I got a new 100W foldable/mobile panel that is designed to recharge a battery station. Panel says 43V max with a working voltage of 32. My question is does it take a specific solar controller ? all my other vehicle solar panels run 18 to 21, havent looked at parameters for charge controler, not familiar with the higher voltage output and how it plays with others.
New foldable solar panel ? on voltage playing nice
- Thread starter peesalot
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Sounds like what I would call a "24V" panel, that can recharge a 24V battery system, but that doesn't matter much.
If you're talking about using that panel only, just make sure your charge controller can handle 43V. Most can. You could also see if the short circuit current of the panel is within the expected range of the controller but usually they actively limit the current, so that is probably not much of an issue.
Having said that, you wrote "battery station", so if you meant that you use one of those all-in-1 affairs with battery, inverter etc, they also usually include an MPPT controller so you'd have to check the specs of that one, if any, and you likely don't want to use an outside controller if your unit already includes one built-in.
Now if you are going to use more than one panel at a time, that would be a bit more involved, but again the max voltage issue is critical.
TLDR: check the max voltage of the controller and you should be good.
If you're talking about using that panel only, just make sure your charge controller can handle 43V. Most can. You could also see if the short circuit current of the panel is within the expected range of the controller but usually they actively limit the current, so that is probably not much of an issue.
Having said that, you wrote "battery station", so if you meant that you use one of those all-in-1 affairs with battery, inverter etc, they also usually include an MPPT controller so you'd have to check the specs of that one, if any, and you likely don't want to use an outside controller if your unit already includes one built-in.
Now if you are going to use more than one panel at a time, that would be a bit more involved, but again the max voltage issue is critical.
TLDR: check the max voltage of the controller and you should be good.
- Thread starter
- #3
Thats what I gathered, use a properly sized MPPT controller. I do not use a batt station/ all in one unit, the panel I got was for one of those set ups and the battery crapped out but panel is decent & compact so I was thinking I could hook it up in parralell with my other panel but they have different output voltage.
My current controller is not MPPT and not sized to handle the additional panel anyways so I may get a separate controller & aligator clips to put in the foldable panel pocket so it can be used where ever needed.
My current controller is not MPPT and not sized to handle the additional panel anyways so I may get a separate controller & aligator clips to put in the foldable panel pocket so it can be used where ever needed.
as mentioned elsewhere, don't hook up panels of different voltage in parallel without looking deeper into it, it's generally not a good idea.
Alligator clips are also usually not a good idea outside of quick tests, IMO.
Keep in mind that you can in principle use more than one set of [panel+controller] at the same time to charge one battery. However, if one is PWM, it could conceivably do something weird to the other one, depending on the design, but it's a long shot, I think. And if the other one is a Victron, it can likely handle it, anyway. I would not hesitate much to do it, personally. In fact, I probably have done that before, and since I don't remember, there likely was no explosion...
added: FWIW, in case you were contemplating that, it's best not to use a PWM controller on a panel that has a significantly higher nominal voltage than the battery you want to charge, like your 38V panel with a 12V battery, say, because the panel will operate way off the MPP and you will lose a lot of power.
Alligator clips are also usually not a good idea outside of quick tests, IMO.
Keep in mind that you can in principle use more than one set of [panel+controller] at the same time to charge one battery. However, if one is PWM, it could conceivably do something weird to the other one, depending on the design, but it's a long shot, I think. And if the other one is a Victron, it can likely handle it, anyway. I would not hesitate much to do it, personally. In fact, I probably have done that before, and since I don't remember, there likely was no explosion...
added: FWIW, in case you were contemplating that, it's best not to use a PWM controller on a panel that has a significantly higher nominal voltage than the battery you want to charge, like your 38V panel with a 12V battery, say, because the panel will operate way off the MPP and you will lose a lot of power.
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- Thread starter
- #5
Thank you, I appreciate your explanations & input. I think I will build a panel+controller so it is a stand alone charger , curious to see how the 100w higher voltage performs with a MPPT controller vs the 100w lensun on a PWM controller. Good test to show differences in recovery rate. I agree with aligator clips , I was thinking it would be handy to loan out/use on trail for those in need as it is quite compact & mobile.
The MPPT controller system will usually be quite a bit more efficient than the PWM, even at PWM-appropriate panel-battery voltages. I see 20% more power mentioned regularly. But PWMs are also significantly cheaper controllers so can still be a good way to go in some cases.
If you don't need waterproofing and will need to disconnect often, you could put in some Anderson PPs or some XT30/60s on all your wires to mix and match as you want, those would be very good connections. Or if you want to keep it as simple as can be, just get some Wagos and you can connect bare or -better- ferruled wires without any fancy crimping or soldering, and still have a good connection. And then make a removable pigtail with alligator clips for the occasional fast connection to somebody else's system. Best of both worlds...
If you don't need waterproofing and will need to disconnect often, you could put in some Anderson PPs or some XT30/60s on all your wires to mix and match as you want, those would be very good connections. Or if you want to keep it as simple as can be, just get some Wagos and you can connect bare or -better- ferruled wires without any fancy crimping or soldering, and still have a good connection. And then make a removable pigtail with alligator clips for the occasional fast connection to somebody else's system. Best of both worlds...
