Looking for Nature Power 50162

[Marrott01]

Greetings. New to the forum and this is my first post. A couple years ago in my solar infancy I had Camping World install a single Nature power 165w panel (#50162) and pwm charge controller that I have since replaced with a victron 100/20 mppt. I want to parallel connect another 50162 panel but the price is outrageous..$380 is the cheapest I can find this panel online and am not sure why. I could pull the original panel off and replace with (2) 200w panels for less money but don't want the hassle of removing the existing l so would love to find this for $200 or less if anyone has any ideas or has an alternative panel that closely meets the same voltage/amperage specifications.

Thanks!

 

[snoobler]

Welcome to the forum.

Almost any 12V nominal panel of any wattage will perform well with your panel in parallel. Most 12V panels have Voc around 21-22V and Vmp around 17-18V. Get within 1V of your existing panel, and you'll see less than a 5% penalty, i.e., if you add another 180W panel in parallel, you'd get (165+180) * 0.95 = 328W.

If you have any desire to put them in series, you must match the Imp value as closely as possible. ALL panels in series will only output the current of the LOWEST current panel in series.

The biggest factor may be size. As panels get more efficient, they get smaller.

 

[Marrott01]

Thank you sir, in parallel, should I be sizing a mismatched panel off Voc or Vmp? This may be my best option considering the cost to find an identical panel.

 

[Forbisher]

Greetings. New to the forum and this is my first post. A couple years ago in my solar infancy I had Camping World install a single Nature power 165w panel (#50162) and pwm charge controller that I have since replaced with a victron 100/20 mppt. I want to parallel connect another 50162 panel but the price is outrageous..$380 is the cheapest I can find this panel online and am not sure why. I could pull the original panel off and replace with (2) 200w panels for less money but don't want the hassle of removing the existing l so would love to find this for $200 or less if anyone has any ideas or has an alternative panel that closely meets the same voltage/amperage specifications.

Thanks!

Newpowa 160W

Voltage at Pmax (Vmp) 16.77V. vs 17.5V

Current at Pmax (Imp)9.30A. vs 9.43A

Open-circuit voltage (Voc) 19.83V

 

[Forbisher]

Thank you sir, in parallel, should I be sizing a mismatched panel off Voc or Vmp? This may be my best option considering the cost to find an identical panel.

Match Vmp as that is the operating voltage under load..
Voc is momentary at first light.

 

[Marrott01]

Newpowa 160W

Voltage at Pmax (Vmp) 16.77V. vs 17.5V

Current at Pmax (Imp)9.30A. vs 9.43A

Open-circuit voltage (Voc) 19.83V

Thank you. Just wanted to check my math on the newpowa 180w panel in combination with this existing 165w panel...

Newpowa 180w Vmp 16.77 vs. 17.50
Imp 11.75 vs. 9.43 (add these together right?) =21.18a x 16.77v =355w

Seems odd because this is 10w more than the panels are rated for @345w?

 

[Marrott01]

Thank you. Just wanted to check my math on the newpowa 180w panel in combination with this existing 165w panel...

Newpowa 180w Vmp 16.77 vs. 17.50
Imp 11.75 vs. 9.43 (add these together right?) =21.18a x 16.77v =355w

Seems odd because this is 10w more than the panels are rated for @345w?

Seems I miss read the listing. Imp is 11.20 not 11.75 which puts max output at 345. Seems like a good alternative panel

 

[Forbisher]

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