BRAVO AIR 30 - 30 Amp Flush Mount PWM Solar Charge Controller

The BRAVO AIR 30 sets into a cut-out in a wall or cabinet face so only the display sits proud of the surface, and it is the cheapest way to get a flush-mounted controller with Bluetooth. The catch is that it is a PWM controller with a 25 volt array ceiling, which puts real limits on what you can connect. Read the sizing section before you buy, because the flush-mount alternative one shelf up in this range is a very different machine.

Why this controller

• 30 amps of charge current on a 12V battery, from a flush-mounted body that leaves a clean finished panel rather than a box on the wall.
• Bluetooth is built into the unit for phone monitoring, alongside a real-time display and LED status indicators. That is unusual at this price, and notably the larger surface-mount BRAVO 40, 50 and 60 do not publish Bluetooth at all.
• Automatic BMS activation for lithium batteries. If a LiFePO4 pack has shut down and its BMS is asleep, this controller can wake it rather than leaving you to jump-start the pack manually. Worth having on a van or boat that sits unused.
• Charge profiles for flooded, AGM, GEL, calcium and LiFePO4.
• Certified to UL1741 with CE, EMC, FCC and RoHS marks, and Rich Solar publishes the certificate for download.
• Terminals take up to 8 AWG stranded, which is heavier than the 10 AWG on the sealed BRAVO Waterproof units and appropriate for a genuine 30 amps. Torque to 6.2 to 7.1 in-lb.
• Protection against over-voltage, short circuit, reverse polarity and over-temperature, with charging stopping at 185F.

Sizing and mounting

• 12V systems only. There is no 24V mode.
• Array open-circuit voltage must stay below 25V DC, with a normal operating window of 5 to 22V. That means panels wired in PARALLEL only, never in series, and 30 amps is reached with roughly three nominal 12V panels. Check Voc at your coldest expected temperature, because cold weather raises it and 25V is not much headroom.
• This is PWM, not MPPT. The panels are pulled down to battery voltage rather than having the excess converted, so the array will deliver noticeably less than its nameplate rating. If you want a flush-mounted controller that harvests properly, the BRAVO PRO 30 is the MPPT version: it takes a 100V array instead of 25V, works on 12V or 24V, and is rated IP43 rather than IP22. It costs substantially more, and the difference is real rather than cosmetic.
• Rated IP22. That is protection against fingers and vertically dripping water only. This is an indoor or dry-compartment product despite being a flush-mount unit that people are tempted to put on an exterior wall. Do not confuse it with the sealed BRAVO Waterproof range.
• Operating range is -13F to 122F, with humidity up to 85 percent non-condensing.
• The external battery temperature sensor is listed as an option and is not supplied.
• Rich Solar publishes no weight and no dimensions for this product. If you need the cut-out size before ordering, ask, because we are not going to guess at it. Shipping weight will be quoted manually.
• A California Proposition 65 warning applies to this product.

Warranty

• Rich Solar's published warranty on charge controllers runs two years and is prorated: full coverage in the first year, 50 percent in the second.
• Claims are handled by Rich Solar directly. Register the product and keep your invoice.