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solarwizard asked

SmartSolar MPPT 75/10 for Load and Light Control

Can the Light dimming output or some other means used so a SmartSolar MPPT 75/10 can control a light using the time of day functions, and independently switch off a load (and the light) based on battery voltage? Is there another simple solution to this issue? Or is two SmartSolar MPPT 75/10s one controlling the light and the other the other loads the best solution?

MPPT Controllerscharge controller compatibilityStreetlight
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solarwizard avatar image solarwizard commented ·

After experimenting and reading, it appears that in order to use the light dimming function, all the loads will be turned on and off with the street light settings, so a battery protect is required to switch off other loads if the battery gets low.

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wkirby answered ·

Sorry for the delay to respond.

Yes, what you want is possible with only one MPPT. The two options you want will work together on the MPPT controller.

You can use the streetlight function to switch the light on and off. It does not do this on the exact time of day, there is no real time clock. It does this based on the PV Voltage that you can configure to detect night time and then another Voltage to detect day time.
There is a timer function so that the light can be turned off close to midnight or for an amount of time that you want. After that you can also choose to switch the light on again at some time before sunrise. Again, this is not an exact time, but an amount of time that the MPPT calculates when it thinks the sun will come back. See the manual for the full amount of streetlight options.

https://www.victronenergy.com/live/victronconnect:mppt-solarchargers#streetlight_settings

Next thing, on the Load Output configuration, you can select either one of two pre-configured algorithms for battery Voltage limits, or you can use a user defined setting when you can set the low Voltage switch off limit and then a high Voltage switch on limit again.

https://www.victronenergy.com/live/victronconnect:mppt-solarchargers#load_output

The Load Output battery Voltage setting will take priority so that the battery will be protected. Remember that there is some hysteresis when the Voltage limits are reached. The Load Output will take two minutes to respond once the Voltage limits are reached.

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jif answered ·

Just wondering this very same thing. I’m using load for some lighting in a boat and would be nice to have dimmer and why not a timer function available. Both exists in the streetlight function (should not be very difficult to add) but I find it too complex to have lights on when wanted.

This would be my development proposal!

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Related Resources

MPPT Product Page

MPPT Error codes

MPPT 150/60 up to 250/70 Manual

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