ALLPOWERS 20A Solar Charger Controller Solar Panel Battery Intelligent Regulator with USB Port Display 12V/24V

Worked great for about 6 weeks then died. Input shorted shunting solar panel. No longer charging batteries. I have it hooked to a panel that is rated 40 watt, max 40 volt, 36 volt at MPP. Update: Supplier gladly sent a new controller. It is hooked up and working fine. I could not find any reason for the original one failing so I must chalk it up to natural causes (lightning?). When the old one was working it did a good job of charging the batteries, no matter the lighting conditions, which means that it made good use of whatever the panel was sending it.

The charge controller works fine and I received prompt and courteous customer support after having a brief issue with a different product I hooked up to the ALLPOWERS Solar Charge Controller. I thought the charge controller didn't work properly but the folks at ALLPOWERS helped me diagnose the problem and the controller works great. I purchased this controller to charge the battery in a ham radio go box I made, and it has worked wonderfully for that purpose. I've had no issues with the controller, it's lightweight, small and easily hooked up. The main thing to remember is to always attach your battery to the charge controller before anything else. The battery basically turns the controller on. For the price, I don't believe you can find a better PWM charge controller, and the ALLPOWERS people were prompt and courteous in resolving my concerns. Any questions, please let me know and I'll try to help. Thanks for reading my review.

Pretty amazing for being the most affordable solar charge controller of decent quality. Was easy to install and is working as described in my van. Some little quirks like float volts can be set, but not equalize volts. Load on/off does not turn USB on/off. But just having USB, float volts setting, digital volts display; pretty amazing for the most affordable. 4 stars because a simple common question arose during install and I could not get an answer from the manual, the support phone, or the support email. To improve it could include a more thorough and clear manual, and a prompt proper English response to support emails. The question was if it was okay to disconnect and reconnect the battery for days at a time, without disconnecting the panels. The manual mentions always connecting battery first, but also says the controller handles a low battery voltage, so not clear. Relevant to most RV installs, to know if panels need to be disconnected every time battery is.

PROS: * Inexpensive * Two USB ports * Display screen * 12v and 24v * Supports multiple battery types * Very customizable * D2D Dusk to dawn (unexpected feature I really like) CONS: * PWM Pulse Width Modulation rather then MPPT * Connectors are a little small (It will fit 10 Gauge wire but just barely This is a PWM controller but for the money you save buying this controller rather then an expensive MPPT controller you could buy an extra 100 watt solar panel. For instance a Renology 20 amp MPPT controller is around $100 more. My last 100 watt panel cost me $108 delivered. The more expensive MPPT controller might be a better choice if space is extremely limited and you need to squeeze out every watt. For the rest of us this is a pretty good choice. The display: It's not the worlds greatest screen and I wish it had a back light but I have terrible vision and I can still see it just fine. If you mount it somewhere dark bring a flashlight. The default screen shows battery voltage, battery level, and whether the battery is charging. Buttons scroll through other information like charging amps, load amps, temperature of controller, and optional settings. The USB ports: These are convenient. I have charged my phone with these ports quite a few times. They are rated to deliver 3 amps combined. You won't be fast charging with these ports but they work fine. 12v / 24v: I won't go crazy explaining this but 24v can be better with long cable runs. I use 12v with short runs for convenience. This controller will do either. If you need 48v they make a controller that does that too. Supports multiple battery types: I use lead acid but you can also use Lithium Ion, and LIFePO4(Lithium Iron) For portable use Lithium Ion and LIFePO4 can save weight! Customizable: I won't go into every setting here but you can change things like cutoff voltage, charging voltage, low voltage reconnect, and turn short circuit protection on and off. D2D Dusk till dawn: I wasn't expecting this feature. This allows the controller to automatically turn on things like lights as soon as the sun goes down. If you want to set up outside lights this feature works great. I have been using this feature for solar night lights that actually work. This would be great for lighting a cabin, remote shed, or a long driveway. I was going to subtract a star because the manual didn't contain details on some advanced features but when I contacted the company they quickly responded with an updated copy of the manual. The updated version explained some features I previously didn't understand.

Oh boy, this is a good controller. I have a controller from Harbor Freight and there's no comparison. This controller is precise, accurate and smart. It's ideal if you want to charge a battery in the best way possible. It identifies what kind of battery you have and it provides the ideal voltage. It protects the battery from overcharge and it also has an optional feature that protects the battery from over depletion. Yes, I wish it had a couple of features that it doesn't have, but for $20, I have no complaints. This is real bargain. Here's what I wish it had: 1. An instructional manual written in comprehensible English. You'll have to go on YouTube to see this thing demonstrated if you want to know how it works. But the good news is, the chances are you will not want to change the settings. The default settings are ideal for AGM batteries. 2. The ability to use it without a battery. Why is this important? It's not. But if you connect it to a solar panel without the battery attached, you run the risk of ruining it. So long as you are sure you connect the battery first, you'll have no problem. And when you disconnect it from the system, disconnect the solar panel first. Just remember you'll never want the solar panel connected without the battery. I especially like the fact that I can glance at this controller and see the state of charge of my battery. I don't know of any other controllers that have this feature. It's a great feature and I wonder why it isn't even mentioned in the documentation. If you are in the habit of just checking voltage, that' a habit you should break. I was going to spend $50 on an amp hour meter but then I realized I don't have to because of this controller's feature. I don't see any controllers out there that are as good unless they cost more than $100. I'm quite impressed.

I liked the price but .. after installing the unit I found that the battery voltage it displayed is wrong. I verified this using two different volt meters. I posted a question to the vendors website and got an out of office message. Having the wrong voltage is bad when chrarging batteries. Second, I set the maximum charge voltage for 13.7v and it is currently charging at 14.2v. Not good, could be dangerous, causing serious overcharging condition. Other than that it works fine. I'll be returning unless someone from all powers sets me straight in the event that i'm doing something wrong. If so, I'll update my review. Update ** I tried resolving this with the vendor but there was either a language barrier or they just do not care enough to stand behind their product. I explained the situation in several email exchanges and the vendor just won't acknowledge the problem or doesn't understand the technical issues I have relayed to them. Either way, its going in the trash. ** BEWARE ** for those of you who posses a voltage meter I would highly recommend you test how your charge controller is functioning instead of just plugging it in and thinking all is fine. The Allpowers unit I bought here is supposed to enter 'float' mode when the battery voltage reaches 13.7 VDC, that is the default setting from the factory BUT it does not. It continues charging until the battery reaches an unsafe level of charge which will begin to boil the acid within the cells and off gas dangerous fumes. You may not even be aware this is happening until it is too late and your batteries are ruined (best case) or they explode (worst case). Please be careful!

Almost all loads trigger the short circuit protection, so disable the short circuit protection. For typical loads like phone chargers and such, it works flawlessly. I use this with a ham radio that draws 8 to 16 amps. The device has no RF shielding so during a transmissions it gets a bad voltage reading and momentarily disconnects the output when exposed to VHF or UHF radiation -- especially UHF radiation. One solution is to simply not use the output connection and draw from the battery itself. You lose the protections, which falsely trigger anyhow, so use a real fuse (and undervolt disconnect) if drawing directly from the battery. This device is an amazing value. Five stars if you can fix the RF shielding problem. I used an external volt/ammeter to confirm all of these observations, plus the display reads "30V" when exposed to a UHF walkie-talkie. Edit: I contacted the seller, and they got back to me the next day assuring me it's likely radio frequency interference that causes the momentary output dropouts. It doesn't happen often enough to worry about, and so far, only on VHF/UHF transmissions. HF radiation is fine (3-14Mhz). I'll add some ferrite chokes to the cables and hope for the best, otherwise, I'll simply draw directly from the battery and not the controller's output. No biggie - I even ordered a backup just now! Edit2: The output momentarily disconnects with our without RF transmissions. Typically after the battery has been sitting at 14.2V for a while, and with a 100watt solar panel connected. The output stops for a second, then reconnects. You can see the display "lightbulb/arrow" icons go away for this moment too. If you were charging your phone or something, you'd never notice. If you're running a computer, say raspberry pi, expect reboots. This happens on two different units I purchased, so either a design flaw or a production run issue. Edit 3: The load on/off switch doesn't work if a USB device is connected, this includes the low-voltage-cutoff mechanism. If you don't use USB, the load on/off and undervolt cutoff works great!

Before I purchased this I was hesitant due to the numerous bad reviews. It sounded like it would be a huge headache and filled with problems so I took my time and investigated everything. I have determined why those reviewers thought this was a bad buy and I want to help YOU understand what they did wrong and why these issues won’t be issues for you. The first issue I want to address are the wire connectors. Many reviewers say that the wires come right out and can’t stay in. Let me tell you the problem, if you look at the photo I took of the connectors you’ll see that there is a little metal square that moves up and down when you turn the screws, you want the wire inside that square and when you tighten the screws it moves that square up and tightens the wire. Many reviewers are simply sticking the wire in under the square and trying to tighten it down on the wire. Next numerous reviewers complain that 10gauge wire doesn’t fit well... if you read the specifications you’ll notice it is only rated for at largest 12 gauge, so obviously it won’t fit well... also you shouldn’t need 10 gauge wire if you are staying within the rated amperage. Speaking of rated amperage, this device is only rated to constantly manage 80% of its maximum amperage which is 16amps. Another reviewer mentioned that he had it set to float charge at 13.7v and that it was charging at 14.2v... he said he called support and there was a language barrier... well I actually think there was a comprehension barrier since the instructions state when charging LifePO4 batteries once the battery is full the device switches to float mode and it will charge at 14.2v for 2 hours and then continue at 13.7. These are default settings. The next are all the reviews complaining of the unit getting hot and overheating... sometimes this could be a legitimate failure, but more than likely the majority are due to mounting them incorrectly. If you refer to the photos you can see that the device is made to distribute heat out from the metal plate on the back of the unit. It specifies that there needs to be space above and below for airflow. I would go as far as to say that if you mount this inside a box you could have trouble and you also should not mount this in the sun. Mount this in a place the heat can escape from the rear of the unit. Make sure you read the directions and follow them. The unit is a cheap option but not a bad option. It is not weatherproof by the way... crazy how many people ask this... it shouldn’t even be used in high humidity. If you want something cheap and easy shoot for this. If you want bells and whistles go spend $200 on an MPPT.

Funktioniert seit ein paar Jahren einwandfrei! Bin zufrieden...tut was es soll

This is the best and accurate Solar Charge Controller you can obtain; don't waste your money on cheaper solar controllers that are inaccurate and poorly built, buy AllPowers for a top quality build! I am not being paid for this review; only posting an honest review!

usato anche come mantenitore/caricabatterie funziona molto bene, da impostare per il tipo di batteria che deve alimentare

Acheté en Juillet 2024, il fonctionne toujours bien avec un panneau de 50Wc et une batterie 12V/26Ah Plomb AGM. Par contre, il faudrait se mettre d'accord sur les réglages du type de batterie : D'une part vous avez 3 réglages listés : B01 (Plomb-Acide) - B02 (Lithium) - B03 (LIFePO4) D'autre part, 4 réglages : B01 (Plomb scellée) - B02 (Plomb gel) - B03 (Plomb acide liquide) - B04 (Lithium) Le tout sur la même page de produit... Alors quoi ? Plomb Gel et Plomb scellée sont toutes les deux "étanches", pas facile de faire la différence... Dans la deuxième liste, le LIFePO4 n'est même plus présent. Merci, pour le bien de tous, de faire une bonne fois pour toutes la lumière sur les différents réglages de batteries !

I like the quality construction (inside it) and the features. The adjustable voltage setting to have the loads shut off is nice. Same for the adjustable setting to have the loads energized again. Having two current readings; one from the solar panel and another for what is being drawn off the battery is nice. I bought this to replace the bare bones controller that came with a Coleman 100W 12V panel. Nothing wrong with it but it has no display, was non adjustable and had questionably sized wire compared to the heavy wire from the panel. For the price I might buy another for my cottage system. The manual is good. The print was small for my old eyes so I had them email me the PDF manual. Now its on my phone where I can find it and zoom in to read it (or print full size). I would probably change the menus/buttons a bit if I was programming it but that is just being persnickety.