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DIY thin film Uni Solar cells wiring question
I've been hunting for a solution for solar for the roof of my vintage camper restoration. Loved the advantages of thin film unisolar panels, but could not afford the length. After spotting 50 cells for rock bottom pricing as a DIY package, I couldn't pass it up.
Here's what I'm (thinking) I can do with them, maybe someone will correct me if I'm way off base and avoid a catastrophe!
The cells are 7.3w, 2.2v flexible cells. Two positive tabs, negative is the back of the cell.
I would wire the entire set of 50 in series for 365w @ 110v, running to a Tracer MPPT that's rated to handle 150v (not yet purchased). This will give me the least loss due to less resistance as the amperage would be low enough to use thinner wire. The MPPT controller would do its magic and feed my 12v battery bank, everyone's happy. The only drawback I can see is the need for a charge controller that can handle high voltage input, and the chance that one issue somewhere down the road would fault the entire series and I'd have nothing.
The other way I can think of is to wire sets of 8 cells in series, call it a panel, and wire all the panel sets in parallel, giving me a good charging voltage of around 16 or so. If damage occured to one set of 8, the rest should theoretically function, right?
I'm still a little lost on wire sizing, the run won't be more than 10, 20 feet to the charge controller and another 5 to 10 to the batteries.
I'm still attempting to learn how to tab and solder cells, but have yet to see a single video on thin film flexible cells... hoping its the same concept.
Pics of the cells below. Any ideas/criticism/advice would be very welcome. Despite all the googling I've been doing the past few weeks, its hard to cram it all in the ol' noggin sometimes.
-Mike
Here's what I'm (thinking) I can do with them, maybe someone will correct me if I'm way off base and avoid a catastrophe!
The cells are 7.3w, 2.2v flexible cells. Two positive tabs, negative is the back of the cell.
I would wire the entire set of 50 in series for 365w @ 110v, running to a Tracer MPPT that's rated to handle 150v (not yet purchased). This will give me the least loss due to less resistance as the amperage would be low enough to use thinner wire. The MPPT controller would do its magic and feed my 12v battery bank, everyone's happy. The only drawback I can see is the need for a charge controller that can handle high voltage input, and the chance that one issue somewhere down the road would fault the entire series and I'd have nothing.
The other way I can think of is to wire sets of 8 cells in series, call it a panel, and wire all the panel sets in parallel, giving me a good charging voltage of around 16 or so. If damage occured to one set of 8, the rest should theoretically function, right?
I'm still a little lost on wire sizing, the run won't be more than 10, 20 feet to the charge controller and another 5 to 10 to the batteries.
I'm still attempting to learn how to tab and solder cells, but have yet to see a single video on thin film flexible cells... hoping its the same concept.
Pics of the cells below. Any ideas/criticism/advice would be very welcome. Despite all the googling I've been doing the past few weeks, its hard to cram it all in the ol' noggin sometimes.
-Mike
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