Review on 🌞 ACOPOWER Midas 40A MPPT Solar Charge Controller: Efficient PV Negative Ground Controller for 12/24V Solar Panels & Battery Charging (2020) by Patrick Ordonez

I got this Acopower MPPT charge controller to charge a battery pack that powers a couple of constant load devices in my shop, like fridge, freezer, tool battery charging station and some protection lighting. With a little experimentation I can add a few extra circuits to this system if needed as this MPPT controller does a great job of optimizing the panel's performance and converting it into power that I can use. I would like to welcome the manual for this charge controller. Acopower did a good job of compiling this 36-page manual and making it easy to understand. When it comes to more complex programmable solar charge controllers, sensible guidance is a must. The processing quality of the Acopower MY40 is very good. The fit and finish of the case is great and the control panel is well thought out and provides lots of information as I work with a 3 line LCD that scrolls through stats about my PV array, batteries and load status. The array and battery connectors are fairly powerful and up to 6 ga cables can be connected to the MY40. My only complaint about the wiring is that the screws that tighten the lugs are countersunk in a narrow hole quite deep in the case, so tightening the lugs doesn't provide any feedback. I want to make sure I get the connections nice and tight without removing the tip. I tried different sizes of Phillips screwdrivers before settling on a narrow flat head to get the best feedback on how tight I was tightening the spade lugs. Nothing special, but definitely worth mentioning. The controls on the panel are clear and easy to use, with good button feedback and response to button presses. I didn't have a remote display, but I think it will be next on my list. I was very pleased with the output power of the MPPT charge controller. Acopower claims a 10-20% improvement in output power compared to PWM, so I decided to give it a try and it's the subject of the attached video. I have an Acopower PWM controller that I tested with two panels, a 35Ah AGM battery and a 500W inverter driving a small compressor and an orbital sander. He was able to give me an amp more when my panels were rated for 12 volts even though my panels are rated for 24 volts. Running only one compressor increased the power I could get from the PWM controller and turning on the grinder drained the battery. I set up the exact same panel, battery and load configuration but changed the PWM controller to an Acopower MY40 MPPT. controller and was very satisfied with the result. The advantage of MPPT is that it converts the energy provided by your panels into energy that your batteries can use to charge. So while PWM reduces your panel's output voltage to the voltage your batteries need, wasting valuable solar power, the MPPT controller uses your panel's output and can convert that to the lower voltage that your batteries use at a higher voltage than yours require panels. Outside. One of the many advantages of MPPT is that I can use much higher panel voltage and fewer amps to get the same performance, allowing me to use thinner and cheaper cables from the panels to the charge controller. However, to the results. I got a maximum of 16.7A at 12.7V (212W) when configured with a PWM controller. By simply swapping out the MPPT controller, I was able to get 21 amps at 13.1 volts (275 watts) with the exact same setup. I also suspect I could get more out of the system, but I didn't connect an additional load to test this, so I can't say for sure. But 275W is 30% more than the 212W I got with the PWM controller. THIRTY PERCENT! In the video I say 20% but I just thought that an extra 4 amps is about 20 amps and 4 amps is 20% of 20 amps but in reality after I calculated the increase in voltage and amps there was an improvement of 29 .7% compared to PWM. The most wonderful. Obviously the solution with a PWM controller is to match your PV array to your battery voltage. So use 12V panels with a 12V battery to avoid wasting solar energy. Anyway, we share our thoughts on the Acopower MY40 MPPT solar charge controller. It's well designed with good instructions, it has 2 programmable charge timers to turn the battery voltage load on and off depending on the sunset, it can charge a wide range of battery chemistries with custom settings for more flexibility when setting up the battery pack. , It has remote display panel and battery temperature monitoring, and can be connected to PC or mobile phone for programming with APP provided by Acopower. However, it is also very easy to program it directly from the device's control panel. Much more than your simple solar charge controller, it can take your solar system to the next level of performance and ease of use. Definitely 5 stars for this device.