Can anyone from Victron advise whether you have plans to release a line of dual input chargers that would accept both solar (PV) and DC from an alternator, or even triple input to add AC to these? I'm currently feeding my SmartSolar 100/30 from 12V-28V DC-DC converter when I'm not using my portable solar panel set, and while it works beautifully, and while separate DC-DC chargers obviously exist, and while I could opt for another device, it would be delightful to have a single unit of Victron quality and BT convenience that would accept both PV and DC as input for battery bank charging, or even also AC from mains power.
A couple of manufacturers already build dual input units for PV and DC--Renogy and REDARC, for example. I'm very happy with Victron's ultra-fast MPPT operation, however, and dual or triple input seems like a great product line to add not only for those with limited space, but for better control.
A dual input option should include the ability to default to PV if present, but have the option to flip to DC if present and a user-defined minimum PV input power is not met. Say you always want to charge your battery at maximum rate, or never want to "waste" gas when you're not in a hurry. Might even be nice to base this choice on battery level as read automatically from a BMV unit with BT. (Now THAT would be slick! If battery bank below 50%, charge with fastest method available, otherwise, save gas and go green!) It should support 12V alternator input, and include minimum voltage detection to eliminate charging when engine not running.
A triple input model would follow a similar model to flip to AC when available (connected to shore power) and PV below a user-defined minimum.
I opted to power my SmartSolar with the DC-DC converter when not using solar because I just couldn't buy yet another charger. I've already got a Blue Smart IP67 12/25. And I have a ham radio-related device that can charge from DC or PV that I wired up in my portable battery box with a manual switch that allows me to toggle between DC output from an AC power supply in the box and external DC input from my alternator, which defaults to PV if available, but it's only a 10A charger and not ultra-fast MPPT. Redundancy and options are good. Tinkering is fun! But compact and less wiring is also good.
