Solar on a small TT
I'm looking at a small travel trailer (starcraft satellite 17rb) which is only about 20ft long. Roof is composite one piece without much of a flat area. One thing that I absolutely want on my next R...
Forum Discussion
Partial shade is not something that I have to deal with, I'm mostly in the open. Still, here is how I see it:
Bypass diodes help each panel to work - it still produces when partially shaded, but the output drops. When output drops on one panel, it drops to the same level on all 3 panels in series string. So, shaded 30% of one panel results in 30% output drop of the entire array, despite that the shade is only 10% of the total array area.
This is (one of) drawbacks of series wiring of 24V panels. I still prefer 24V in series, eliminates the need to install beefy cables and roof junction box. Again, - this works for me, at sea level and in the open.
Here is series/parallel/bypass etc explanation for dummies, with pictures: Link
(Seems like Don Piano was typing at the same time with me, arriving to the same conclusions)
Bypass diodes help each panel to work - it still produces when partially shaded, but the output drops. When output drops on one panel, it drops to the same level on all 3 panels in series string. So, shaded 30% of one panel results in 30% output drop of the entire array, despite that the shade is only 10% of the total array area.
This is (one of) drawbacks of series wiring of 24V panels. I still prefer 24V in series, eliminates the need to install beefy cables and roof junction box. Again, - this works for me, at sea level and in the open.
Here is series/parallel/bypass etc explanation for dummies, with pictures: Link
(Seems like Don Piano was typing at the same time with me, arriving to the same conclusions)
