Charge Controller Recommendation

[acefett]

Hello All,

I have some deep cycle 12V batteries and a 1000 watt inverter for camping. They work great, and I got a great deal on some solar panels, but I can't identify a good charge controller for the panels I ended up with. I am adding the specs below, my meter readings report the panels are good and within spec, and I only want to use one panel at a time, any help would be awesome, thanks in advance ....

Sharp ND-N2ECUF
Maximum Power (Pmax)* 142 W
Tolerance +10%/-5%
Type of Cell Polycrystalline silicon
Cell Configuration 42 in series
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc) 25.24 V
Maximum Power Voltage (Vpm) 19.92 V
Short Circuit Current (Isc) 7.84 A
Maximum Power Current (Ipm) 7.13 A
Module Efficiency (%) 12.31%
Maximum System (DC) Voltage 600 V
Series Fuse Rating 15 A
NOCT 47.5°C
Temperature Coefficient (Pmax) -0.485%/°C
Temperature Coefficient (Voc) -0.36%/°C
Temperature Coefficient (lsc) 0.053%/°C
*Measured at (STC) Standard Test Conditions: 25°C, 1 kW/m2, AM 1.5

 

[snoobler]

Welcome to the forum.

1. What type of battery (FLA/AGM/GEL)?
2. What is your battery capacity?
3. How many panels do you have (using only 1 may be a bad idea)?

 

[acefett]

Hello and thanks for the quick reply. The battery is a standard EverStart marine battery from Wal-Mart (101 Amp hrs). I am using the set up to run smaller things; LED Christmas lights, laptop chargers, small coffee makers, etc. and the general idea is to use the battery at night and roll out the panel to get some charge on it during the day. I have about 10 panels, but this is just my experimental set up. I am going to do a bigger install once a barn is set up and ready to be wired.

 

[snoobler]

Those Everstarts usually have a "fake" rating. 101Ah @ 1A, so let's assume it's about 70Ah, and that's if it's essentially new or hardly used and well maintained.

70Ah need about 7-10A of charge current, so 142W/12V = 11.8A, so one should do it as you generally don't get peak current ever, and as the battery fills, the current drops, e.g., 142/14.4V = 9.86A.

Essentially, any 10-20A charge controller of any kind (PWM, MPPT) will work.

DIY Off Grid Solar Charge Controllers

Building a vehicle mounted solar power system? Let me help.

www.mobile-solarpower.com

 

[Pappion]

Buy a cheap water proof solar controller for this small setup.

 

[acefett]

Thank you all so much. I will run with this info and let you all know how it turned out