Build Your Own MPPT Solar Charge Controller 

I misunderstood - Assemble build in my mind

i thought you were going to build something there ..... >.>

how to put together* not build

How does this prove it has MPPT function? All I see is just DC DC step up converter.

Self tapping screws are only good for wood, plastic, and sheet metal. You really don't want them on a heat sink.

In my time, build meant construction from individual components with an understanding of how thing worked.

That 100ma drain does not compare favorably to the 15.7 ma drain of my Tracer 3210A controller with the load OFF or about 33ma with the load ON and no load connected. The price, size and "splitability" would otherwise be attractive for a couple of projects.

I like all your videos, you have lot of things i m actually trying to use or to understand

Thanks for test but why does everyone "confirm" MPPT if output current greater than input? Better to compare with known MPPT controller (identical PC, wire, sun, etc.). Buck DC-DC would look about the same. Draining battery at night gets NO vote.

I was expecting you to bolt the tabs of each of the mosfets/diodes to the heatsink. it's more work, but less likely to blow mosfets when metal warms up and the paste dries out. Seen one chinese design which blows mosfets after a month or so, it too relies on pushing the mosfets against the heatsink.

Hi Adam, I would suggest tapping and putting a screw through all the holes to hold the mosfets onto the heat sinks to prevent any chance of there being heat build up and doing damage.

You really want to prove its mppt, you need to show the controller brings the panel voltage close to the Vmp value in full sunlight....

Mental Note to Self : Self, Don't be buying this thing. You can do better for a few dollars more.

Yes you finally got round to these! I did a video on them last year (yOCtxc4aA68) there brilliant BUT they dont disconnect from the battery so at night they pull the battery down, if they pull it too low, they shutdown and next morning dont come back up! I was told that for 200w of panel you dont need a heatsink by the seller but.....yeah i dont mind putting a heatsink on. didnt you get a manual? i did, its online though, I also tried to probe the 5 extra pins but could not get any sensible data from them, I think there for daisy chaing. also theres space on the board for an opto coupler so it maybe was planned to also connect to a remote screen and lots of wiring regs require isolation

Tapping trick: Put the tap in your drill press, clamp down your workpiece, and turn the tap by hand. Easy :)

ok then... source this build ... 60 AMP MPPT SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLER 48V 36V 24V 1HHJ60A2V ... Lithium,Lifepo4/Vented/Flooded/Sealed/Gel/NiCd battery i have the powmr in the same...

For some reason, watching you tap that heat sink reminded me of an old friend (who's sadly no longer with us). He needed a quite specific high amperage adjustable power supply for some DIY electronics project he was working on, but the only PSU he could find that fulfilled his criteria cost significantly more than he was willing to pay, so he designed and built the PSU himself ! He was an electronics engineer by trade, and a fabrications engineer as a hobby, so he masked and acid etched the double sided circuit board himself, soldered everything together himself, and then machined a bloody great billet aluminium heatsink/enclosure for it in his own little home workshop (His "Shed" was a pretty big 2 car garage sized brick building at the end of his garden with a really nice tool room grade lathe and milling machine in it, so he wasn't messing about with hacksaws and hand files here). The finished result looked really amazing, like a high end limited production run type product, and he was understandably chuffed with how well it worked and how good it looked........... But being British blokes, I couldn't just let him sit there looking all proud of his achievement. So I asked him how many hours it had taken to design and make the thing, and he told me. Then I asked how much the materials had cost, if he got the option of overtime at work, and what sort of overtime rate they offered? We worked out that he'd have been able to go to work and earnt the money needed to buy the one that "Cost significantly more than he was willing to pay" in less than a quarter of the time it took him to make his.......... Then we laughed about it for a bit, and I took him out for a pub lunch. Anyway, back to the reason I started writing a comment here. Larger heatsinks can get ridiculously expensive, so if anyone else is thinking of building one of these, a good source of heatsinks is from obsolete (10 to 15 year old), small form factor PC's. They can often be got for either nothing or beer money, and most have a pretty chunky low profile heatsink on the CPU. The best ones come from big brand PC manufacturers like HP, Dell, and Lenovo/IBM as they tend to have large custom made heatsinks that don't rely on a lot of forced airflow (And the extra noise that this involves) to keep the CPU cool. If you get really lucky, some have hybrid aluminium/copper heatsinks in them that hoover heat off components like nobody's business, and some will even have a convenient fan attached that could easily be wired up to a cheap thermal switch to offer a little extra protection for if the board it's bolted to does manage to get hot.

Mmm, yeh, ok , build ......? So if I change around my tyres on the car , change the filters and oil , check the lights.... I've build a car.....? Henry Ford's ass man. He didn't know anything....

Great, a video showing show to tap holes by someone who's never done it before, and showing how to mount power MOSFETs to a heatsink by someone who has no idea how to do it. ( HINT: they ALL need bolting down solidly to have thermal contact. Duh. ).

i NOT want build, i want buy good cheap board were can charging my 12V 18650 4cell4P battery pack. because 3 cell have too low volt and 4P have maximum what i can made no have more battery my battery power wall at solar panel elektric wall. but what charger can buy ????????

Really keen to see if there is actually a way to truly BUILD a useful and viable DIY MPPT solar charge controller? Or is it simply not worth the time/effort and money?

Pedantic comments. Builder=Maker nowadays. Imagine starting from scratch, making transistor? or from raw silicon wafer to make the IC!

Think that maybe a fake board as there is no MakeSkyBlue logo on the board also on the oficial MakeSkyBlue website they dont make a kit. Question is though is it any good.

MPPT CHARGE CONTROLLER Details: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V8DIjPf0Uck.html

Nice project 👍

Hi Adam, could you tell me what version the 20A controller is? And can the output voltage changed to suit Lithium batteries?

Building ? Really ! Rather assembling the pre-fabricated bought online thing ....

My kit came in today's mail. I sat down to mark the heat sink and it seems you missed a heatsink screw hole. There are 3 holes for holding the hot components to the heat sink. Look at the board in the image at 8:48. Both primary MOSFETS have mounting holes and there's a "clamp" hole between the 2 smaller devices at the right. You might be OK with using the 2 outer holes but I'd question how much clamping force is holding the 2 outer devices against the heatsink when using one outer hole and the inner hole.

... are you sure? ... positive ! ... only fools are positive...! ... Are you sure? ... positive ... ;)

R31 looks like a high current jumper (0 ohm resistor).

shame it is only the 20a that is DIY if they had the 60a versions I would snap them up

ty 4 ur vid .... ... good luck finding info ... the manual gives very little... i have the 60amp mppt,,, i cant get it to charge correctly... *UPDATE ... i found the problem... i had corrosion build up on my conections between my batteries. i cleaned em and added dieletric grease and all great (whent through all my conections the same)... man i get lots of power now :) dont pay to assume lol

The point for me is... MPPT for peanuts if you are willing to assemble.

the links you gave are dead, any where else to buy the controller

Adam, fire me off an email and I will send you a copy of my manual if you like Michael.i@me.com. also, when you first power on the unit it showed 20. 114 I think is what I saw. that is saying 20A model, firmware version 1.14. I have the 60A version running 1.18 but he menu is the same also, the load can't be controlled manually, it is turned on when there is no solar, Dark, and says on for the number of HOURS in setting D0. you currently have it set to 24 hours, so on all the time Cheers, there are lots more settings, including how to setup for lithium and such.

Is this option still a thing? I can’t find it available anywhere.

Exactly how what people need. This field is full of bogus self-engineered “solutions” created by inexperienced or untrained people. Great job.

I learn so much from your video on MPPT charge controller

Hmmm what about separate heat sinks for each common group? I will get this set also and build one for myself ✌️

So... would this be good for a 280W panel?

Why do things the easy way when you can do them the hard way, lol

Nice little project Adam 👍

would like to know what the D00 is because i think there is D02 and D03 settings. i could never find out what the D settings mean.

please read the microcontroller type for me

you did not build, you assembled

What if i dont want to make my own mppt.what if i want to just buy myself an mppt.what if i dont want to use ebay.com.what if i want to use alibaba.com what do u say about that.

Not build! Assembly of kit.

Silicon does not conduct heat very well

gud day, were we can order that parts?

The MCU seems a TMS320F28021PT from Texas

none of this kit is available

I built my own years ago. Designed it all myself too. It worked-ish. Decent efficiency, but my approach to monitoring the output power was flawed from the beginning.

this MPPT design used buck boost or only buck? thank's

Not much assembly needed there! Glad to see you found a cheap one that actually works. I'm still on my PWM controller and it's still kinda working.

I thought I was listening to Robin Leach for a minute. lol

Hello! i have similar DIY plate mppt controler! I have a problem, when battery's have a fully charge. MPPT controler do not more set float charge voltage up to 13.3v . And after sunset , and night mode turn on, i have only 12,8v on batery's.. Maybe problems have with another capacitors? Becouse on your's plate stay 80v/390mF capacitor, but in my plate i have 100v/240mF capacitor.. Can you maybe understand , where the problemem.. and i have second problem. On the mppt conterller connect 135.watt mono cristaline panel , but mppt on LCD shows maximum input only 44.w .

Why are you only getting 90W?

Adam could you point me in the right Solar Charge controller direction if My panel has an open voltage of 76V (Thin Film tech) and I would like to charge 18650 Lithium cells in whatever xSyP combination is best.

How to put a kit together is not building BUT... Have you ever noticed how tiny the letters on those screens are? I'm in my 50s and really do like bigger screen displays so I don't have to wear glasses. Something these manufacturers need to work on.

Nice work Adam! Tapping Aluminium is (usually) a pretty easy job and you don't have to worry about the whole turn anti-clockwise a little with it, only for harder metals such as 304 and 316 stainless when the metal chips are considerably harder. Tip for the future; tapping anodised aluminium such as heatsinks is also usually made a little easier with some WD-40.

For 12V configuration I cant find MPPT charger controller with more than 1000 watts solar panel input so I decided to use wide input high efficient Switch mode power supply 12v 60Amp X 2nos. Instead of AC input I have to give solar panel series-ed input of voltage range between 90-280vdc to get maximum 120Amp CC.

Well at least the CN3722 board you tested was getting 89.8-96% efficiency like it stated in the description lol. Obviously depends on how much power your consuming

I thought the soldering iron was coming out. No instructions on assembly isn't good and somebody could just screw everything to a heatsink and blow things. Can the voltage output be varied? I bought one from Maplins and found it was undercharging and a sealed potted unit which was destroyed when I tried to get into it.

More assembly than building. I'd have loved something like this but it's 20A for lead-acid and I needed 50A for LiFePO4 which doesn't come in kit form.

HI ADAM WHICH CHEAP MPPT CONTROL CHARGER DO YOU OR WOULD YOU USE YOURSELF I SAW YOU ONE ON THE CPT-LA10 & CPY-241-/CPS MODEL I HAVE 12OW PANEL USING A PWM UNIT THAT CAME WITH IT THANKS DAVE LIVERPOOL

Just trying to get up to speed with solar power controllers. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the purpose of the controller is to match the high impedance of a solar panel to the low impedance of a battery. You don't get an efficient transfer of power with an impedance mismatch. Is it basically that simple?

All the tabs on the 3-terminal devices can be bonded to the heat sink. All those tabs are for heat dissipation. Nothing else

has anyone tested these @ 48v battery ? the sales rep said they could if large heat sink was added , unsure if this is accurate or not how ever especially with that 50v output cap

Dear friend is there a kit for 60 volt 40Amp MPPT solar charge controller ??

I really like the price of this Charger unfortunately according to the product description it is only suitable for Lead acid batteries perhaps because of the built in temperature compensation that could cause it to over charge other battery types such as LiFePO4 when it got cold. I guess one could rely on the BMS or a separate disconnect when the charging voltage got too high. I assume the firmware does not allow one to disable the built in temperature compensation. Or one could find the thermistor and replace with the appropriate resistor to fool it not to use temp compensation. Another problem to consider is that many charge controllers can get damaged if the battery is disconnected while the solar panels are still connected. Or like mentioned in the description we can buy one ready made for $37.00 more rated at 30 amps with case built in fan and can work with lithium batteries. Probably worth it.

-Build- Assemble Your Own MPPT Solar Charge Controller

this is called assemble not build. same thing to a PC building. anw not a big deal. great video to watch.

Great start. They claim up to 98.1% efficiency which is a bit hard to believe! I look forward to a comprehensive test with various solar voltages.

awesome videos but ESD sensitive components should be handled a little different.

Hi, can you use this for lithium ion batteries, if no, why?

You can snap the end of the blade of your utility knife off for a fresh sharp edge you know.

we can't buy it

Awesome, I wonder if it could be used to control more MOSFETs and a inductor for more current capacity ?

It’s interesting, but a proper faff.... I may have a look for something pre built... thanks for a great video!

Is it really necessary to put this silicone Grease between this silicone sheets ? 🤔

Yeah, not exactly 'build your own' is it?

MakeSkyBlue have a good reputation for their solar controllers so this kit might be a good buy.

lol pretty sunny? Yeah maybe for the UK LOL

Mr Welch. Have you messed around with this unit any more ?

Nice video. When are you going to do some update video on lithium batteries and diyBMS? diyBMS updated software on GitHub for your problem with temperature. Keep up with great work!

Awesome video.. I was waiting for you to sell me auto insurance, but never happend :/

Next time put some thermal paste also on the orange thermocouple

How come your uni-t clampmeter that is rated for 60A AC is measuring DC amperage.... strange.

Hi Adam, good video. Currently I am planing how to do power supply system but, instead using solar panels using a power utility (diesel power generator). So the system would be: ( UTILITY) -- (AC to DC REGULATOR) -- (MPPT CHARGER CONTROLLER) -- (48V BATTERY BANK-INVERTERS) Do you think it's good idea, or better charging batteries directly with a PWM charger?

Pretty cool, Great Video nice tutorial Thanks William Orange county, ca.

Is an MPPT controller just a DC to DC converter? But it varies the panel current or voltage until it finds max power. Can you do that with a buck converter??

Any more on this beast ? What issues is the Pos Ground going to bring to play ? Guessing I won't be able to use a Common Neg Ground in conjunction with this charge controller. That would bypass the current sensing on the MakeSky Blue ? I received the one ordered. Have mounted on decent Heat Sink (Managing to keep the PCB Square and level on same. Snerkkkkk Snerk ) . In order to keep the Fets Isolated from Heat Sink I simply covered heat sink with Kapton Tape I had on hand. Just waiting for a enclosure at this time. www.ebay.com/itm/Tone-Aluminium-Heat-Diffuse-Heat-Sink-Wide-Cooling-Fin-100x100x18mm-US/153288134599?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Good video. I need 60 Amps, charge controller kits for 12/24 volts batteries, Plz send complete specs., protections and warranty

Vídeo fake

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The video is excellent. But I have a confusion, how you can measure DC current with a tong tester / clamp meter ? I guess that is for AC. Or it id Hall sensor based ?

Nice video Sir. What is part no. Of controller ic?

That amp clamp is wrong flat out wrong not made for DC while most cheap ac clamps will pick up something that tend to be way off

Thanks. Most interesting. You might need a new left thumb some time soon!

Hi Could you do a video on converting a cheap PWM solar controller to MPPT? Thanks