solar system that charges batteries in 4 is impossibe ?

[gendil]

the problem is that i am getting addictive with these things ...all my bucks are going to (panels batteries pwm controlleres etc) hehehehhe

here is small system that i use for laptop + led lamp + phone charger ....65amper sla + 60 watt panel (18vmp+3.25 a maxim power )+souer pwm controller 24/12volt 5 amper


i wonder the what is largest (panel) this system can accept before my battery (gets angrey with large charging current)??????

this time its SLA BATTERY

[SunEagle]

For a 65Ah FLA battery the highest charging current would be around 8 amps. That probably equates to a 150watt panel with a Vmp ~ 18volts and Imp ~ 8.3amps.

My small system uses a 65Ah Optima battery but because I did not follow the advice of people on this forum I only purchased an 80watt panel. It is on the "light" side for charging that battery with an Imp ~ 4.5 amps. I should have gotten at least a 100watt panel or even better a 120watt panel.

Here are a couple of pics of my system.

[gendil]

wow impressive ...mobile solar station...i will make sure i buy this barrow ...the system i show you i used when i go in picnic and i use in home as well...but in my home i rely on my

'abit big ' system...it is 200 amper battery with 250 watt ...panels ...but its nice to have small system on mobile wheels ...the batteries are incredible heavy

and the wheel will be of grerat help

[SunEagle]

wow impressive ...mobile solar station...i will make sure i buy this barrow ...the system i show you i used when i go in picnic and i use in home as well...but in my home i rely on my

'abit big ' system...it is 200 amper battery with 250 watt ...panels ...but its nice to have small system on mobile wheels ...the batteries are incredible heavy

and the wheel will be of grerat help

I also have "big" portable system. It includes a 12v 200Ah battery system, about 420watts of panels (3 x 80 & 2 x 90), 30 amp PWM CC, 600 watt inverter.

Here are a few pictures of that one. Although it only shows 4 panels but the combiner box was designed for 5.

I spent about $2500 for this system and could have saved $1000 by going with 2 x 6v 232Ah FLA batteries instead of 4 x 12v 50Ah, and 2 x 200 w panels instead of the 5 < 100w.

Big mistake to build the system like I did but again I did not listen to the experts on this forum before I purchased that hardware.

[gendil]

impressive man ....nice pictures ....nice system ...now you have remind me of important question

despite the fact that i know how to calculate solar system (pwm/mppt) and make all necessary calculations


but i still 0 in terms of "PROTECTION DEVICES" i really connect my pv directly to my batteries "my home system has 200 amper battery"

with no protection at all?

and i connect my batteries to my loads directly with out any sort of protection


can you educate me abit about protection devices ...this will allow me to install systems for my friends

i refuse to service them because i really dont know how to protect them and thier systems if some thing gone wrong

..thanks friend and i congratulate you on your impressive system

[gendil]

I also have "big" portable system. It includes a 12v 200Ah battery system, about 420watts of panels (3 x 80 & 2 x 90), 30 amp PWM CC, 600 watt inverter.

Here are a few pictures of that one. Although it only shows 4 panels but the combiner box was designed for 5.

I spent about $2500 for this system and could have saved $1000 by going with 2 x 6v 232Ah FLA batteries instead of 4 x 12v 50Ah, and 2 x 200 w panels instead of the 5 < 100w.

Big mistake to build the system like I did but again I did not listen to the experts on this forum before I purchased that hardware.

what is fla? battery? from the replies on my post i deduce that one have to buy batteries the can accept higher charging currents

they will allow you to buy more panels than batteires ...thus charging time is reduced and the higher cost of batteries is eliminated

the panels will be larger than the batteries and thus you can enjoy free power as long as strong sun light is there

the only draw back is that once in the sunset you can not enjoy much of power since all is left is small charged batteries(relatively speaking)

[Sunking]

FLA = Flooded Lead Acid or Wet Battery
AGM = Absorbed Glass Mat another form of lead acid battery.

[gendil]

instead of open new thread i have this system 2 24volt 250 watt solar panels pwm conroler system and 100 amp 24vdc battery agm can i add one more panel to reach to the 600 watt cause this system
is only 400 watt due too pwm controoler so now if i make it to 600 watt adding yet 3th panel each panel have 8 amps so i be exately at c/4 of my battery capacity wwont that damage my syetem? i need to be at 600 i have small window air condition that eats around 460watt and living in country of too much sun and too much power black out

will it work ?

[SunEagle]

instead of open new thread i have this system 2 24volt 250 watt solar panels pwm conroler system and 100 amp 24vdc battery agm can i add one more panel to reach to the 600 watt cause this system
is only 400 watt due too pwm controoler so now if i make it to 600 watt adding yet 3th panel each panel have 8 amps so i be exately at c/4 of my battery capacity wwont that damage my syetem? i need to be at 600 i have small window air condition that eats around 460watt and living in country of too much sun and too much power black out

will it work ?

Adding that 3rd panel may also add another 8 amps to your battery charge which could hurt even an AGM type battery. It really depends if you get 24 charging amps or some lower percentage but once you go above 16 amps you also may increase the charge rate faster then a C/6.

If you need more panel wattage to run your AC system then you might need to increase the battery Ah value to accommodate the additional charging amps.

[RenewablesRock]

I am in the middle of doing long term tests with my two 310 watt panels in the back yard. I am waiting to get price quotes so I can mount these on the wall, if possible. My panels are 77-1/2 long and 39-1/4 wide. Anyone know if any good, strong wall mounts I could get for these?

Any time I go to Amazon or eBay and search on "Solar Panel Wall Mount", I find nothing of value. But I see people doing these because I've seen pictures elsewhere. See the photos below of people that have done what I am trying to pull off. So I know what I am trying to do is not unreasonable. I have my panels on saw horses in the attached pic in the yard temporarily until I can find the proper wall mount kit. Once I mount them on the walls, then I can buy the combiner box, lightning arrester, power on/off box, etc and make it all look professional.

[SunEagle]

I am in the middle of doing long term tests with my two 310 watt panels in the back yard. I am waiting to get price quotes so I can mount these on the wall, if possible. My panels are 77-1/2 long and 39-1/4 wide. Anyone know if any good, strong wall mounts I could get for these?

Any time I go to Amazon or eBay and search on "Solar Panel Wall Mount", I find nothing of value. But I see people doing these because I've seen pictures elsewhere. See the photos below of people that have done what I am trying to pull off. So I know what I am trying to do is not unreasonable. I have my panels on saw horses in the attached pic in the yard temporarily until I can find the proper wall mount kit. Once I mount them on the walls, then I can buy the combiner box, lightning arrester, power on/off box, etc and make it all look professional.

Maybe you should search for "awning" mounting hardware. Solar panels are basically the same thing as an awning in those pictures and that type of hardware needs to withstand high wind shear conditions.

[gendil]

Adding that 3rd panel may also add another 8 amps to your battery charge which could hurt even an AGM type battery. It really depends if you get 24 charging amps or some lower percentage but once you go above 16 amps you also may increase the charge rate faster then a C/6.

If you need more panel wattage to run your AC system then you might need to increase the battery Ah value to accommodate the additional charging amps.

i cant get same type of battery ,,,,so i cant increase the batteries besides ...they are 3 years old now ....looks like i have to build new system with 3 agm 200amps batterys + 5 250watt panels +mppt controller 24/48 volt


this system will produce 1.25kwatt /hour and thus will be able to power small refgrirator and ac .....i may be forced to turn off the ac once it is dark but can easily power up the refrigrator some small refrigrfators consume as low as 200 watt

[RenewablesRock]

i cant get same type of battery ,,,,so i cant increase the batteries besides ...they are 3 years old now ....looks like i have to build new system with 3 agm 200amps batterys + 5 250watt panels +mppt controller 24/48 volt


this system will produce 1.25kwatt /hour and thus will be able to power small refgrirator and ac .....i may be forced to turn off the ac once it is dark but can easily power up the refrigrator some small refrigrfators consume as low as 200 watt

Yeah, three 200 Ah AGM batteries are big bucks. But yeah, that would be awesome to run a fridge. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos of people living in vans running 12V refrigerators off of the solar panel(s) on their roof with like a 100 Ah battery. Amazing stuff.

Yesterday I watched a video where this couple lived out of a 2008 Sprinter van. Then they went to Mexico and the engine died. They paid $1600 for the inverter, batteries and charge controller. Their solar panel was free from a friend. They do a lot living off the grid with that solar set up.

Here's their story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFnb5qwecJw

[RenewablesRock]

Maybe you should search for "awning" mounting hardware. Solar panels are basically the same thing as an awning in those pictures and that type of hardware needs to withstand high wind shear conditions.

Yeah, that's a good idea. Maybe I'll check on that. Thanks for the tip!

[littleharbor]

i cant get same type of battery ,,,,so i cant increase the batteries besides ...they are 3 years old now ....looks like i have to build new system with 3 agm 200amps batterys + 5 250watt panels +mppt controller 24/48 volt


this system will produce 1.25kwatt /hour and thus will be able to power small refgrirator and ac .....i may be forced to turn off the ac once it is dark but can easily power up the refrigrator some small refrigrfators consume as low as 200 watt

3 200ah. batteries,.. sounds like 12 volt batteries. Unless you are building a 36 volt system this is a bad choice.
5, 250 watt panels, not a good number. You only have two choices to wire them ALL in parallel, or ALL in series, Too high voltage unless you have a high voltage MPPT controller.