Solar Charge Controller
Looking at solar and seeing different options for controllers. What's the difference between PWM and MPPT?
Forum Discussion
Almot wrote:wbwood wrote:
We won't use it very often with rv. And will want to use at home as I mentioned.
Do you homework, read up what was suggested on the 1st or 2nd page.
Doesn't matter where you will use it. See what Niner Bikes said about controller - it has to have the features that you need. Also, cable length and gauge. You are trying to get useful tips, but without understanding certain things you're shooting blanks.
If 100W is all that you are going to have, then cable gauge is less important (up to a certain length), but controller still needs to be a decent one. I personally wouldn't be able to do a lot with 100W panel, even with my minimalists setup. This is the problem with portables - a small one would harvest too little (almost nothing on a dark day), and a big array would be a tedious logistics of setting up and breaking down, especially if you move often.
Thanks for the posting, but I don't think you've read all my postings...I mentioned about going with 2 - 100 watt panels. AS far as not being able to do much with a portable, I think it would depend on where you are camping. If you are comparing apples to apples and have a portable panel of the same wattage as a panel mounted on the roof, it would depend on where you are camping and where your rv is set up. Unless you can move your mounted panel to follow the sun, the portable gives you the option to follow it. I would think more direct sun would be better than not having it directly. Also, it would depend on where you RV is sitting. Is it under tree coverage where the panels aren't getting much?? Is there a place that you could put a portable to get some sun? As another or two mentioned on here, they feel like they weren't get the best amount of sun with theirs mounted on top.
I also stated that I would like the portable option to be able to be used at home. Our home is total electric. Including heat. WE do have a small generator to run some things in case of emergency, but it would be nice to have a total separate battery bank at the house with an inverter. Then I could pull out the panels and use them. Wont supply power to my whole house, but sure would help some.
