circus
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2021
- Messages
- 380
Yes but it would have to be a completely separate system sharing only the battery.
Solar panel
- Thread starter btemplet
- Start date
Sure can.
Try to match your panels as you buy them either in voltage or amperage. Mixing panels that are not alike usually will not be very efficient.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Can’t answer that literally- just theoretically- until we know for sure what the specs on the 100W panels are.
I can think of 2 or 3 very good scenarios right now but those are dependent on knowing what panels you’ve got already. There’s a few 300W panels that can play well with 100W panels configured correctly.
Depends on your current solar controller. You can normally purchase large panels like 300 watts + at a pretty decent price. I have a guy locally where I purchased 305 watt used panels for $85 each. Also for space purposes, I would do larger watt panels instead of a lot of smaller panels.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
I went back and reread the info. Looks like this is on a vehicle, if so he may be wanting to keep it at 12 volts? If so maybe he needs to stay with 12 volt 100 watt panels? I agree with you he needs to give more info on his panels and controller and what his ultimate goal is.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Actually you can charge 12V batteries with much higher panel voltage with mppt charge controllers.
My current iteration for example is 3S2P which is 60V into the charge controller which outputs the 13.8-16V I have it set for. About to bump to a 4S2P which is roughly 102VDC VOC. This will help during winter/clouds/short days but I’ll be way WAY over my needs for 6-7 months of the year and might add electric hot water heater.
Of course that’s for mobile situations; a whole house wouldn’t run good on that.
Agree with you 100 percent. Just some people use straight 12 volt panels when working with vehicles.
These are the panels I have I have them hinged together so I can put them away I may keep them like that and get different panels for my onboard system I would like to use flex panels they would be a whole lot easier install what is your opinion on flex panels
Attachments
Those are interesting panels, just kidding.
If you can retake the pic of the panel info, all of the information was cut off on the right.
Since info is kind of sketchy, let me tell you what I have and what it does from there. I have 4- 305 watt panels with a 40 amp solar controller. The controller is rated at 40 amps and a max of 150 volts. Anything over 1050 watts, per controller specs, will not be used or is wasted. Even though I should be getting 1220 watts at best sunlight and coolest part of the year, I have only been in the range of 600 to 900 watts at best times. I say this to let you know age of panels, shading, angle of the sun, etc, will all effect watt production and you will probably never see the same wattage that you add up from your panel array vs actual production. I average 4 to 5 KW per day of used /stored DC current. Some solar controllers like mine can be over paneled. I am running a 24 volt setup. With my controller it is rated at 150 volts and a max production wattage of 1050 but it can be over paneled up to 3000 watts. When you over panel, you will collect more energy in inefficient times of the day but the in the best times of the day it will only produce 1050 max charging wattage.
Without knowing the specs on your controller we will not be able to know how many panels can actually be attached so you will need to find that info.
As far as up grading as you go that is a good idea but bear in mind that as you add new batteries to old batteries systems, they may not play well together depending the span of life between them. LPO4 you can add up to a year apart and still be ok where Flooded or AGM batteries will need to be keep closer together as far as percentage of life left.
I know this is different that you have now but it will kinda give you some info to chew on. And oh by they way, I am an old fart too.
Without knowing the specs on your controller we will not be able to know how many panels can actually be attached so you will need to find that info.
As far as up grading as you go that is a good idea but bear in mind that as you add new batteries to old batteries systems, they may not play well together depending the span of life between them. LPO4 you can add up to a year apart and still be ok where Flooded or AGM batteries will need to be keep closer together as far as percentage of life left.
I know this is different that you have now but it will kinda give you some info to chew on. And oh by they way, I am an old fart too.
