Eco-Worthy 12v solar panels, Now drifting to... mono vs poly
When I search here, the only Ecoworthy results I get are for their controllers. Does anyone have any experience with their 12v panels?
Forum Discussion
BFL13 wrote:RJsfishin wrote:
Yeah, all you little straps, quit tryin to be big straps when you don't understand it all !
Heres a hint, 12v panels are for RVs and boats. 24v panels are made for houses,.....take it !
My 12v 300w system w/ a $8 controller works great. If I ever need another panel or 2, I would maybe series them up and go MPPT, but it sure isn't on my wish list.
BTW, I have a brand new 20 amp MPPT still in the box, not to speak of several PWMs, so if you think MPPT is so great, send me a $50 bill, and its yours. But tell ya right now, I only paid 12 bucks for it :)
That would be this RJ Special which I bought last year at his urging. :) It turned out to be a fake MPPT and is actually an ordinary PWM, but it does well at that job.
I used it for a while with my 130w panel. Its charging profile is to get to 14.5v and stay there till dark. The lights on it tell you what the state of play is--more lights means the battery is getting higher in SOC.
I sold this along with my 130w panel and the guy used it no problems all summer.
So actually this is a decent little controller as long as you know it is not MPPT and don't try to run a 24v panel with it :)
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/20A-MPPT-Solar-Panel-Battery-Regulator-Charge-Controller-12V-24V-Auto-Switch-KJ-/171112316078?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27d716bcae
OK I confess. I did try this with my 230w panel on the notion that it would just treat it as any other 8.3a panel and that would be my max amps, same as my 130w panel doing its 8.2a. ( I didn't know about bucking etc then)
Result was the little controller lit up all its lights which started flashing rapidly like some kind of crazy UFO. I disconnected. I figured that's it, I fried it. Tried it back on the 130w panel and it worked normally! Whew, I got away with it.
