Newbie to solar question
I am thinking about building a some what protable solar recharge kit for my tt so I can do up to a week of boon docking. I know I need to do the total power worksheets. What I was wondeing is more o...
Forum Discussion
KD4UPL wrote:
A cheap (poor) charge controller can cause lots of problems. It's not the place to skimp. You want one that has programmable charging set points so you can charge your batteries to the manufacturer's specifications. A poor controller can overcharge or undercharge your batteries. Also, an MPPT controller will allow your panels full output to be better utilized than with a PWM controller. If you're going with a larger (less expensive watt/dollar) panel it will likely have a high enough Vmp that you will need a MPPT controller anyway.
RV usage, I guess because of price, is one of the last places PWM controllers are installed anymore. The home, cabin, grid tied solar industry has almost completely moved to MPPT controllers for all of their advantages.
I would highly recommend Blue Sky charge controllers.
You can use PWM controllers with higher voltage panels. The TriStar works with panels up to 125 volts solar output.
