Calling on Solar Techies
I have been thinking of going solar for some time and decided to pull the plug. My wants are a 400 to 500 watt system. I have four 12 volt batteries with 340ah. I am not planning on changing b...
Forum Discussion
Your total Voc in series would be 5 times 23( see specs for exact Voc) or 115v which would fry a typical controller rated at 100Voc input. Some claim 150v. Read the fine print too. One that says 100 says it is really 90 eg.
When you go over three in series (a "string") some set-ups go to series/parallel to keep the voltage down.
The MPPT's controller to battery wiring is still for 12v, so no change there for wire gauge and distance.
Mostly it is not worth the theoretical gains to go MPPT in series or in parallel with five 100w panels. I have tried all different ways with three 100s between series and parallel with MPPT and parallel with PWM and got pretty much the same amps to the battery.
IMO just go with the easiest way to do it. After the first summer, if you think then it would be worth it, you can switch the wiring around to suit. (So be sure you can get at those wiring connections as mentioned before)
EDIT--even with same amps to the battery, you might get more AH in the day with MPPT due to more in the shoulder hours. BUT--you don't know how many AH you will usually get in a day where and when you camp.
You might well find that you get more AH then you use with the simple PWM set-up, so even though you could get more with an MPPT set-up, that would be just more AH not being used. So IMO do one summer first, then see. For what you have said you will be using, IMO based on what we see, you will be ok.
When you go over three in series (a "string") some set-ups go to series/parallel to keep the voltage down.
The MPPT's controller to battery wiring is still for 12v, so no change there for wire gauge and distance.
Mostly it is not worth the theoretical gains to go MPPT in series or in parallel with five 100w panels. I have tried all different ways with three 100s between series and parallel with MPPT and parallel with PWM and got pretty much the same amps to the battery.
IMO just go with the easiest way to do it. After the first summer, if you think then it would be worth it, you can switch the wiring around to suit. (So be sure you can get at those wiring connections as mentioned before)
EDIT--even with same amps to the battery, you might get more AH in the day with MPPT due to more in the shoulder hours. BUT--you don't know how many AH you will usually get in a day where and when you camp.
You might well find that you get more AH then you use with the simple PWM set-up, so even though you could get more with an MPPT set-up, that would be just more AH not being used. So IMO do one summer first, then see. For what you have said you will be using, IMO based on what we see, you will be ok.
