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  • Wiring Dissimilar panels together.

    Hello this is my first post thanks for adding me.
    I am new to solar and I have been gifted 2 panels for use on my camper. They are both cheap 40w panels with thier own charge controllers.

    my question is whether I should wire them in parallel into a single charge controller or whether I should simply connect both charge controllers to the battery.

    one panel is a polycrystalline panel with optimal voltage of 17.1 the other is a mono crystalline panel with optimal voltage of 15.9.

    I have read that it it's not good to connect different voltage panels together but you can get away with it if they are close enough. The charge controller I wish to use is a Coleman 7amp unit the other one is "competition solar" brand with no ratings on it and it feels quite cheap and much lighter than the coleman with only a single led indicator.

    I'm wanting to charge a single 135ah deep cycle battery.

    would I have more losses using 2 separate charge controllers or wiring 2 similar voltage panels into a single (what I feel is better) charge controller.

    thanks in advance

  • #2
    both those charge controllers are likely bottom of the barrel. I'd wire each panel with it's own controller to the battery. You will still be undercharging the battery, but with several days of good sun and no loads, the panels will eventually top off the battery.
    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
      I always charge the battery before I leave it's really just for maintenance for the time I'm on the site a few led lights, ocassiomal water pump, LP leak monitor, and LP fridge digital control panel. Will the different charge controllers Sence each other's charge voltage and think the battery is fully charged? Thanks for the response.

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      • #4
        each charge controller is wanting to charge to a specific voltage. some have settings for FLA, AGM, GEL or DeepCycle. but one won't affect the other, they both will finish at about same voltage/time.
        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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