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  • Charging 3 battery banks

    Hi All

    I'm new to this forum and I hope someone can give me some advice.

    I've got 2 x 100w solar panels wired in series to charge a 24v domestic battery bank on my boat. I now want to use the panels to also charge the 2 sets of starter batteries (one bank for each engine). I've found lot's of 2 bank controllers but can't find one for 3 battery banks. Is there such a thing?

    I thought about wiring the 2 starter banks together but putting a diode between the controller and banks to keep them independent but I read somewhere that with a diode before the battery, the controller would no longer recognize the batteries and so wouldn't charge them.

    Can anyone give me some advice on how best to handle this.

    Thanks for any help

  • #2
    Starter batteries have a different charge profile than deep cycle
    Is your starter system 24V also ?
    You may have to use 2 switches.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi Mike

      Yes, the 2 starter systems are also 24V. Could I put 2 different controllers on the 1 pair of panels?

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by PW1 View Post
        ....Yes, the 2 starter systems are also 24V. Could I put 2 different controllers on the 1 pair of panels?
        No, only one controller can connect to a group of panels. To use 2 controllers, you need at least 2 panels. Otherwise the controllers "fight" each other and decrease PV output.

        Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
        || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
        || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

        solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
        gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

        Comment

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