Renogy 30A PWM Solar Charge Controller User Manual

Renogy 30A PWM Solar Charge Controller User Manual

Important Safety Instructions

Renogy® Official- offer This manual contains important safety, installation, and operating instructions. The following symbols are used throughout the manual to indicate potentially dangerous conditions or important safety information. ..

• Read all the instructions and cautions in the manual before beginning the installation.
• There are no serviceable parts for this controller. Do NOT disassemble or attempt to repair the controller.
• Make sure all connections going into and from the controller are tight.

Charge Controller Safety

• NEVER connect the solar panel array to the controller without a battery. The battery must be connected first. This may cause a dangerous occurrence where the controller would experience a high open circuit voltage at the terminals.
• Ensure input voltage does not exceed 50 VDC to prevent permanent damage. Use the Open Circuit (Voc) to make sure the voltage does not exceed this value when connecting panels together in series.
• The charge controller should be installed indoors in a well-ventilated, cool, and dry environment.
• Do NOT allow water to enter the controller.

Battery Safety

• Use only sealed lead-acid, flooded, gel, or lithium batteries which must be a deep cycle.
• Explosive battery gases may be present while charging. Be certain there is enough ventilation to release the gases.
• Be careful when working with large lead-acid batteries. Wear eye protection and have fresh water available in case there is contact with the battery acid.
• Carefully read battery manuals before operation.
• Do NOT let the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals of the battery touch each other.
• Recycle the battery when it is replaced.
• Over-charging and excessive gas precipitation may damage the battery plates and activate material shedding on them. Too high of an equalizing charge or too long of one may cause damage. Please carefully review the specific requirements of the battery used in the system.
• Equalization is carried out only for nonsealed / vented/ flooded / wet cell lead acid batteries.
• Do NOT equalize sealed / VRLA type AGM / Gel cell batteries UNLESS permitted by the battery manufacturer.

General Information

The Renogy 100W & 50W Eclipse Lightweight Suitcase combines highly efficient monocrystalline solar panels with a 10A PWM charge controller to create an easy-to-use, ‘plug and play’ system. This system is specifically designed for mobile off-grid applications, where space and weight limitations are abundant.

The models support 12V/24V deep cycle battery varieties such as sealed lead acid, gel, and flooded. The alligator clips included in this package make it easy to connect the panel to a battery in seconds. If one ever needs to connect a battery with a different type of end terminal, the alligator clips are attached via MC4 Connectors.

Key Features

• Optimized for 12 VDC system voltage
• Deep Cycle Sealed, Gel, Flooded, and Lithium battery options.
• 4 Stage PWM charging: Bulk, Boost. Float, and Equalization
• 30A charging capacity.
• Temperature compensation and correcting the charging and discharging parameters
• automatically, improving battery life.
• Protection against: reverse current, overcharging, short-circuit and reverse polarity.
• Negative ground controller
• Multiple LED indicators for easy-to-read charge status and battery information.
• Remote temperature compensation compatible (accessory sold separately)
• Integrated communication port for remote monitoring.
• Charges over-discharged lithium batteries.

PWM Technology

The Wanderer utilizes Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technology for battery charging. Battery charging is a current-based process so controlling the current will control the battery voltage. For the most accurate return of capacity, and for the prevention of excessive gassing pressure, the battery is required to be controlled by specified voltage regulation set points for Absorption, Float, and Equalization charging stages.

The charge controller uses automatic duty cycle conversion, creating pulses of current to charge the battery. The duty cycle is proportional to the difference between the sensed battery voltage and the specified voltage regulation set point. Once the battery reached the specified voltage range, pulse current charging mode allows the battery to react and allows for an acceptable rate of charge for the battery level. The Wanderer has a 4-stage battery charging algorithm for rapid, efficient, and safe battery charging. They include Bulk Charge, Boost Charge, Float Charge, and Equalization.

Bulk Charge:
This algorithm is used for day-to-day charging. It uses 100% of available solar power to recharge the battery and is equivalent to constant current.

Boost Charge:
When the battery has charged to the Boost voltage set-point, it undergoes an absorption stage which is equivalent to constant voltage regulation to prevent heating and excessive gassing in the battery. The Boost time is 120 minutes.

Float Charge:

After Boost Charge, the controller will reduce the battery voltage to a float voltage set point. Once the battery is fully charged, there will be no more chemical reactions and all the charge current would turn into heat or gas. Because of this, the charge controller will reduce the voltage charge to a smaller quantity, while lightly charging the battery.

The purpose of this is to offset power consumption while maintaining a full battery storage capacity. In the event that a load drawn from the battery exceeds the charge current, the controller will no longer be able to maintain the battery to a Float set point and the controller will end the float charge stage and refer back to bulk charging.

Equalization:
Is carried out every 28 days of the month. It is intentional overcharging of the battery for a controlled period of time. Certain types of batteries benefit from periodic equalizing charges, which can stir the electrolyte, balance battery voltage, and complete chemical reactions. Equalizing charge increases the battery voltage, higher than the standard complement voltage, which gasifies the battery electrolyte.

Lithium Battery Activation

The Wanderer PWM charge controller has a reactivation feature to awaken a sleeping lithium battery. The protection circuit of a lithium battery will typically turn the battery off and make it unusable if over-discharged. This can happen when storing a lithium battery pack in a discharged state for any length of time as self-discharge would gradually deplete the remaining charge.

Without the wake-up feature to reactivate and recharge batteries, these batteries would become unserviceable and the packs would be discarded. The Wanderer will apply a small charge current to activate the protection circuit and if a correct cell voltage can be reached, it starts a normal charge.

Optional Components

The Wanderer is shipped with by itself with no additional components. Optional components that require a separate purchase:

Remote Temperature Sensor (TS-R): 

Measures the temperature at the battery and uses this data for very accurate temperature compensation. The sensor is supplied with a 6.6ft cable length that connects to the charge controller.

BT-1 Bluetooth Module: 

The BT-1 Bluetooth module is a great addition to any Renogy charge controller with an RS232 port and is used to pair charge controllers with the Renogy BT App. After pairing is done you can monitor your system and change parameters directly from your cell phone or tablet. No more wondering how your system is performing, now you can see the performance in real-time without the need of checking on the controller’s LCD.

Identification of Parts
Key Part

1. Battery Select Button
2. Battery Type Indicator
3. Battery Indicator
4. PV Indicator
5. Remote Temperature Sensor Port (optional accessory)
6. PV Terminals
7. Battery Terminals
8. RS-232 Port (optional accessory)

Installation

Connect battery terminal wires to the charge controller FIRST then connect the solar panel(s) to the charge controller. NEVER connect the solar panel to the charge controller before the battery.

Do not over-torque or over-tighten the screw terminals. This could potentially break the piece that holds the wire to the charge controller. Refer to the technical specifications for max wire sizes on the controller and for the maximum amperage going through wires.

Mounting Recommendations: 

Never install the controller in a sealed enclosure with flooded batteries. Gas can accumulate and there is a risk of explosion.

1. Choose Mounting Location—place the controller on a vertical surface protected from direct sunlight, high temperatures, and water. Make sure there is good ventilation.
2. Check for Clearance—verify that there is sufficient room to run wires, as well as clearance above and below the controller for ventilation. The clearance should be at least 6 inches (150mm).
3. Mark Holes
4. Drill Holes
   The Wanderer is not equipped with screws for wall mounting.
5. Secure the charge controller.

Battery

Solar Panel

Bluetooth Module Communication (optional) 

Temperature Sensor (optional, not polarity sensitive) 

Operation

After connecting the battery to the charge controller, the controller will turn on automatically. The operation of this controller is very simple. Users set the battery type and leave the rest of the work to the charge controller

Setting Battery Type
Simply hold the gray button for approximately 7 seconds until the LED flashes. Once flashing, then press the gray button again to the desired battery type (they are color coded) and simply leave the controller alone until the flashing stops (this should take approximately 10 seconds). This indicates the parameter has been set.

If the LED lights do not flash, hold the gray button for 7 seconds again, release it, and immediately press the gray button again to enable the flashing.

Set Battery Type
Sealed	Gel	Flooded	Li

LED Indicators
The Wanderer is a simple-to-use controller requiring little to no maintenance. Users can be informed about the charge controller’s status based on the LED indicators at the PV and Battery levels. The following chart goes into further detail regarding the Wanderer’s indicators.

PV Indicator	BATT Indicator		Controller Status
FastFlashing	n/a		PV terminal is over-voltage
Solid	n/a		PV terminal low output
Slow Flashing		Solid	Battery is charging normally
Slow Flashing		Slow Flashing	The battery is in float charge
n/a		Fast Flashing	The battery is over-voltage
n/a		Solid	The battery is under-voltage
n/a		Solid	The battery is over-discharged
n/a		Slow Flashing	The battery is over-heating

System Status Troubleshooting

Maintenance

For best controller performance, it is recommended that these tasks be performed from time to time

1. Check that controller is mounted in a clean, dry, and ventilated area.
2. Check the wiring going into the charge controller and make sure there is no wire damage or wear.
3. Tighten all terminals and inspect any loose, broken, or burnt-up connections.

Fusing 

Technical Specifications

Electrical Specifications 

Battery Charging Parameters 

REFERENCE LINK

https://www.renogy.com/wanderer-li-30a-pwm-charge-controller/

DOWNLOAD LINK

Renogy 30A PWM Solar Charge Controller User Manual