slipperysam
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2021
- Messages
- 22
Hi, I can't seem to figure this out after reading the beginner resources. I see that everyone seems to factor the number of panels N into, say, S series x P parallel. For example if you have 6 panels, people consider either 2S x 3P or 3S x 2P.
Well, I'm putting solar panels on top of a 34' bus, and my space constraints limit me to 7 panels. Of course 7 is a prime number. So, from my initial reading it looks like I need to decide whether or not to wire all 7 panels in series (pretty much a non-starter with partial shading issues), or 7 panels in parallel which will likely require some really thick gauge wires. It's also possible that I just install 6 panels if I must, but I'd rather not miss out on an extra 400W.
(Each panel will probably be a residential 400W panel, e.g. Voc 48.55, ISC 10.64, Vmpp 40.77, Impp 9.81 - haven't picked particular panels but this is a good example of what we've been looking at.)
So, am I understanding this correctly? If so, can someone explain to me why I can't mix different volts & amps, for example running 7 panels as 4 parallel arrays of 2s, 2s, 2s, 1s?
Well, I'm putting solar panels on top of a 34' bus, and my space constraints limit me to 7 panels. Of course 7 is a prime number. So, from my initial reading it looks like I need to decide whether or not to wire all 7 panels in series (pretty much a non-starter with partial shading issues), or 7 panels in parallel which will likely require some really thick gauge wires. It's also possible that I just install 6 panels if I must, but I'd rather not miss out on an extra 400W.
(Each panel will probably be a residential 400W panel, e.g. Voc 48.55, ISC 10.64, Vmpp 40.77, Impp 9.81 - haven't picked particular panels but this is a good example of what we've been looking at.)
So, am I understanding this correctly? If so, can someone explain to me why I can't mix different volts & amps, for example running 7 panels as 4 parallel arrays of 2s, 2s, 2s, 1s?