BRAVO Waterproof 30 - 30 Amp Waterproof PWM Solar Charge Controller

This is the largest of the four sealed BRAVO Waterproof controllers and, at four dollars more than the 20 amp version, it is the one that makes the most sense for most buyers. Same IP65 case, same terminals, same everything except fifty percent more current. The reasons to think twice are about wiring rather than price, and they are below.

Why this controller

• 30 amps of solar input on a 12V battery, which in practice means three nominal 12V panels wired in parallel.
• IP65 housing with corrosion-resistant terminals and a conformal coating on the board. IP65 means dust-tight and protected against low-pressure water jets from any direction. It is not an immersion rating, so despite the product name, do not submerge it.
• Battery chemistry is set with a DIP switch, covering flooded, AGM, GEL and LiFePO4. The 15.5V equalisation stage is a lead-acid feature; set the switch correctly so it does not run on a lithium bank.
• Temperature compensation of -24mV per degree C across -4F to 122F, with a port for an external battery temperature sensor. The sensor is an option and is not included.
• Status is shown by LEDs only. There is no screen, no Bluetooth and no app.
• Over-voltage, short-circuit, reverse-polarity and thermal protection, with charging shutting down at 149F.
• Rich Solar's title calls this the number one waterproof solar controller. No ranking body or publication is named anywhere on the page, so treat that as advertising rather than a finding.

Mounting and wiring

• Read this first: the controller uses a common POSITIVE grounding scheme, the opposite of the negative-chassis convention on most vehicles. Confirm how your system is bonded before you wire it.
• Terminals are M5 and accept up to 10 AWG stranded, exactly the same as on the 20 amp model. Thirty amps through 10 AWG is at the practical limit for that conductor, so keep runs short, size for the actual distance and voltage drop rather than the minimum, and torque the terminals properly. Rich Solar specifies up to 17 in-lb, and this is the only controller in the range for which they publish a torque figure at all.
• Panels must be wired in PARALLEL, not series. The array open-circuit ceiling is 25V DC with a normal window of 15 to 22V, unchanged from the 8, 10 and 20 amp models, so the extra current buys more panels rather than a higher array voltage. Check Voc at your coldest expected temperature, because cold weather raises it and 25V leaves little headroom.
• Once you are running three panels in parallel, fuse each string individually at the combiner. A single fuse at the controller does not protect a faulted panel from being back-fed by the other two.
• 12V systems only. There is no 24V mode.
• 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. At three panels the harvest you are giving up starts to be worth money, so if the controller can live somewhere dry, compare this against the MPPT models before ordering.
• Mounts vertically to a flat surface with the three supplied spacers and self-tapping screws. Standby draw at night is 5mA.
• 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.