Solar Controllers--Don't be a Sucker! :(
Just got to say it again, how it is we are sitting here for five months off grid on solar with no problems at all (third season on solar like this), using the non-programmable, non-MPPT, solar control...
Forum Discussion
Hi techwriter,
BFL is one of the good guys. He does a lot of "back yard" hands on experiments.
Salvo says 8% is all you gain from MPPT on 17 volt panels. I have nothing to compare my mppt Blue Sky with. But it would be most interesting to borrow a PWM for a day or so to check out the results.
There is no question MPPT does gather more amp-hours in a day's charging. There is also no question that PWM is vastly cheaper, and so from an economic point of view it makes great sense to slap on another panel and then use PWM instead of MPPT.
It becomes a case of how much roof real estate there is. Not enough space and you want to harvest every watt? Go MPPT and hang the cost.
BFL is one of the good guys. He does a lot of "back yard" hands on experiments.
Salvo says 8% is all you gain from MPPT on 17 volt panels. I have nothing to compare my mppt Blue Sky with. But it would be most interesting to borrow a PWM for a day or so to check out the results.
There is no question MPPT does gather more amp-hours in a day's charging. There is also no question that PWM is vastly cheaper, and so from an economic point of view it makes great sense to slap on another panel and then use PWM instead of MPPT.
It becomes a case of how much roof real estate there is. Not enough space and you want to harvest every watt? Go MPPT and hang the cost.
