Roll Up Solar Panels / Ogre MPPT Controller
I would LOVE to get 10-12 amperes of 12 volt grade charging for my new group 31 Lifeline. But I have a motor-scooter size toad, that forces me to the roll-up kind of solar panel, and woe is me, the...
Forum Discussion
Hi Phil,
I'd love to know more about the solar magic system and the technology they use.
What solar is best at is getting from 85% to 100% state of charge. Flooded batteries have an acceptance rate of only 12.5 amps above 85% state of charge. Therefore, there is not much point in doing more than about 150 watts per 100 amp-hours of battery bank.
The exceptions are:
A. that folks who full time ought really to max out their solar harvest.
B. that folks who camp in December need all the solar they can cram on the roof.
A and B MPPT makes sense, because running a generator is ALWAYS more expensive than solar.
It is thought that poly panels do better in poor light conditions than Mono. If I do change my system, it will not be to Mono, but it will be continuing on with a "top drawer" MPPT.
I'd love to know more about the solar magic system and the technology they use.
What solar is best at is getting from 85% to 100% state of charge. Flooded batteries have an acceptance rate of only 12.5 amps above 85% state of charge. Therefore, there is not much point in doing more than about 150 watts per 100 amp-hours of battery bank.
The exceptions are:
A. that folks who full time ought really to max out their solar harvest.
B. that folks who camp in December need all the solar they can cram on the roof.
A and B MPPT makes sense, because running a generator is ALWAYS more expensive than solar.
It is thought that poly panels do better in poor light conditions than Mono. If I do change my system, it will not be to Mono, but it will be continuing on with a "top drawer" MPPT.
pnichols wrote:
I'm not so concerned with what is good enough. I'm more interested in what the optimum is - for maybe only a few dollars more. Solar is inefficient enough without making it worse trying to save a few bucks, IMHO. Remember that with portable panels, if you want you can walk up to them and tweak them towards the sun from sunrise to sunset way better than can be done with roof mounted ones. I think that harvesting max energy from early morning to sunset as best you can requires a MPPT controller - from what I've learned.
