<span class="highlight">Solar</span> <span class="highlight">Panel</span> Wiring Help

OK Folks, After a calm cup of tea I have tackled this again and went over it logically in my head and I was disturbed to find the Following, The Wiring for the regulator connection to the panel is back to from. Take a close look at the photo below, you will see the Negative Wire connected to the positive side of the regulator and vice versa. I will reverse this and magically the connectors/adapters will fit. My other questions still stand about the 2 sets of Aligators etc....

Out of curiosity what would of happened if I connected it the way it came????

See Pic of incorrect wiring...
Image Could Not Be Found
cheers Aaron

They way I read your controller is this.

The picture showing the regulator connected to the panels is straight foward....that is

Solar Panel + to solar regulator + (if the pair of panels are not wired together then they must be wired together in parallel.......that is + solar panel to + solar panel and then to + panel on the regulator......this maintains 12V

DO NOT JOIN the + to - as you will get a series connection of 24V

The middle diagram on the regulator is straight foward + and - to the battery

It appears to me that the third picture on the regulator is depecting a load device....that is whatever accessory you are using is powered from the battery (via the regulator).....in other words connect the accessory to these terminals

if that is the case then perhaps the regulator has a low voltage cut out to protect the battery or at the least is acting as a voltage stabiliser to mantian a steady 12v approx......whilst the battery is on charge

others may have a different interpretation.but I am quite positive from what I have observed from your picture

Aaron,

Google is your friend! Do a search on "CMP12 solar regulator". Lots of hits. The first link I opened was this one. It shows a diagram with connections just as suggested above -

Tie the 2 panel's positives together. Tie their 2 negatives together. Now regard them as a single panel. Connect the panel positive to the controller positive. Connect the panel negative to the controller negative.

The battery positive goes to the positive battery terminal on the controller. Battery negative to the negative battery terminal on the controller.

Your loads may be connected to the positive and negative load terminals on the controller. Personally I'd ignore those load terminals and connect the load direct to the battery (with a fuse (say 30A) close to the battery of course.)

Good luck!

John

Aaron ,

Rich Solar was one of my suppliers for Solar Panels early in the piece ..

Be careful with that controller - The CMP12 comes in two versions a 6Amp and the 12 Amp ..

I think there is a label on the back that shows the rating ... The 6 Amp will only just be big enough and on a bright sunny day may in fact be too small and switch off !! ..The 12 Amp will be no problem at all.

Strange that they are using those waterproof connectors for their kits - normally would only see them on the panels for rooftop installations. Still got the springy steel cable too ...

Check the open circuit voltage on each panel to see if they show 21-22 Volts not 15 ... Some of these kits have low voltage panels and should be hooked up in series not parallel .. They are a first class panel ..

Cheers

Steve