SmarSolar 150/100 parallel operations

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kobusc asked Nov 25, '19

SmarSolar 150/100 parallel operations

Hi All.

We are planning to use the SmartSolar MPPT charge controller on one of our projects. The system will require three units to operate in parallel. We will also install the Victron Colour Control GX and connect all three charge controllers to the colour control. The question is will the controllers charging cycles be synchronized or not? Two of the controllers will be connected via VE.Direct and the third with a VE.Direct to USB interface.

From the BlueSolar documentation I have found evidence that states that multiple BlueSolar controllers can be connected via a CAN bus and they will be collectively controlled. I however cannot find any documentation stating that parallel operation in synchronicity regarding the charging cycles is possible with the SmartSolar MPPT controllers.

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Answer 1 · 2019-11-25T18:44:41Z

Justin Cook answered · Nov 25, 2019 at 06:44 PM

@KobusC, synchronized parallel charging between SmartSolar models is not currently supported; this is planned for an upcoming firmware update but we haven't seen a specific release date for that update yet.

That being said, parallel charging with multiple controllers actually works perfectly well, it's just that each of the controllers will go into a float state at different times based on the battery voltage when they turned on; there may be a slight loss of charging efficiency because of this but the actual real-world impact is negligible.

Personally I'd advise proceeding with your install as planned, knowing that a forthcoming firmware update will enable all controllers to be synchronized, and understanding that the controllers will work perfectly well on their own in the meantime.

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Answer 2 · 2019-11-25T19:48:29Z

Murray van Graan answered · Nov 25, 2019 at 07:48 PM

If I could add to that, if you’re running ESS for example, and have a CanBus connected battery (BYD, Pylontech etc) the Color control would take control of the MPPTs and they would all then in effect, work “in sync” as they are externally controlled by the GX device, which gets its parameters from the connected battery.

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