group, I leave my starlink at home. the usual guy I camp with has a mini on his truck and GFC that’s on 24/7/365 lol
oh yeah lol running CAD doesn’t help the cause there. your consumption will only be greater too when throwing laptop in the mix.
I power my laptop using 100AH LIFEPO4 in the camper. it runs diesel heater, camper lights and laptop at the same time, though my laptop is only 60w lol
