5kW - 10kW Wind & Solar Hybrid Charge Controller

One brain for the turbine, the panels and the bank.

Out on a remote block you end up with two things trying to charge one battery bank, and neither of them knows the other exists. The solar regulator sees a full bank and backs off. The turbine keeps making power anyway, because the wind does not stop just because your batteries are happy. Something has to decide where that surplus goes.

That is this controller's job. Wind in on one side, solar in on the other, one battery bank out the back, and an external dump load resistor bolted on to burn off what the bank cannot take. The LCD tells you what each source is actually doing, and the settings menu lets you match the charge profile to the battery chemistry you have rather than the one the factory assumed.

Get that surplus handling wrong and it does not stay a wiring problem for long. The turbine has nowhere to put its energy in a blow, so it over-speeds. The bank cops voltage it was never meant to see. Then you are up a pole in bad weather with no lights, no pump and no radio, which is the part that actually hurts.

Do not size your system from the title

The kW figure in the title is the option name the supplier ships this under. It is not a specification and we will not treat it as one. What you size cable, breakers and a dump load from is amps, and the manual that comes with this controller does not state a rated wattage or a maximum charging current anywhere in it. We have checked the manual's own parameter table, front to back. Those rows simply are not there.

We have asked the supplier in writing for the model number and the maximum charging amps. Until they answer, we are not publishing a figure we cannot stand behind, because someone would size a breaker off it and that is how fires start.

So: size your install off the measured output of your turbine and your array, or have your sparky do it.

What It Does

• Runs both sources at once: wind and solar come into the one unit on separate terminals and charge the same bank, so you are not running two regulators that ignore each other.
• Sheds the surplus: the external dump load resistor is wired to the D+ and D- terminals and takes the excess when the bank is full and the turbine is still making power.
• Brakes the turbine: on over-voltage or over-current the controller starts the braking function to protect the generator and the bank, and cuts the circuit if output goes over voltage.
• Matches your battery chemistry: four profiles, including lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium, or set every threshold yourself on the custom profile.
• Drives a DC load: three output modes, including a light-control mode that switches at dusk and a timed mode with four adjustable phases.
• Tells you what is happening: the LCD cycles battery voltage, capacity, current and cumulative kWh, plus turbine and solar voltage, current and power, load current, and controller temperature.

Key Features

• External dump load supplied: the resistor and a pair of battery leads are in the box. It is part of the install, not an accessory you can skip.
• Wind MPPT boost charging: with PWM dump load control and PWM over-current limiting.
• Three voltage options at checkout: 12V/24V auto, 24V/48V auto, or 48V. The controller's own menu can also lock a system voltage or auto-recognise it.
• Bluetooth on every option: all nine variants are the Bluetooth version, so you are not paying extra for it or missing out.
• Conformal-coated board: the internal circuit board is sprayed against dust, moisture and static.
• No fan to fail: aluminium profile heat dissipation, self-cooling. Nothing in it wears out or clogs with dust.
• Labelled terminal block: eleven marked terminals in source order, so a sparky can wire it without guessing which pair is which.
• Rated to the cold: working range −25°C to +80°C, 0–90% humidity non-condensing.

Check your solar panel voltage before you order

The maximum solar input differs between the two builds, and it catches people out:

• 12V / 24V build: solar panel open-circuit voltage must stay at or below 55V.
• 48V build: solar panel open-circuit voltage must stay at or below 95V.

Wind input is 80V maximum on both. Check your panels' open-circuit voltage in the cold, not just the rated figure on the sticker — panels put out more when it is cold, and that is when they go over the limit.

What Else You'll Need

A controller on its own is a third of a system. This is the gear that goes around it, and why each piece matters:

• A main battery circuit breaker: it sits between the controller and the bank so you can isolate before you touch anything. Manual-reset circuit breakers, 20A to 300A.
• A battery isolator: a rotary cut-off you can reach in the dark beats undoing a lug with a spanner. Battery isolator switch, 100A to 300A.
• Bus bars close to the bank: good 48V bus bars are genuinely hard to find, and they are what keeps the wiring tidy enough to fault-find later. M10 four-post 48V bus bar.
• A 3-pin Anderson plug at the turbine: so you can unplug and drop the turbine for maintenance instead of cutting wires. 3-pin Anderson plugs, 50A / 75A / 175A.
• Lugs crimped properly: a loose lug heats up, and the manual is blunt about that being the thing that cooks connections. Cable lug crimping tool, 6–50mm².
• The rest of it: the full wind turbine electrical supplies range.

What we do not cover: cable sizing. It depends on run length, system voltage and current, and since this controller's current rating is not published we are not going to pretend we can size it for you. The range here suits 48V builds and shorter runs. For 12V and 24V builds, check your own sizing or ask your sparky.

Typical Off-Grid Wiring Layout

Q & A

What size system will this actually run?
We cannot tell you, and we are not going to guess. The supplier has not stated a rated wattage or a maximum charging current, and it is not in the manual either. The kW wording in the title is an option name, not a spec.

Which voltage option do I pick?
Match it to the battery bank you are building. A 48V bank takes the 48V option. A 24V bank that might become 48V later takes 24V/48V auto. A 12V or 24V bank takes 12V/24V auto. The one that matters most is the solar limit that comes with it — 55V open-circuit on the 12V/24V build, 95V on the 48V build.

Is the dump load resistor included, or is it extra?
Included. The controller, the external dump load resistor and a pair of battery leads all come in the one box. The packaging shots in the gallery show exactly that.

Do I have to fit the dump load?
Yes. This is an external dump load design — the resistor is where surplus goes when the bank is full and the wind is still up. The manual has you wire the dump load and the load first, before the battery, solar and turbine. Leaving it off is not a shortcut, it removes the thing that protects the rest of the system.

Can I run it without a battery connected?
No. The manual says it plainly: do not use the controller without batteries, and do not disconnect the battery while it is running normally. The bank is what the whole thing regulates against.

What does the Bluetooth do?
Every option here is the Bluetooth version, and the unit is marked as such. Beyond that, the supplier has not named the app or listed which phones it supports, and it is not in the manual. Treat the LCD as the interface you can count on and anything the app adds as a bonus.

My turbine is spinning but the display shows 0W. Is it faulty?
It is almost never a faulty turbine or controller. Read the 0W troubleshooting and correct installation guide before you assume something is broken. The short version: the controller only charges when the input voltage is above the battery voltage, and a bank sitting at float will pull the turbine's speed right down.

Can I wire it in myself?
The manual says all installation and electrical work must be done by professional personnel, and our return policy follows that — turbines, controllers and technical electrical gear must be installed by a qualified specialist, and a faulty-item return needs proof of professional installation. Not a sales pitch. It is what the manufacturer requires and what covers you.

How long will it take to get here?
Free delivery to Australia and New Zealand, no minimum spend. Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, not from the day we dispatch, and up to three weeks to be safe. Regional and remote takes longer again. This one is a 2.45 kg parcel, so it is not on the long turbine freight timeline.

The Manual

Download the full user manual (PDF)

Ver. HECR202108, all 8 pages. Safety information, mounting notes, wiring order, the full settings menu, load output programming, battery voltage thresholds for every chemistry, the controller parameter table and the fault-finding FAQ. Worth saving to your phone before you head out to the install — there is rarely signal where these go. The same pages are in the product image gallery if you would rather flick through them there.

Specs

Terminal Order, Left To Right

Copied off the housing. Read it with the labelled photo in the gallery beside you before anything gets tightened.

D+  B+  B-  S+  S-  U  V  W  L+  L-  D-

• D+ and D-: the external dump load resistor. Note they are at opposite ends of the block, not paired up.
• B+ and B-: battery bank.
• S+ and S-: solar array.
• U, V and W: the three phases from the wind turbine.
• L+ and L-: DC load output.

Wiring order matters. The instruction printed on the front of the controller is to connect the dump load and the load first, then the battery, solar panel and wind turbine. Reversing polarity on the load side is specifically forbidden in the manual.

Battery Voltage Thresholds (12V / 24V / 48V)

Your sparky will want these, and they are a different animal to the table above — four figures per chemistry rather than one value per specification. FULL is the over-charge protection point, LOW is where the load disconnects to protect the bank, and RLOW is where it reconnects.

Every figure in both tables is read straight off the manufacturer's manual (Ver. HECR202108) or measured off the product photos. Where the manual does not state something — and rated power, maximum charging current and the model number are the big three — we say so rather than guess.

Watch Me

No video on this one yet

We would rather put up nothing than a supplier's stock reel of a different controller. When we get one on a bench with a turbine on it, it goes here.

In the meantime, the two things people actually ring about:

• Spinning but showing 0W: the 0W troubleshooting and correct installation guide walks through it. It is almost never a dud unit.
• The manual, in full: the 8-page user manual PDF, including the wiring diagrams and the settings menu.

Still stuck? Ring 0400 333 898. A real person picks up, and if we do not know the answer we will say so.