Yes. Your testing inspired my switch from from EPEver to Victron a few months ago, along with the price drops. 150/70 for $382. (I am thinking that would have been $600 or $700 before, if i remember right.) And the Victron has certainly increased my daily solar production. Thanks for all your hard work!
My personal favorites are the 100/20 and the 150/35. Very cost effective and they can handle 12/24/36/48V. I like the 75/15 for very small 12V systems but since I mess around a lot I generally don't go lower than the 100/20 these days. The 75/15 and the 100/20 do have one additional disadvantage in that they can't handle large wire gauges and the terminals are pretty weak... I've destroyed set screws over-torqing more than once on the smaller controllers. -Matt
Oh yes, I forgot to add this to my message also, the terminals are weak and as Matt said it can't handle bigger wires. Matt the overheating puts me right off of Victron :( adding cooling draws even more power from the system :( I suspect that in cooler climates it will be ok. It is also a sealed unit that can not be opened or fixed :(
I agree about the wire sizing on the 75/15. And I do prefer having the 150/35 to make any kind of system. Just more options for sure. Probably my favorite of all of them, but they are all serving me quite well. Aloha Matt🤙
Anything smaller than the 100/20 sucks. Have a search for the magic sand falling out of the devices that don't have a proper heat sink. Keep that in mind.
@@andrewford80 The Victron charge controllers have very good heat sinks, just generally speaking. The 75/15 is actually filled with silica, as is the 100/20. They also reduce generation above 60C or so (they say 40C but it's more like 60C).
@@junkerzn7312 Are you sure about the 100/20 having the sand? I contacted victron about this and was informed that any of the models that had a physical metal heatsink did not use the sand. The problem with the silica sand is is falls out when the heat cycles cause the seal to break. Rendering your controller pretty much useless when it can't dissipate the heat. Check the victron community forums if you like. It's well documented there. Lucky for me it was covered under warranty. Got the 100/20 on the recommendation of the victron team and have not looked back. It's much better and worth the extra dollars
I swapped my Victron 100 /30 for a Rich Solar 40amp charge controller. The Victrom was too bare-bones for me. The Rich has an LED screen plus Bluetooth. About pricing, even for Lithium Life Po 4 batteries a couple of years ago, you were lucky to buy a 12-volt 100 Ah battery for less than $350.00. A couple of weeks ago I bought a TimeUSB 12 volt 100 Ah battery for $161.00 on sale. A couple of years ago. I do kick myself for paying over 600 dollars for used Valence 12volt 135Ah batteries. Now they are 300.00 and less.I think we all paid too much years ago but it's getting better all the time.
just replaced my Victron Pheonix 1200 watt inverter - had been on for 35,000 hours contentious - paid $350 for it - so this inverter cost me One Cent per hour of use - Nice -
@@GroovyVideo2 well I’m glad to hear that because I bought a Victron Phoenix 1200(12 volt )a little over a year ago. It’s as heavy as a boat anchor however it has been on continuously running my refrigerator ever since I connected it.😊👍
I just got 2 of the 100/30 Smartsolar controllers for possible Louisiana tropical storms this year so I can run a small window ac some with a 300ah LiFeP04.
Since watching Your Channel and Will Prouse, I ditched RENOGY and Have ALL VICTRON ENERGY SMART SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLERS and INVERTERS here. WZRELB for 2500 & 3000 Watt Inverters as well. The RENOGY 3000 watt 12 Volt Inverter couldn't Perform for Me like The other 2 and I opted for 24 Volt Systems across The Board here for 6 Complete Systems. 🌴 Aloha 🤙 🌵 💦 Indian Creek Ranch ⛩
Hey Bob! I have only one Victron 100 / 20 it also has a 12V load output, but if you go over the 20Amp versions the 12V or DC output on the CC itself falls away :( I use 12V extensively so the bigger models are no good to me, but I must admit the Vicron CC 100 / 20 has performed well except in hot climates, it does seem to run much hotter than any of my other systems and I had to add cooling to the Victron CC
I notice some heat when they're cranking hard, but haven't needed to add fans at this point. But my ambient temps are not too hot here which helps. Aloha!🤙
I would like to add one more point. These items costs more in India where it is manufactured and shipped to the USA. If you compare the prices, in USA you can get the 100 | 50 MPPT for $182.99, however here in India, it costs ₹21,800.50 which is $259.80. That's 30% expensive.
I'm running 14kw in PV with room to add another 10kw if needed. Output 18kw, yeah there's definitely a bit of a price difference on that scale. Other than that can't say I've got any beef with Victron. They've proven themselves well. I can still see them filling some of my needs in the future. I just did snag a 48/375 inverter to run my solar shed lights, wanting my lighting to be independent of my main system. That little booger fit the bill perfectly having the option for a remote dry contact (I call it a light switch) located at the door to turn the inverter on and off. hahaha Sweet huh! :)
I have several smart solar charged controllers just like you and eventually I decided to standardize on all of them being the 150/35. Just in case I need to do a swap I can have the same one that fits everywhere. The price drop average is lower because on the average it’s lower no matter which controller replacing just to put a 150/35 and if you do need to replace one or add another one somewhere, just have a spare.
yep. Amazing prices for the quality. Not sure why you'd choose anything over these at this point. 150v/60amp Epever is nearly $80 more now, and Victron doesn't break their cloud monitoring every few months.
Pandemic “supply chain” issues/excuses. Competition as well, the other brands have improved their Bluetooth apps and other options. I avoided them until late last year, now I have two and a dc2dc charger. Use that for lithium to lead acid overnight charging when heavy use occurs.
I moved over to Victron about 5 years ago and love them. Been living with off grid power for around 25 years now and back in the day, Victron was for the super rich. I have found the price of Victron equipment dropping as well. I just hope they have not dropped their quality by shifting manufacturing to cheaper countries with cheaper components, which is the way many reliable brands have gone and become less reliable 😬
Yes, it was always way out of my budget range too. Glad they made the move to make it easier on us! Pure sine wave back in the day was untouchable too. 🤙
Your prices are high cause some people are living the american dream on your back, only problem is that all mppt you got are NOT serviceable in case they fail. Reason i bought an RS450.
Yeah the priced dropped I think fall of 2023, I expected a new product line release after their inventory drained from the slashed prices but it never materialized. At least not yet?
I remember not too long ago you were telling all the battery companies they could get below the $200 price on a 100 amp hour battery and I’m starting to see that now flash sales and stuff like that👍😊
Yes. Your testing inspired my switch from from EPEver to Victron a few months ago, along with the price drops. 150/70 for $382. (I am thinking that would have been $600 or $700 before, if i remember right.) And the Victron has certainly increased my daily solar production. Thanks for all your hard work!
My pleasure brother. Aloha🤙
Back then , I could not see myself buying one, but I can see myself trying one out soon. 48v system.
Absolutely!🤙
The best part about price drop is the quality did not drop. Pretty much all I install in RV systems is Victron now.
Same great quality, only cheaper! Whats not to love about that yeah? Aloha Robert!🤙
Just got my new 100/50 👍🏻
Nice!😉🤙
Thank you for your video! Victron is a joy to own and a beauty to behold.
Great look back in history.
🤙
My personal favorites are the 100/20 and the 150/35. Very cost effective and they can handle 12/24/36/48V. I like the 75/15 for very small 12V systems but since I mess around a lot I generally don't go lower than the 100/20 these days. The 75/15 and the 100/20 do have one additional disadvantage in that they can't handle large wire gauges and the terminals are pretty weak... I've destroyed set screws over-torqing more than once on the smaller controllers.
-Matt
Oh yes, I forgot to add this to my message also, the terminals are weak and as Matt said it can't handle bigger wires. Matt the overheating puts me right off of Victron :( adding cooling draws even more power from the system :( I suspect that in cooler climates it will be ok. It is also a sealed unit that can not be opened or fixed :(
I agree about the wire sizing on the 75/15. And I do prefer having the 150/35 to make any kind of system. Just more options for sure. Probably my favorite of all of them, but they are all serving me quite well. Aloha Matt🤙
Anything smaller than the 100/20 sucks. Have a search for the magic sand falling out of the devices that don't have a proper heat sink. Keep that in mind.
@@andrewford80 The Victron charge controllers have very good heat sinks, just generally speaking. The 75/15 is actually filled with silica, as is the 100/20. They also reduce generation above 60C or so (they say 40C but it's more like 60C).
@@junkerzn7312 Are you sure about the 100/20 having the sand? I contacted victron about this and was informed that any of the models that had a physical metal heatsink did not use the sand. The problem with the silica sand is is falls out when the heat cycles cause the seal to break. Rendering your controller pretty much useless when it can't dissipate the heat.
Check the victron community forums if you like. It's well documented there. Lucky for me it was covered under warranty. Got the 100/20 on the recommendation of the victron team and have not looked back. It's much better and worth the extra dollars
I swapped my Victron 100 /30 for a Rich Solar 40amp charge controller. The Victrom was too bare-bones for me. The Rich has an LED screen plus Bluetooth.
About pricing, even for Lithium Life Po 4 batteries a couple of years ago, you were lucky to buy a 12-volt 100 Ah battery for less than $350.00. A couple of weeks ago I bought a TimeUSB 12 volt 100 Ah battery for $161.00 on sale. A couple of years ago. I do kick myself for paying over 600 dollars for used Valence 12volt 135Ah batteries. Now they are 300.00 and less.I think we all paid too much years ago but it's getting better all the time.
For sure it's getting better all the time!🤙
just replaced my Victron Pheonix 1200 watt inverter - had been on for 35,000 hours contentious - paid $350 for it -
so this inverter cost me One Cent per hour of use - Nice -
@@GroovyVideo2 well I’m glad to hear that because I bought a Victron Phoenix 1200(12 volt )a little over a year ago. It’s as heavy as a boat anchor however it has been on continuously running my refrigerator ever since I connected it.😊👍
Nice🤙
Amazing you broke it down to the cost of running it that long, Nice!🤙
i bought 2 extra controller for a rainy day . at these prices I can't afford not having extra
I agree!🤙
I just got 2 of the 100/30 Smartsolar controllers for possible Louisiana tropical storms this year so I can run a small window ac some with a 300ah LiFeP04.
Nice!🤙
Since watching Your Channel and Will Prouse, I ditched RENOGY and Have ALL VICTRON ENERGY SMART SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLERS and INVERTERS here. WZRELB for 2500 & 3000 Watt Inverters as well.
The RENOGY 3000 watt 12 Volt Inverter couldn't Perform for Me like The other 2 and I opted for 24 Volt Systems across The Board here for 6 Complete Systems. 🌴 Aloha 🤙 🌵 💦 Indian Creek Ranch ⛩
Love the Vics! Aloha brother🤙
Hey Bob! I have only one Victron 100 / 20 it also has a 12V load output, but if you go over the 20Amp versions the 12V or DC output on the CC itself falls away :( I use 12V extensively so the bigger models are no good to me, but I must admit the Vicron CC 100 / 20 has performed well except in hot climates, it does seem to run much hotter than any of my other systems and I had to add cooling to the Victron CC
I notice some heat when they're cranking hard, but haven't needed to add fans at this point. But my ambient temps are not too hot here which helps. Aloha!🤙
I would like to add one more point. These items costs more in India where it is manufactured and shipped to the USA. If you compare the prices, in USA you can get the 100 | 50 MPPT for $182.99, however here in India, it costs ₹21,800.50 which is $259.80. That's 30% expensive.
Interesting! Mahalo for sharing that with us🤙
Recently Got myself a couple 100/20 smart mppt’s at around $100 Aussie Dollars. A Deal in my book 🤙🏻
Yeah, not bad huh? Aloha!🤙
I'm running 14kw in PV with room to add another 10kw if needed. Output 18kw, yeah there's definitely a bit of a price difference on that scale. Other than that can't say I've got any beef with Victron. They've proven themselves well. I can still see them filling some of my needs in the future. I just did snag a 48/375 inverter to run my solar shed lights, wanting my lighting to be independent of my main system. That little booger fit the bill perfectly having the option for a remote dry contact (I call it a light switch) located at the door to turn the inverter on and off. hahaha Sweet huh! :)
Sweet indeed!🤙
Don’t feel bad think of all the money you saved on fuel for the generator and propane for the stove. Have fun stay safe.
Mahalo! I love that I have them, and yes...no gas required anymore. Aloha!🤙
I have several smart solar charged controllers just like you and eventually I decided to standardize on all of them being the 150/35. Just in case I need to do a swap I can have the same one that fits everywhere. The price drop average is lower because on the average it’s lower no matter which controller replacing just to put a 150/35 and if you do need to replace one or add another one somewhere, just have a spare.
I would say if I had to choose just one it would be the 150/35. Covers just about every setup I would ever configure. Aloha🤙
On the second hand market all of those prices are 30-50% lower. Some people have never used the devices or just a little bit.
Wow! That's even better yeah? Aloha!🤙
Yep same, 550 for 150/45 and a few months ago I got 250/60 same price
Sweet!🤙
I think the 150/35 is the best bang for the Money
I do too🤙
yep. Amazing prices for the quality. Not sure why you'd choose anything over these at this point. 150v/60amp Epever is nearly $80 more now, and Victron doesn't break their cloud monitoring every few months.
I was pleased to go back and see the price drops!🤙
The prices on Solar Generators have dropped because of the economy but, yea... Wish I would've caught those prices too brother lol 😅
Oh well, I never have regretted any of those purchases. They serve me well. Aloha🤙
That's why I have 2 of them now now if the batterys dropped in price
They're coming down too! Aloha🤙
Pandemic “supply chain” issues/excuses. Competition as well, the other brands have improved their Bluetooth apps and other options.
I avoided them until late last year, now I have two and a dc2dc charger. Use that for lithium to lead acid overnight charging when heavy use occurs.
Nice way to use that charger!🤙
I agree Bob 👍 💯.
😉🤙
I was shocked to see what I paid for one new 600W solar panel two years ago!!! I can get FOUR new solar panels with 650W EACH now for the same price!
It's running like that here too my friend...nice trend we have going on!🤙
Awesome. Watching the video is like the “playboy channel” but for solar charge controllers. Look at those beautiful victrons
Haha! My feelings exactly brother!🤣Aloha🤙
Good Afternoon ! WOWEE, that is a big price difference. TAKE CARE..
Evenin brother. Yes nice drops on those prices, good for us all!🤙
I moved over to Victron about 5 years ago and love them. Been living with off grid power for around 25 years now and back in the day, Victron was for the super rich.
I have found the price of Victron equipment dropping as well. I just hope they have not dropped their quality by shifting manufacturing to cheaper countries with cheaper components, which is the way many reliable brands have gone and become less reliable 😬
Yes, it was always way out of my budget range too. Glad they made the move to make it easier on us! Pure sine wave back in the day was untouchable too. 🤙
COVID pricing was in effect, what with the parts shortages and shipping costs.
Yeah that was nuts, but I needed something to do being hunkered down so long! Aloha!🤙
Wow! That's wild. I never realized.
🤙
Your prices are high cause some people are living the american dream on your back, only problem is that all mppt you got are NOT serviceable in case they fail. Reason i bought an RS450.
the features, online VRM, raspeberry pi cerbos, fanless designs, you cant really compare it elsewhere.
Best bang for the buck for me!🤙
Started buying Victrons since the price started coming down, they work fantastic.
How much solar are you running on your 150/35?
Currently 700 watts, with room to add more🤙
Great video Bob 💯
🏄🏼🤙
Yeah the priced dropped I think fall of 2023, I expected a new product line release after their inventory drained from the slashed prices but it never materialized. At least not yet?
buy once cry once - buy growatt get nowatt
Growatt is no good?
Thank's fot the answer.
Best regards
🏄🏼🤙
👍😊🌼😊👍
I remember not too long ago you were telling all the battery companies they could get below the $200 price on a 100 amp hour battery and I’m starting to see that now flash sales and stuff like that👍😊
🌴🏄🏼🤙
Yeah plenty under that 200 now. Maybe we'll start asking for someone to drop below 100! You know they could! Haha🤙
Shunts down to $100
Yeah, everything coming down. I like that trend🤙
Blue light is the devil....