Renogy 10 Amp 12V/24V PWM Negative Ground Solar Charge Controller Compact Design w/LCD Display for AGM, Gel, Flooded and Lithium Battery, Wanderer 10A

Finally, a controller that doesn't lie about being MPPT. This is PWM and appears to work well with my radio room backup ex-car battery. As others have said, the connections for the wire will take a realistic gauge for light solar work - #12 in my case.Instx for setup are plain enough. The readout rotates between incoming solar panel voltage, current from the panels going to the battery, battery charge voltage, current used by the "load" output, and error [or OK] code. I'd like to have seen this pass the full 10A it's rated for out of the "load" teeminals. For a garage or patio/pool lighting scenario, I'm sure it's fine. Turn on a VHF/UHF two-way radio, and the filter caps must confuse this charger's amp measurement as it goes into a protection mode. Not a problem in practice; I'll just keep running the radios off of the battery/AC-DC supply/solar cintroller feed all paralleled, per normal.All in all, a very fair deal for the money.

Without a doubt and after testing most of the PWM controllers in this realm, I'll say this one is the best. This one not only works, but you don't have to worry about it and it just works. It's also a great price for 17$ which is what I paid. If you are looking for a charge controller either for a backup or just because you have less than a 200w panel or two 100w panels in parallel this little controller will fit the bill for you. You can add the BT controller if you want but why? That costs more than this unit and this unit already has this data built in. Just press the select button to see voltage, amps, battery voltage, load, load settings and ways to maximize your small setup with a excellent PWM controller.Thank you Renogy for this controller and please keep this low price for all of us that know how to properly use this. This is seriously the best sub 20$ PWM controller out there for small panels and it just works with all the features it provides. I'm very happy with this unit and would highly recommend to anyone.

Make sure you check the Voc of your panels before you order. This one is 25 volts, I needed 38+ volts. I ordered the renogy adventurer(50 volt voc) after I returned this one. Note to Amazon, no where in the description does it say it's max Voc. The only way you can tell that is by downloading the manual and going to the specification page.

I built a small, off-grid solar system for my shed to power LED lights and a small ventilation fan that consisted of a 50W 12V-class panel (open circuit voltage around 20V), a 10 amp-hour LiFePo4 battery, and this charge controller. In that setup, it's worked great. It's a basic, workaday PWM charge controller that had worked great in my shed for several years until I decided to upgrade the system and added more panels and put in an MPPT controller.Pros:- Small size.- Reasonable price.- Terminals hold wires firmly and are easy to loosen and tighten. (Tip: crimp ferrules onto the ends of stranded wire rather and insert them into the terminals. Clamping stranded wire into the terminals is a bit harder, messier, and more prone to error.)- Backlit screen.- Easy to configure for flooded, AGM, and gel lead-acid batteries, as well as for LiFePo4 batteries.- Charging voltage is configurable for LiFePo4 batteries (in case you want to stop charging at, say, 14.4V rather than 14.6V).- USB ports are handy for charging phones or powering other devices.- It has options for turning the load on and off at and for various times. For example, the load can be turned on all the time, toggled with the push of a button, or when the sun sets (either until morning, or for various periods of time after sunset).- It supports -- but does not include -- a Renogy Bluetooth module that allows for remotely changing settings, seeing the current status, etc. from the Renogy app.- Manual is clearly written in English and explains all settings and options clearly.Cons:- This is a PWM controller which, while simpler, inherently limits its efficiency and requires a bit more planning relative to an MPPT controller. For example, connecting multiple 12V-class panels in series (or using one with a nominal open-circuit voltage greater than about 20V) provides no benefit. They need to be connected in parallel, and then one must make sure not to exceed the 10A current rating of the controller (it does not have any current limiting capability).- Turning on the load also enables the USB ports, which consume about 100mA of current when idle. With the load off, the current consumed by the controller itself is negligible. Still, it'd be nice to have the load on and disable the USB ports.- The on-device settings for having the load switched on or off at various times of day are unclear and require consulting the manual to know what the various codes mean.- The Bluetooth module is very basic and neither it nor the Wanderer 10 have any sort of data logging. You can see the current status and change settings, but no historical data is available. You apparently need some other Renogy device to accomplish that.- The Renogy app has many features, such as social features, promotions, etc. that distract from the core functionality of managing the controller.- Although the controller is reasonably priced, but the Bluetooth module is costly. Combined, their cost exceeds that of a reputable competitor's MPPT controller with built-in Bluetooth, data logging, a better app, and better integration with other devices and remote monitoring.In short, it's an inexpensive, simple PWM charge controller. If that's what you need, it'll do the job quietly and without complaint for years.However, if you want to use the Bluetooth module with this controller, you're limited to live monitoring and changing of settings only. No data logging or historical data is available. For less money than the controller + Bluetooth module, you can get a comparable-power-limit MPPT controller from a major competitor that includes better monitoring, data logging, and higher efficiency.

Easy to install. Controls the charging to my gate opener from the solar panel to the batteries