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azrving's avatar
azrving
Explorer
Nov 19, 2015

Blue Sky 3024il

I added 520 watts of solar and a Bogart 30 amp system to my rig. It works well but a new problem has happened. It's now common for people to ask how we can have all these lights going and a big tv and it's even more noticeable when the panels are tilted up. It seems to be a guy BS session magnet. So after meeting several new people we have become traveling friends with some of them. :)

One friend has Blue Sky 3024il system with 470 watts and 3 12v AGM batteries. As we sat around chewing the fat and comparing charge times etc, this guy said he never sees amperage above the teens. I jokingly told him I thought you MPPT guys had all the amps.

From there I gave him my beginner solar explanation of pwm vs mppt. He then said his panels all connected to a common bar just like mine. I said I dont think they can because it's mppt and they normally run those in series. At that point we went on the roof and sure enough it appears that they are all paralleled.

I looked at the specifications in his manual and it says PV input voltage: 57 vdc maximum.

He has 3 panels:
Kyocera 140
voc 22.1
vpmax 17.9
isc 8.68
ipmax 7.9

UL Solar: 140
voc 22.6
vmp 18.3
isc 8.21
imp 7.66

No name: 190
voc 21.45
vmp 17.4
isc 11.95
imp 10.92

I went the pwm route so my emphasis has been on playing with my Bogart system and learning it. I thought the idea behind mppt was to series the panels, reduce wire costs, etc. So I guess my main question is which voltage numbers are used. ocv of 66.06 OR vmp of 53.6? Second question is can these different panels be series? Will all 3 voltages drop to the lowest one of 21.5? Doesn't seem like it would matter as long as they are under max of 57 vdc.

He spent big money on everything and said he wanted the best when he bought the controller and inverter. Who ever installed the 3 agm batteries and inverter and solar controller did a beautiful job. All the cables are massive and well crimped.

He originally had a very cheap controller with one panel. It appears that as the next two panels were added they just kept paralleling them???? The last panel was added by a dealer in Yuma.

Any other suggestions are also appreciated. Thanks.

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