Solar - True or false

True.

My first regulator was a cheapie and I put the panel on after dark and hit the contacts on the battery with a multi meter. There was avoltage drop suggesting leakage back into the panel.

Using a solar panel without a regulator is dangerous. Panels put out between 17 and 19 volts. This will "wellington boot" your batteries. A decent regulator will only set you back $100. Good investment.

ATB,

Jim.

3F62,

I have also a BP 80W panel. I bought mine from Derek (ABR) and a Morningstar Regulator. This Reg fits straight into the wiring box on the back of the panel. Stops draw and is set and forget. $95.00 from memory.

Enjoy

Greg

It's true, but the extra power gained during the day without a diode exceeds what you would lose at night.

If you have a constant load on the system i would'nt worry about a reg, one panel will never overcharge, your fridge and lights use more than what your panel can produce.

Very unlikely Chris. I was curious about this reverse blocking diode thing too so I connected a battery to my panel and turned the panel upside down indoors to make sure no light at all got to it. I then measured the reverse current, I should say that I tried measuring it. It was so small as to be ignored, IMO. I did remove the panel's diode for the test and no regulater was connected.
Different panels may give different results so why try it not out yourself?

For a permanent panel set up the diode may be useful but then not all diodes are created equal. The ones usually fitted to the panel drop at least 0.5V, Something I loathe to waste. There are Schottky diodes available which have a much lower (~0.2V) voltage drop. I fitted one of these to the panel that keep my boat batteries charged which is a permanent set up, the boat lives on its trailer when not on the water.
Klaus