Who has Solar/ what controller/panels?

lawrosa wrote:
I read about MPPT vs PWM.. OK I understand..

But cost wise and from what I read here on this site, is a 250watt 24V panel from solar blvd and a PWM 30 amp controller is a cheap option.

$170 for panel
$50 for controller.

This controller accepts 48v and lower

I have two 12 volt 75 Ah batterys..

Who has this set up?
What amps are you generating?

If you understand PWM and MPPT why are you mating a 24v panel with a 12v battery and low cost PWM controller?
You need MPPT for this or you lose half your power.

I have three solar blvd 225w in series putting about 100 volts into the Morningstar TS-MPPT-60.

Hi,

If you use a pwm controller with a 24 volt panel, essentially you are cutting the solar harvest by around 50%. That makes it a bad deal.

Either find a nominal 12 volt panel (which may often be 17 volts) or use an MPPT controller.

The exception to the above is if you wire the batteries to be 24 volts. But that won't work well with a 24 volt panel--it would need to be about a 30 volt panel.

Note that some members here have had lots of success with one brand of MPPT controller that costs about $100. Just be sure it can handle your panels max voltage if you want to go that way.

It is the EcoWorthy brand MPPT controller. If it can handle the panel you are looking at (Voc or Maximum Voltage of the panel), then you will get more amps when you have lots of sunshine.

I'll let the people with the Eco Worthy describe their results.

Ed

If you use a PWM controller the absolute max amps you will get will be the max amps (Isc) listed on the panel specs. PWM can not generate more amps than the panel provides. That is the primary reason they are less expensive than MPPT controllers.

The max amps are probably 8 or 9 amps for a 250W 24V panel that you are looking at.

So with a PWM controller for a 250W 24V panel, you will be able to get about 126 Watts maximum (9 Amps X 14 Volts) while charging your batteries.

However, you will get "your max charging rate" for a longer number of hours because you will have an oversized panel which will get you more amps during hours when the sun is not so high in the sky.

Ed

Thanks for the rplies so far, but im asking about a 24v panel 250 volt with a PWM controller as I show.. Its about $$$ and for less then $200 I can do that...

I want to hear fron anyone that has that set up....

We have 3 X 75 Watt PV Panels on the Roof and a 4th 80 Watt Panel that We sometimes set up at Our Base Camp wherever that happens to be?
The Motorhome has 4X 6 Volt Golf Cart Batteries wired to provide 12 Volts ,which supply plenty of power to the House. Most of the Lights are LED there are also some Flourescents that are seldom used so have not been converted! The 32 " Smart Television ,Blu-Ray Player,Satelite Receiver and Bose Sound System run off the Original Invertor. The Refer and Water Heater are typical 2 Way RV Units. The Genset is a 7.5 KW Onan Quiet Diesel.
We have Boondocked for up to Six Weeks at a time and have never run short on Either Electricity or Propane.we seldom run the Generator when Dry Camping depending on the Solar Panels to keep Us topped up!
A typical Evening Is spent watching TV , just as We do in Our Stick House! Or if We are entertaining , a Game or two of Cards . We don't particularly watch what Our Energy Usage is ,even though it is easy to monitor on the Tri Metric Display !
We have been spending Our Winters in Mexico and the South Western USA so there is no shortage of Sunshine.
The Morningstar Controller is set to provide 14.8 Volts peak and will charge those Batteries to 100 % in just a few Hours.
Water levels in the Batteries do require monitoring so I keep a gallon or two of Distilled Water on hand to top up from time to time.
Like so many RV related subject , a little Common sense goes a long way in managing the On board Systems!

Just finished my solar install on my Toy Hauler. This might help

www.rvbprecision.com

if you can get a Real MPPT controller and Not a Fake ....yes

the panel is a good price but you need MPPT for efficient use or its wasted money

there are a few cheap mppt and a lot of Fake mppt, the fakes don't do the job
of converting volts to amps,

see profile

Panel here...

https://www.solarblvd.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_270&products_id=3027

And controller...

http://www.renogy-store.com/30-Amp-PWM-Charge-Controller-with-LCD-Display-p/ctrl-pwm30-lcd.htm

The contoller above is 49$ but this one looks the same and is a bit cheaper.. Whats the difference? Sun yoba solar 30...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sun-YOBA-LCD-PWM-30A-12V-24V-Solar-Panel-Controller-Regulator-Charge-Battery-/291559410292?hash=item43e24b8a74