Do Some Solar Panels Need Specific Controllers

There are two main types of solar charge controllers.

Do some solar panels need specific controllers.

Of course 10 of 160ah in wattage would be a 16w panel. Assume batteries are 12 6v. You may think why do i need a solar charge controller. The controller controls and manages the current and voltage from the solar panels to your battery.

We need to do some math to determine the amperage. I ordered a renogy 4 panel 400watt solar kit with the 40 amp controller. A 10w panel charging a 100ah battery. We have 4 100 watts of solar panels totaling 400 watts of solar.

A 16w panel could produce nearly 1a of charge current which is even more than a 10w panel. A panel wattage of 10 of ah capacity or 10 of c or less would not need a controller. In some rare cases a solar panel can be connected directly to a battery without a controller. Why do you need one.

The pulse width modulation pwm solar charge controller and the maximum power point tracking mppt solar charge controller. If the panels are connected in series the voltage of each panel is added but the amperage stays the same. Amps watts volts. Had it not been these controllers many of these solar batteries could have been damaged.

Before the pwm charge controllers there were some other types of charge controllers but you are not likely to run into any of those these days. Additionally there is evidence homes with solar panels sell faster than those without. Without a solar charge controller there is a high chance your solar batteries will overcharge themselves and consequently their lifespan will shorten. I am going to wire in series parallel.

Here are the things we know. The controllers protect against overcharging overheating over discharging and overcurrent. I am assuming that i do not need any fuses on the panels or between the panels and controller because the amperage and voltage will probably be well below the limits of the charger. Here are some settings in which solar plus battery can help and some in which sticking with simple rooftop solar panels could be the way to go.

The 30 in the victron smartsolar mppt 100 30 is the max resulting amps after the solar controller has worked it s magic. There are many different types of controllers on the market. The general guidelines are sometimes stated that. Please heed all controller less solar suggestions with caution.

The second fuse between your solar panels and charge controller is a little bit different to figure out. The grid is like a giant battery early in the morning just before sunrise or when sunlight is still faint and during the evening when sunlight is fading are times with lower solar. On an average the battery life is 5 10 years depending upon which battery you purchase. This can be achieved if the nominal voltage of the panel is lower than 17 18v and if the solar panel is a lot smaller than the charging battery e g.