I have an offgrid network repeater box between my house and ISP, and currently it requires regular battery swaps to maintain.
The solar setup is just a 100W panel connected to a Renogy PWM charge controller. It produces 180 Wh on a clear day near winter solstice, mostly because it's right up against a treeline that shades it starting around noon. I recently did some optimization work on the position and angle and there doesn't seem to be much juice left to squeeze. Moving to another location is out of the question for a couple reasons.
From a load side it uses ~11.5 watts 24/7, which is 276 Wh per day.
That leaves me needing another 100Wh/day at least. The obvious options are a switch to MPPT or the purchase of another 100W panel, and those options seem to be about the same cost ($80 to $100). Which would be a better choice?
Since I only need ~10A of charging max, is there a lower cost MPPT that I should try?
The solar setup is just a 100W panel connected to a Renogy PWM charge controller. It produces 180 Wh on a clear day near winter solstice, mostly because it's right up against a treeline that shades it starting around noon. I recently did some optimization work on the position and angle and there doesn't seem to be much juice left to squeeze. Moving to another location is out of the question for a couple reasons.
From a load side it uses ~11.5 watts 24/7, which is 276 Wh per day.
That leaves me needing another 100Wh/day at least. The obvious options are a switch to MPPT or the purchase of another 100W panel, and those options seem to be about the same cost ($80 to $100). Which would be a better choice?
Since I only need ~10A of charging max, is there a lower cost MPPT that I should try?