Solar Panel Connectors
I am a complete newb with solar panels. I just bought a camper that has an older 50 watt solar panel and 20 amp charge controller. The controller itself looks to be a quality unit and I think I will k...
Forum Discussion
Hi BFL13,
The "bad math" 16 amps x 125% = 20 amps.
And the Blue Sky MPPT Manual suggests NOT using more than 80%. I don't want to find out the hard way that they are right.
So my 30 amp controller can only accept 307 watts of panels safely.
Because it is MPPT you can not "think" in amps of input--you have to rate it by the watts.
BFL you are confusing clipping the voltage in pwm with amps in an MPPT unit. I think perhaps?
To think of it another way the 20 amp rating is like a fuse. Go beyond it and the fuse fails.
The reason for the derating is often to allow for cloud lensing effects.
The "bad math" 16 amps x 125% = 20 amps.
And the Blue Sky MPPT Manual suggests NOT using more than 80%. I don't want to find out the hard way that they are right.
So my 30 amp controller can only accept 307 watts of panels safely.
Because it is MPPT you can not "think" in amps of input--you have to rate it by the watts.
BFL you are confusing clipping the voltage in pwm with amps in an MPPT unit. I think perhaps?
To think of it another way the 20 amp rating is like a fuse. Go beyond it and the fuse fails.
The reason for the derating is often to allow for cloud lensing effects.
