Solar panels

Thanks Gerry,
I was interested in when we had a station 40 odd years back, when we had to rely on the old 32V power supply!!! If they had been available, apart from being very expensive, could 12V panels be wired in series. The snag would be the high amperage rate required.
Ian

Hi
Member - Ian F (WA) posted:
Thanks Gerry,
I was interested in when we had a station 40 odd years back, when we had to rely on the old 32V power supply!!! If they had been available, apart from being very expensive, could 12V panels be wired in series. The snag would be the high amperage rate required.
Ian
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Hi
If you were asking about the possibity to series connect for higher voltages such as your old set up,yes this is the standard thing for domestic use .
Use high voltage low current .
THe voltage will be the sum ofthe solar panel output voltages the current will be the current rating of a single panel
They can also be connected in a series parallell combination to give higher currents. OF course must have appropriate control equipment & battery bank

. . . . and you may blow up your regulator.

only if you use crap hardware.
With a MPPT solar regulator this is not a problem within certain limits.
My Outback MPPT steps down from 32V to 12V without major loss
of wattage. If you have 48V input it does only 24V.
I run two 200W panels in parallel each of which does 32V output
and would not run efficient with any non MPPT controller.

have fun
gmd

_gmd_pps , the Outback MPPT can be set to 12v output for up to 140V of solar input.

The output can be set to 12, 24, 36, 48 or 60. To get 32V you could set it to 36 then set that voltage to 32V.

They are a great controller hey? If I have to have a long cable run to the panels I run them in series to lower the voltage drop. If they are close I run them in parallel to minimise shading effects.

that is wrong .. you obviously do not own or have installed one
have fun
gmd

_gmd_pps

It is correct. If you must know I have a MX60 and the manual specifically states:-

Page 63

" PV open circuit voltage 150 VDC Maximum (ETL Rating for UL1741
Standard); operational max = 141 VDC
temperature corrrected VOC"

and

"Voltage step down capability = Down convert from ANY PV array voltage within PV voc limits of 141 VDC to ANY battery system voltage.

Examples: 72V array to 24V; 60V array to 48V

You should check your facts before making blind assumptions. Perhaps you have a cheaper version.

well I do not remember the exact page
but maybe you check again
regards
gmd