Review: Renogy 50A DC-DC battery charger with MPPT

With the need to run fridges, lights, radios, compressors and charge a bevy of digital gadgets, dual isolated batteries have been a fixture of touring vehicles for decades.

While old school systems with monster lead-acid batteries and clunky solenoids got the job done, they were seriously heavy, inefficient and prone to failure.

Things have come a long way in recent years, with the price of lithium batteries and solar panels dropping enough to make them affordable even for weekend warriors. Renogy has been in the solar game for more than 14 years, continually evolving its vehicle-based lineup to suit customer requirements and changes in technology. This experience shows through in the company’s latest all-in-one DC-DC charger with MPPT solar charging.

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This compact and durable unit combines the functions of a DC-DC charger, a solar charge controller and a battery isolator to ensure a vehicle won’t be stranded with a depleted starter battery. On sunny days solar charging is prioritised to reduce load on the vehicle alternator, and typically charging is split 50/50 between the alternator and solar.

After incorporating customer feedback, this newest all-in-one charger has the option to automatically disable solar charging at a configurable threshold to draw the entire 50 Amps from the alternator. This ensures auxiliary batteries are charged as quickly as possible, even on days with very little sunshine. Of course, the addition of a solar panel is optional, and the unit will function perfectly fine as a DC-DC charger without one.

Another well thought out feature is trickle charging the starter battery from the solar panel once the auxiliary batteries are at full capacity. This ensures the starter battery remains completely topped up even after days or weeks in camp.

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With an IP67 rating, the compact Renogy charger can be mounted anywhere inside or outside the vehicle, including under the bonnet. Wiring could not be simpler, and Bluetooth connectivity provides fast and easy real-time monitoring, showing energy flow in and out of the system. The unit supports a variety of battery types including Gel, AGM, Flooded and Lithium.

It took me less than 10 minutes to wire in the charger, and in my testing the silent unit simply gets the job done without any fuss or fanfare. Best of all, it doesn’t break the bank.

Pricing: $449.99 (RRP)