Renogy Wanderer PWM 24 Volt Solar Panels with a 12 Volt Battery
- Thread starter mantral
- Start date
chrisski
Solar Boondocker
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2020
- Messages
- 5,186
What are the specs of your solar panels VOC and VMP? What is the input voltage of your PWM at 12 volts?
My guess is no, but the answers to the questions above will tell.
Theres no such thing as a “24 volt” panel. That likely produces a voltage between 33 and 40 Volts which is too much for a PWM set to charge a 12 volt battery. At least all the PWMs I looked.
My guess is no, but the answers to the questions above will tell.
Theres no such thing as a “24 volt” panel. That likely produces a voltage between 33 and 40 Volts which is too much for a PWM set to charge a 12 volt battery. At least all the PWMs I looked.
Thank you for the prompt response.
Wanderer Charge controller spec...
Nominal Voltage: 12 VDC.
Rated Charge Current: 30A.
Max. PV Input Voltage: 25 VDC.
Max. PV Input Power: 400W.
#4 Solar Panels wired parallel specs...
Model Type SG 200WM
Peak Power (Pmax): 200W
Production tolerance: ±3%
Maximum Power Current (Imp): 5.28A
Maximum Power Voltage (Vmp): 37.9V
Short Circuit Current (Isc): 5.56A
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc): 43.5V
Maximum System Voltage: 1000V
Wanderer Charge controller spec...
Nominal Voltage: 12 VDC.
Rated Charge Current: 30A.
Max. PV Input Voltage: 25 VDC.
Max. PV Input Power: 400W.
#4 Solar Panels wired parallel specs...
Model Type SG 200WM
Peak Power (Pmax): 200W
Production tolerance: ±3%
Maximum Power Current (Imp): 5.28A
Maximum Power Voltage (Vmp): 37.9V
Short Circuit Current (Isc): 5.56A
Open Circuit Voltage (Voc): 43.5V
Maximum System Voltage: 1000V
chrisski
Solar Boondocker
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2020
- Messages
- 5,186
So, no.
The max input voltage to the SCC is 25, which is less than your solar panels.
A big limitation to a PWM SCC is the narrow input voltage compared to a much broader MPPT SCC input.
The other disadvantage to a PWM is you need to run panels in parallel and not series. Can lead to thicker wire, but with yours at 10 AWG for 30 amps would be fine.
The max input voltage to the SCC is 25, which is less than your solar panels.
A big limitation to a PWM SCC is the narrow input voltage compared to a much broader MPPT SCC input.
The other disadvantage to a PWM is you need to run panels in parallel and not series. Can lead to thicker wire, but with yours at 10 AWG for 30 amps would be fine.
Vigo
Solar Addict
That’s an interesting voltage limit (25v). I dont think ANY pwm controller has a hardware limitation at 25v, although i couldn’t say with certainty. I think they are just plucking that number to keep people from hooking 300-400w panels through a pwm controller to their 12v battery and then calling and complaining about only getting 100w.
But, i am doing just that. I have 3 panels with VOC in the 37v range, paralleled to a pwm controller to a 12v battery system. I get <200w of power from 750+w of panels by doing this, but the panels were nearly free and the controller was <$20. I don’t really care how not-ideal it is.
So you could certainly do it in general, but i wouldn’t buy that Renogy to try it out with. And really, if you can stretch the budget to $100 you can get a real mppt and then actually get 500+w out of the setup.
But, i am doing just that. I have 3 panels with VOC in the 37v range, paralleled to a pwm controller to a 12v battery system. I get <200w of power from 750+w of panels by doing this, but the panels were nearly free and the controller was <$20. I don’t really care how not-ideal it is.
So you could certainly do it in general, but i wouldn’t buy that Renogy to try it out with. And really, if you can stretch the budget to $100 you can get a real mppt and then actually get 500+w out of the setup.
Similar threads
