24V battery bank with solar - pros and cons
Hmmm.... should I go with a 24V Battery bank? I am in the planning phase of a 800 to 1,000 Watt solar system for my 5th wheel. I am thinking maybe a Morningstar TS-MPPT-60 charge controller and 4 ...
Forum Discussion
eb145 wrote:
Here are the pros and cons that I can think of with a 24V battery bank (4 GC2s in series):
Pros of 24V vs. 12V battery bank:
- Solar controller (TS-MPPT-60) can double the power (Watts) it can output when charging a 24V battery bank vs. 12V (60Amps X 24V vs. 60Amps X 12V)
Yes in can handle 1600W panels at 24V. But at 1000W and flat mounted you will rarely reach the 60A limit with 12V, not to mention your shade. So limited advantage for 24V battery unless you tilt the panels.
- Battery wires can be thinner due to lower current flow
Yes but my wiring costs were small compared to the total cost.
- Batteries will perform more efficiently due to lower current flow
No. If you discharge to say 50% SOC the exact same power is drawn from each battery regardless of 12V vs 24V. The battery cables in parallel carry a lot more current but not the individual batteries.
- inverter will be more efficient from 24V DC (not sure about this one)
Depends upon the design.
Cons:
- need to buy and install a 24V to 12V DC/DC converter.
And a 24V charger.
Both my 12V charger/inverter and gen that starts and runs on 12V would become factors.
