Portable Solar Plan
I have decided to go portable for my solar for several reasons 1) I like the option to move them around, 2) want to use them before committing to additional on my camper or trailer, and 3) I think it'...
Forum Discussion
The higher the voltage of the panel, the more benefit from an MPPT controller.
An PWM controller will only deliver the maximum amps the panel can drive (panel watts/panel voltage) while a MPPT control can deliver almost the full wattage of the panel. So a 100 watt 17V panel will only delivery a max of 5.9A with a PWM controller while a MPPT controller can deliver 7A (assuming charge voltage of 14.2V). With 2 panels and 10 hrs of daylight, that is 20A/hr or almost 1/2 of available power from a single battery. A 100 watt, 21V system will deliver the only 4.8A with a PWM, but the same 7A with a MPPT controller.
All that said, when I dived into solar, I went with a single 100 watt panel and PWM controller. It exceeds all of my power demands including charging two laptops, phones, several hours of fluorescent lights, and a night of running the furnace. I never really considered a portable panel because of fear of theft combined with no room to store them. Another advantage to the panels is on a full moon night, I get over 0.5A going to the battery. And as soon as the sky begins to lighten, the panels start putting into the battery. By just after sunrise, I'm already getting .75A.
An PWM controller will only deliver the maximum amps the panel can drive (panel watts/panel voltage) while a MPPT control can deliver almost the full wattage of the panel. So a 100 watt 17V panel will only delivery a max of 5.9A with a PWM controller while a MPPT controller can deliver 7A (assuming charge voltage of 14.2V). With 2 panels and 10 hrs of daylight, that is 20A/hr or almost 1/2 of available power from a single battery. A 100 watt, 21V system will deliver the only 4.8A with a PWM, but the same 7A with a MPPT controller.
All that said, when I dived into solar, I went with a single 100 watt panel and PWM controller. It exceeds all of my power demands including charging two laptops, phones, several hours of fluorescent lights, and a night of running the furnace. I never really considered a portable panel because of fear of theft combined with no room to store them. Another advantage to the panels is on a full moon night, I get over 0.5A going to the battery. And as soon as the sky begins to lighten, the panels start putting into the battery. By just after sunrise, I'm already getting .75A.
