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jason-p avatar image
jason-p asked

Can you add cooling fan and run it based on solar input ?

1. I'm looking for suggestions on fans to cool an mppt(s), I don't have access to a 3D printer so I can't make and cool enclosures/diveters.


2. a. I have a multiplus, lynx distributor, Victon charge controller, ve bus smart dongle, and 300 aH LiFePo Amperetime battery and 800 watts of solar. Is there a way to include a fan or fans in the system that allows for controlled on/off supplied power by some component of the victron system?

2. b. If the a component can turn the fan on and off is there a way to have the on/off state be determined by solar input? I.e. the fan starts up with the panels are getting adequate light to start charging my system and fan shuts off when there's no longer enough light for the panels to produce.

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2 Answers
1234enough avatar image
1234enough answered ·

Have you tried passive cooling? Mount MPPT on a thermally conductive material/ add passive fins.20240430-184035.jpgout of curiosity how hot are your MPPT's getting?


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Dirk-Jan Faber (Victron Energy) avatar image
Dirk-Jan Faber (Victron Energy) answered ·

For 2b you can use a simple Node-RED flow that switches a relay based on the PV power.
Check https://www.victronenergy.com/live/venus-os:large for information on Node-RED.
Switching a fan is basically a variation on the example to switch on a light when it gets dark, which you can find here: https://github.com/victronenergy/node-red-contrib-victron/wiki/Example-Flows#turn-the-lamp-on-if-its-dark-outside-turn-it-off-after-30-minutes-if-its-not-dark-anymore

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Alex Pescaru avatar image Alex Pescaru commented ·

Why not use the VE_REG_LINK_RTC_SOLAR? Isn't that why it exists?

Strange that it's not (yet) mapped to a dbus path...

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