The manual is VERY difficult to read on account of the poor translation, but it definitely says you can use the controller as a general purpose controller "without light control ways" [sic]--but then it doesn't say how to set it to this function. After some back-and-forth with HQRP, they finally told me to set the Work Mode to 16 (even though the chart in the manual indicates that 16 will still use the light sensing function to keep the load output off when there's sunlight). I unhooked everything and started over, hooking up the battery, panel, and load, and setting the controller to 16. After making this change, it worked fine (i.e. it put out power in daylight).
Caveats: 1) I didn't have my meter when I was doing the test, so I can't vouch for any of the voltage levels for the controller; however, I had previously tested the panel and it put out around what it's rated. 2) I had the panel in direct sunlight for almost my whole test (~3 hours) and only a small load, so the battery never got low enough to force the controller to stop putting out power to the load (so I don't know for sure whether Mode 16 does everything it's supposed to).
My only other quibble is that the wires coming from the panel are very light gauge. Probably sufficient for the output, but still annoying in working with connectors if you're connecting to a heavier gauge.
I'm giving it a 3 because it's functioning now (and is still a great bargain), but to me clear and accurate documentation is part of the product, and so points off for the time and frustration of dealing with that. I'll come back and update this review if anything goes wrong once I start actually using this thing full-time.
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Maybe I need to re-re-read the product summary, but this is made SPECIFICALLY for NIGHT-TIME loads. It cannot be used for loads that need power during any period of light. It will of course charge the battery, and it is standard PWM. It does not like deeply discharged batteries, and will take a long time to re-charge them.Technically this is a great product, and the "Instruction Manual" is very well thought-out and laid out, but is EXTREMELY difficult to understand due to the very, very broken english of its copy writer. Perhaps a few users could do a good translation on a blog or even here on Amazon.
HQRP replied to an email I sent them, but would not answer my questions about this product or other controllers they sell. I suspect they have some decent ones, but don't have anybody to understand or answer or describe technical aspects of these devices.
I hope this review and other shoppers and users can prompt an improvement of the situation.
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