Hi all,
I’ve been testing multiple Victron MPPTs side‑by‑side and want to share one last clear report for the devs to see.
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SmartSolar 100/50 & 150/45 (v1.61 v1.64 v1.67 v1.68):
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On v1.61+ and v1.68, PV voltage drifts upward under inverter load instead of locking to the knee of MPP.
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Efficiency sits at 94% - 95% most of the time, but it does not track MPP at load
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Same array, same conditions — only difference is hardware revision + firmware branch.
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SmartSolar 100/15 (v1.61 v1.64 v1.67 v1.68):
Appears stable, the MPP tracking and efficiency is great, mostly sits at 97% even when the unit heats up to 50C+.
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BlueSolar 100/50 rev2 on v1.16: (Still running the unit on firmware version 1.16, so I can see what’s causing the tracking bug)
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Tracks MPP cleanly, does not go towards the VOC when there is load running on the battery side.
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Efficiency sits at 93% - 94% most of the time, but at least it locks to the MPP properly.
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This rules out “bad sensors” as the main issue.
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The remaining two possibilities:
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Hardware change — later units may have reduced/altered input filtering (caps/snubber), making them more sensitive to inverter ripple.
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Firmware regression — post‑1.61, the control loop handling fails to settle on MPP when the load is running.
Evidence:
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Videos of BlueSolar 100/50 v1.16 stable tracking: Testing under load (1) | Testing under load (2)
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Videos/logs of newer units drifting under load: MPPT Tracking unstable during load
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Firmware files show BlueSolar 100/50 rev2 runs on A049 (oldest branch), while SmartSolar 100|50 and 150|45 are A057/A073 — pointing to hardware divergence.
Since I’ve sold the previous MPPTs, and the latest purchase was the BlueSolar 100 | 50 rev2, which was sitting in the store since 2017, and has 1.16 firmware.
If I update this unit to the latest available firmware v1.68. Will I get the tracking bug like the other two MPPTs? I do not want to take any chances unless I get a backup of a stable firmware.
Hoping for someone from the Victron team to discuss this further.