Panel output voltage too high for 12v DC

[Pagu]

I have a little house in a village in the Solomon Islands fully powered from solar 12v DC.

Panels are crazy expensive there due a few monopoly vendors, so I bought a used 250 watt panels in Australia and shipped it over.

However what I didn't account for when making the purchase was that the panel had an output of 50 volts. It come off a house roof top solar installation designed for 240 v and grid, not 12v DC.

The PWM regulator, despite being rated well in excess of the amperage output can't handle the peak voltage and the fuses burn out.

Given the difficulty and expense of getting panels in the Solomon Islands I'd like try find a solution to use that panel if I can.

Is there anyway I can make that possible? For example can I reduce the output to a lesser voltage somehow?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[SunEagle]

A better solution would be to get an MPPT CC that can handle the higher input voltage from the panels. It could also allow you to increase the wattage depending on it's Amp rating.

[jflorey2]

Is there anyway I can make that possible? For example can I reduce the output to a lesser voltage somehow?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Best solution is an MPPT controller. They are pretty cheap nowadays; you can get one for about $100. (Victron 75/15 is about $115.)

If you can't afford that, you can tap into the midpoint of the panel and get lower voltages. (These are usually accessible within the panel's junction box; the diodes are connected to the midpoints.) Find a point that's about 18 volts and use that. However, you then are not using most of the panel, and your 250 watt panel becomes a 100 watt panel.

[Pagu]

Bewty, thanks very much for this advice.