MPPT Volts to Current Conversion
My buddy picked up 6 300 watt panels today - because he wants to be able to feed his ravenous Starlink - without running the generator. The starlink uses 190 watts of power at 120v - it's a pig for p...
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He purchased a Kill a watt today -
So maybe after this trip we'll have a better idea of his real needs and we can figure out what he really needs.
I did find out he go Four 6 volt golf cart batteries from Costco - interstate branded. Basically he's going after two battery "banks".
I did a quick search, and they are 210 amp @20 hours and 175 @5 hours. At least I got that far this evening.
As to why he purchased 6 panels - I just don't know. I think he figured he needed that much. He mentioned something about a "Midnight" brand charge controller - MPPT. Maybe he said "Classic" as well - but it was when he was on the road returning from a day of skiing so who knows what I heard.
I googled that and what I don't know if is if it's 150, 200 or 250 model.
@KD4UPL - What I know is what he told me. He said the panels, in direct sun were producing 30 volts - and when the guy who sold it to him did a amperage test it was around 8amps. I wasn't there when he got all the stuff - but he got a bunch of stuff. Clamps to hold it down to the roof of his 5er, the connectors (M4's?).
What he didn't purchase was wire because he didn't know how far all is runs were going to be. He said he wanted to figure out how to make it all work - first - before he started drilling holes in is roof and attaching things permanently. He also wanted to calculate voltage drop from the panels to the controller - and size the wire properly so as to minimize voltage loss from the panel to the controller. He's planning on mounting his controller within a couple of feet of the batteries.
So maybe after this trip we'll have a better idea of his real needs and we can figure out what he really needs.
I did find out he go Four 6 volt golf cart batteries from Costco - interstate branded. Basically he's going after two battery "banks".
I did a quick search, and they are 210 amp @20 hours and 175 @5 hours. At least I got that far this evening.
As to why he purchased 6 panels - I just don't know. I think he figured he needed that much. He mentioned something about a "Midnight" brand charge controller - MPPT. Maybe he said "Classic" as well - but it was when he was on the road returning from a day of skiing so who knows what I heard.
I googled that and what I don't know if is if it's 150, 200 or 250 model.
@KD4UPL - What I know is what he told me. He said the panels, in direct sun were producing 30 volts - and when the guy who sold it to him did a amperage test it was around 8amps. I wasn't there when he got all the stuff - but he got a bunch of stuff. Clamps to hold it down to the roof of his 5er, the connectors (M4's?).
What he didn't purchase was wire because he didn't know how far all is runs were going to be. He said he wanted to figure out how to make it all work - first - before he started drilling holes in is roof and attaching things permanently. He also wanted to calculate voltage drop from the panels to the controller - and size the wire properly so as to minimize voltage loss from the panel to the controller. He's planning on mounting his controller within a couple of feet of the batteries.
