MPPT is designed to maintain the voltage at 18V. It does this by reducing the current flow to the output side. So actually your test proves that the first module works. If you was to attach a solar panel to the input. You would see the voltage maintained at 18V in bright sunshine or cloudy sky. And as the light decreases to the point there is not even enough power to keep the module electronics running the voltage on the solar side will drop down until it is dark and 0v. A buck converter will maintain the voltage on the output side. But as the detriment of MMPT efficiencies. I have considered a hybrid solar MPPT tracking at 18V and a Buck converter that fires up at 17V and below to scavenge the remaining fading daylight light. However the tiny amount of power at that inefficient solar voltage and the panel giving out so few watts. It's just not worth it. As i suspect the only watts left in the system is the power used by the modules and their own step up or down inefficiency. And i am sure if there was any gain from a hybrid system. Some one would already be doing it.
I am targeting at charging a battery, not powering a load. So I am looking at current, not voltage (I set the max voltage out at 14.4 volt, the mppt bick converter will happily push it all the way up to there). If I use a buck converter only, it will drop the solar voltage so much, that the current drops because it is way too far from the max. power point. The setup in the video uses a power unit which delivers a constant (max) current, however compared to a solar panel, if the voltage drops, the current drops as well. The MPPT device will deliver much more, over a longer time period. To 'catch' a bit more, I have 2 mppt devices on the same solar panel, one for charging a 12 Volt battery on high volts, and when de voltage drops (low sun or clods) the second mppt device gets 'the remaining' and charges a bank of lipo's, used for charging phones and what not. I agree, a real MPPT device is worth a lot more, these cheapo's are still okay if you know how to use them (for solar only imho), and accept you need to set the maximum voltage so every now and then (as the sun gets higher through the season). It works for me, running my phone and laptop all day on a very old 180 Watt panel at a super low angle (almost horizontal). In the summer I remove the cheapo converter and use a grid converter since it is way to much power to handle then.
Hey mate, can we combine a buck converter with a pwm charge controller to keep the buck converter from collapsing due to insufficient current as the load demands more current and buck converters just can't automatically limit the output current which leads to converter collapse where the input voltage from the solar panel drops drastically due to the converter trying to supply a constant voltage and current the load requires, but a pwm controls the available power or current from a solar panel in times of solar iradiance, I was thinking that since the pwm will only supply the available current from the source without letting the battery draw more power from the source, can we combine buck coneverters with pwm to solve the problem faced by buck converters (converter collapse) by connecting the output of the buck to the input of the pwm, so that the pwm will manage to supply the available current the buck can output, without demanding too much that it would cause the voltage from the solar input to drop? Am I making sense?
@@LostSoulsMed. I think you just sort of described how MPPT works (in technical terms). If the electronic circuit does not 'know' the maximum power point, there is no easy way to 'emulate' MPPT. I do have on in mind using a simple NE555 (which does the pwm as well), but I have not had time to work on that idea.
@@deslomeslagerYes mate, this idea do not similarly works as an MPPT for it doesn't track the maximum power, the idea that combining buck converters and pwm to resolve the issue of converter collapse and hopefully provide some efficiency compare to using pwm alone, coz pwm doesn't convert excess voltage to usable current, if your system has a great voltage difference between the solar array output voltage and the battery voltage, for instance a series of two 18v panel is 36v charging a 24v battery to around 26v is a lot of wasted power due to high voltage difference when using pwm alone. My idea is to convert the power first closer to what the pwm needs to charge a 24v system , taking advantage of the usable current from the conversion. MPPT uses conversion efficiently by tracking the Maximum power point, while this set up simply converts the available power from the source to a constant voltage with the available current. No one has ever done this before, and right now, I don't have the resources to run some test about this idea, hopefully can bring hopes to solar enthusiast that can't afford expensive MPPTs , but wants to have a juice of efficiency to their set up
Not really. It's an MPP module but without the T (it does no tracking but can achieve the maximum power point). A buck converter would be even worse than this module.
Hello, I have attached a lifepo4 battery to this voltage reducer and connected it to the solar panel. When I wake up in the morning, the regulator does not charge. you have to remove the battery and when you reinstall it this error doesn't happen i don't want to deal with it what should i do
The "buck converter" you say is better (red board) also has an MPP adjustment pot. You just didn't adjust it to the maximum power point. Also, your entire test was flawed, because when the board cuts off the current, with an actual solar panel, the input cell voltage will recover, and power will still flow, unlike your power supply that just STOPS allowing power.
I agree that the test is incorrect, at least for the first controller. I use the same module with a 30w 18v solar panel and it really works. What is wrong in your test is that you don't mimic the behaviour of a real solar panel when the sun is covered by clouds. In theory, a solar panel with no load will give you the same voltage (mine outputs about 21V). When the sun is dimming, the current is the one that is lowering. But now here comes the controller: it automatically adjusts the load (and so the current) so the voltage on the solar panel stays around the sweet spot (maximum power point), 18V. So in your test you should had adjusted the PSU current, not the voltage. This is happening in real life with mppt controllers and solar panels. Anyway, these cheap modules are not real mppt controllers because they do not actively track. With the load connected, one must manually adjust the first potentiometer until the voltage on the solar panel is at the maximum power point (the voltage of this point is written on the back of the panel). Small adjustments can be made by watching the output power. The problem is that the max power point changes with the panel temperature but for small projects the initial settings will suffice.
Hello, can this buck converter good for for direct charging the celphone from 20w 18v solar panel? Will the ampere increase if to set the voltage to 5v in buck converter? Please answer, i need your reply badly.
@@florinberechet6375 Hey I got the same blue MPP converter as in the video. However I don't know how to set them up properly. I want 5V output and MPP at 18V for my solar panel. I connected the converter with 20V on my power supply and then adjusted the voltage poti (CV) without load to give me 5V. Then I adjust the MPPT poti almost to the point where my output voltage drops. I thought this was the correct way of setting up that converter right? The issue is, that when I apply load (e.g loading a powerbank) on that 5V they drop to around 4.6V and also the current drops way too much. The CC poti is set to the full.
@@domtechnik8405 what is the current in the output in 5v setup? I think 4.6v should be adjusted to 5v while the load is attached for correct voltage usage, and see to it that the sun totally bright when doing the setup.
Because MPPT is like a computer while this blue module is like a calculator. They also sell a 5A automatic MPPT module for like 7 dollars on the well-known chinese website. It's red and looks similar to this one.
You're wrong. A solar panel decreases current when a cloud passes by. It just drops voltage when the load is too heavy for its current. The MPP buck converter will try to decrease output current to maintain the voltage you set (18 volts).
I thought the concept of mppt was to "track" automatically and not be a set point...maybe you could apply a change over relay to switch the more efficient "set point" device. I have also purchased a bunch of these things. The idea is to use 48v solar panels to charge 12 volt batteries
Soooo, this video does not demonstrate how to use the MPPT module correctly. It does use the fluctuating voltage seen in solar panel use. Other people comment on it much better and in more detail than I will, but basically, these are not designed to power loads primarily. They are designed to convert excessive, unused voltage ( beyond a user-assigned value) into current /amps. They are used in systems of other modules to charge to a battery. Each battery has a specific charging voltage established by its manufacturer. You set this module to the voltage they specify. You would never want to leave a battery, especially a lithium battery, connected to something generating the open voltage of a “12 volt” solar panel, which is 18v 💥🔥! After you set the battery charging voltage to the proper voltage (the manufacturer of my Lifepo4 battery, for example, says 14.4v with a max of 7A current), a module like this just converts all the volts above 14.4v into current. Since the battery can receive 7amps of charge current and a 10-watt 12v panel realistically only produces 0.5A without an MPPT buck, any extra current a buck adds is excellent. With a pvm-only controller, the pvm automatically converts the 18v to 14v and even less if the battery needs a lot of charge, but it just throws away those precious volts. If you have two 12v panels serially connected = 38v, then you have a lot more volts above 14.4v to convert to convert to current -to get closer to the 7A (maximum) goal. This module only handles 5A, max, however, so don’t attach huge panels to it. I have not used this exact module, so I don't know if it has overcharge / undercharge, reverse, boost, float, etc. modes like the ones that I have. If it does not, I would not use it alone to charge batteries. Keep a fiberglass fire blanket around and never leave it unsupervised, if you do. 👀
Design is really cheap to get a mppt to work right down to low voltage the current need to be adjusted automatically even if current drop 10 % the current reduces to a 1 amp so it’s very easy to design so I think the cheap Chinese ship is missing about of details I don’t use micro controller chips because it’s way more easier to use analog ic to get the same results the tl494 ic have everything need in one package for solar mppt mapping just need 2 op amp one voltage follower and one current follower it’s easy and system to design
Hello, can this buck converter good for for direct charging the celphone from 20w 18v solar panel? Will the ampere increase if to set the voltage to 5v in buck converter? Please answer, i need your reply badly.
@@stephenshop4946 dont expect too much from your 20W panels. Most of time they convert just around 10W of energy which probably too small for energy-consuming devices. But you can charge few legacy USB devices with total power less than 10 watt
@@stephenshop4946 i have no such problem like you cus have 2x40W panels and 24V battery in the middle. So this is completely different usage scenario allows me to powerup even 100W notebook (USB-C 20V*5A)
Hey mate that mppt controller has 3 resistor pots.
Cv,cc, and the 3rd one is low voltage disconnect.
You have to adjust that so it will stay active
MPPT is designed to maintain the voltage at 18V. It does this by reducing the current flow to the output side. So actually your test proves that the first module works. If you was to attach a solar panel to the input. You would see the voltage maintained at 18V in bright sunshine or cloudy sky. And as the light decreases to the point there is not even enough power to keep the module electronics running the voltage on the solar side will drop down until it is dark and 0v. A buck converter will maintain the voltage on the output side. But as the detriment of MMPT efficiencies. I have considered a hybrid solar MPPT tracking at 18V and a Buck converter that fires up at 17V and below to scavenge the remaining fading daylight light. However the tiny amount of power at that inefficient solar voltage and the panel giving out so few watts. It's just not worth it. As i suspect the only watts left in the system is the power used by the modules and their own step up or down inefficiency. And i am sure if there was any gain from a hybrid system. Some one would already be doing it.
I am targeting at charging a battery, not powering a load. So I am looking at current, not voltage (I set the max voltage out at 14.4 volt, the mppt bick converter will happily push it all the way up to there). If I use a buck converter only, it will drop the solar voltage so much, that the current drops because it is way too far from the max. power point. The setup in the video uses a power unit which delivers a constant (max) current, however compared to a solar panel, if the voltage drops, the current drops as well. The MPPT device will deliver much more, over a longer time period. To 'catch' a bit more, I have 2 mppt devices on the same solar panel, one for charging a 12 Volt battery on high volts, and when de voltage drops (low sun or clods) the second mppt device gets 'the remaining' and charges a bank of lipo's, used for charging phones and what not. I agree, a real MPPT device is worth a lot more, these cheapo's are still okay if you know how to use them (for solar only imho), and accept you need to set the maximum voltage so every now and then (as the sun gets higher through the season). It works for me, running my phone and laptop all day on a very old 180 Watt panel at a super low angle (almost horizontal). In the summer I remove the cheapo converter and use a grid converter since it is way to much power to handle then.
Hey mate, can we combine a buck converter with a pwm charge controller to keep the buck converter from collapsing due to insufficient current as the load demands more current and buck converters just can't automatically limit the output current which leads to converter collapse where the input voltage from the solar panel drops drastically due to the converter trying to supply a constant voltage and current the load requires, but a pwm controls the available power or current from a solar panel in times of solar iradiance, I was thinking that since the pwm will only supply the available current from the source without letting the battery draw more power from the source, can we combine buck coneverters with pwm to solve the problem faced by buck converters (converter collapse) by connecting the output of the buck to the input of the pwm, so that the pwm will manage to supply the available current the buck can output, without demanding too much that it would cause the voltage from the solar input to drop? Am I making sense?
@@LostSoulsMed. I think you just sort of described how MPPT works (in technical terms). If the electronic circuit does not 'know' the maximum power point, there is no easy way to 'emulate' MPPT. I do have on in mind using a simple NE555 (which does the pwm as well), but I have not had time to work on that idea.
@@deslomeslagerYes mate, this idea do not similarly works as an MPPT for it doesn't track the maximum power, the idea that combining buck converters and pwm to resolve the issue of converter collapse and hopefully provide some efficiency compare to using pwm alone, coz pwm doesn't convert excess voltage to usable current, if your system has a great voltage difference between the solar array output voltage and the battery voltage, for instance a series of two 18v panel is 36v charging a 24v battery to around 26v is a lot of wasted power due to high voltage difference when using pwm alone. My idea is to convert the power first closer to what the pwm needs to charge a 24v system , taking advantage of the usable current from the conversion. MPPT uses conversion efficiently by tracking the Maximum power point, while this set up simply converts the available power from the source to a constant voltage with the available current. No one has ever done this before, and right now, I don't have the resources to run some test about this idea, hopefully can bring hopes to solar enthusiast that can't afford expensive MPPTs , but wants to have a juice of efficiency to their set up
You can replace mpp potensio with digital and controlled its values using microcontroller with P&O algorithm, then you will get MPPT
Most MPPT modules have no MPPT control chip, just a buck converter.
Not really. It's an MPP module but without the T (it does no tracking but can achieve the maximum power point). A buck converter would be even worse than this module.
It is fake mppt. Just buck converter. Only expensive device are real mppt
Why don't you adjust the three left potentiometers in order to get the voltage you want???
I don't think those pots are for that.
What are 3 the pots for? I know the right most is for output voltage adjustment.
@@SolarMinerPH MPP (manual) and in some order the usual Li-Ion buck converter pots, CC, CV and fully charged indicator.
Finnaly i found a video that im looking for
Hello, I have attached a lifepo4 battery to this voltage reducer and connected it to the solar panel. When I wake up in the morning, the regulator does not charge. you have to remove the battery and when you reinstall it this error doesn't happen i don't want to deal with it what should i do
The "buck converter" you say is better (red board) also has an MPP adjustment pot. You just didn't adjust it to the maximum power point. Also, your entire test was flawed, because when the board cuts off the current, with an actual solar panel, the input cell voltage will recover, and power will still flow, unlike your power supply that just STOPS allowing power.
I agree that the test is incorrect, at least for the first controller. I use the same module with a 30w 18v solar panel and it really works. What is wrong in your test is that you don't mimic the behaviour of a real solar panel when the sun is covered by clouds. In theory, a solar panel with no load will give you the same voltage (mine outputs about 21V). When the sun is dimming, the current is the one that is lowering. But now here comes the controller: it automatically adjusts the load (and so the current) so the voltage on the solar panel stays around the sweet spot (maximum power point), 18V. So in your test you should had adjusted the PSU current, not the voltage. This is happening in real life with mppt controllers and solar panels. Anyway, these cheap modules are not real mppt controllers because they do not actively track. With the load connected, one must manually adjust the first potentiometer until the voltage on the solar panel is at the maximum power point (the voltage of this point is written on the back of the panel). Small adjustments can be made by watching the output power. The problem is that the max power point changes with the panel temperature but for small projects the initial settings will suffice.
Hello, can this buck converter good for for direct charging the celphone from 20w 18v solar panel? Will the ampere increase if to set the voltage to 5v in buck converter? Please answer, i need your reply badly.
@@florinberechet6375 thanks for taking time to explain
@@florinberechet6375 Hey I got the same blue MPP converter as in the video. However I don't know how to set them up properly. I want 5V output and MPP at 18V for my solar panel. I connected the converter with 20V on my power supply and then adjusted the voltage poti (CV) without load to give me 5V. Then I adjust the MPPT poti almost to the point where my output voltage drops. I thought this was the correct way of setting up that converter right? The issue is, that when I apply load (e.g loading a powerbank) on that 5V they drop to around 4.6V and also the current drops way too much. The CC poti is set to the full.
@@domtechnik8405 what is the current in the output in 5v setup?
I think 4.6v should be adjusted to 5v while the load is attached for correct voltage usage, and see to it that the sun totally bright when doing the setup.
Then why mppt are expensive ?
Because MPPT is like a computer while this blue module is like a calculator.
They also sell a 5A automatic MPPT module for like 7 dollars on the well-known chinese website. It's red and looks similar to this one.
You're wrong. A solar panel decreases current when a cloud passes by. It just drops voltage when the load is too heavy for its current. The MPP buck converter will try to decrease output current to maintain the voltage you set (18 volts).
I thought the concept of mppt was to "track" automatically and not be a set point...maybe you could apply a change over relay to switch the more efficient "set point" device. I have also purchased a bunch of these things. The idea is to use 48v solar panels to charge 12 volt batteries
48V solar panels will have Voc far over 60V, these will fry that devices.
It's mislabelled. It's not MPPT, it's just MPP, but it works... kind of
Soooo, this video does not demonstrate how to use the MPPT module correctly. It does use the fluctuating voltage seen in solar panel use. Other people comment on it much better and in more detail than I will, but basically, these are not designed to power loads primarily. They are designed to convert excessive, unused voltage ( beyond a user-assigned value) into current /amps. They are used in systems of other modules to charge to a battery.
Each battery has a specific charging voltage established by its manufacturer. You set this module to the voltage they specify. You would never want to leave a battery, especially a lithium battery, connected to something generating the open voltage of a “12 volt” solar panel, which is 18v 💥🔥!
After you set the battery charging voltage to the proper voltage (the manufacturer of my Lifepo4 battery, for example, says 14.4v with a max of 7A current), a module like this just converts all the volts above 14.4v into current. Since the battery can receive 7amps of charge current and a 10-watt 12v panel realistically only produces 0.5A without an MPPT buck, any extra current a buck adds is excellent.
With a pvm-only controller, the pvm automatically converts the 18v to 14v and even less if the battery needs a lot of charge, but it just throws away those precious volts.
If you have two 12v panels serially connected = 38v, then you have a lot more volts above 14.4v to convert to convert to current -to get closer to the 7A (maximum) goal. This module only handles 5A, max, however, so don’t attach huge panels to it.
I have not used this exact module, so I don't know if it has overcharge / undercharge, reverse, boost, float, etc. modes like the ones that I have. If it does not, I would not use it alone to charge batteries.
Keep a fiberglass fire blanket around and never leave it unsupervised, if you do. 👀
Design is really cheap to get a mppt to work right down to low voltage the current need to be adjusted automatically even if current drop 10 % the current reduces to a 1 amp so it’s very easy to design so I think the cheap Chinese ship is missing about of details I don’t use micro controller chips because it’s way more easier to use analog ic to get the same results the tl494 ic have everything need in one package for solar mppt mapping just need 2 op amp one voltage follower and one current follower it’s easy and system to design
OLS TL494 PROJECT MPPT
Hello, can this buck converter good for for direct charging the celphone from 20w 18v solar panel? Will the ampere increase if to set the voltage to 5v in buck converter? Please answer, i need your reply badly.
it will charge. at least it able to powerup one 5V*2Amp usb device
@@sergeyvasiliuk6425 No more to two devices?
@@stephenshop4946 dont expect too much from your 20W panels. Most of time they convert just around 10W of energy which probably too small for energy-consuming devices. But you can charge few legacy USB devices with total power less than 10 watt
Have you tried this mppt buck converter?
@@stephenshop4946 i have no such problem like you cus have 2x40W panels and 24V battery in the middle. So this is completely different usage scenario allows me to powerup even 100W notebook (USB-C 20V*5A)
Excellent
Spesifikasi modul output you must hub dioda!!! If not that mybe any backfeed voltage to modul...
Thanks