PWM or MPPT?
I just took delivery of a 120W portable solar panel from SolarBlvd, which I will use to charge a single AGM Group 31 with an AH capacity of 105. We have a popup and are minimal electricity users, so I...
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This is one case where it is just not a good idea to cheap out, You have or will have a substantial investment in your 105AH AGM battery and to risk it with no controller or one that is likely to fail just does not make sense. Moringstar is well made world wide respected company as is Steca. No controller may work with a 25W panel but more than that...
The only way to accurately gauge the SOC (state of charge) is with a meter that measure the current going into and coming out of your battery through a shunt such as the Bogart Trimetirc or Vectron battery monitor. The little plug in battery meters are not accurate unless there is has been no current in or coming out for a couple of hours. The Vectron we have is set so that it displays the percent SOC. The simple panel meters particularly the analogue will be hard put to differentiate between 70% SOC at 12.32V and 50%SOC at 12.06V 50% is the magic number below which you do not want to go. See http://www.solar-electric.com/deep-cycle-battery-faq.html
The only way to accurately gauge the SOC (state of charge) is with a meter that measure the current going into and coming out of your battery through a shunt such as the Bogart Trimetirc or Vectron battery monitor. The little plug in battery meters are not accurate unless there is has been no current in or coming out for a couple of hours. The Vectron we have is set so that it displays the percent SOC. The simple panel meters particularly the analogue will be hard put to differentiate between 70% SOC at 12.32V and 50%SOC at 12.06V 50% is the magic number below which you do not want to go. See http://www.solar-electric.com/deep-cycle-battery-faq.html
