Solar regulator question ??

Submitted: Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 11:01

ThreadID: 76236 Views:3136 Replies:3 FollowUps:2

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Solar Power

This article covers every aspect of solar and its design and installation in RVs (camper trailers, caravans and motor homes). It shows how much power solar panels really produce,

signman

The connections on a 'solar regulator' show PANEL- BATTERY and LOAD.
When using the setup as a battery charger- is it essential that a 'load' be connected ?? And if so what load??

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Reply By: Alloy c/t - Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 11:15

Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 11:15

Essential ? No. Load is whatever you wish connected to the system , lights / fridge ect , + and - wire from load to a fuse / panel /box then to item. Depending on brand of regulator such as a Steca it will tell u how much power in and how much power out=load.

AnswerID: 405356

Reply By: farouk - Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 11:24

Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 11:24

The load refers to the power that you use to power your caravan etc you do not have to have a load on when you are using a charger. Some regulators like as the Projecta have seperate connection going into the regulator to which you connect a battery charger but they are the exception.
A solar regulator is not used to regulate a 240v charger as the solar charge from the panels will override the 240v battery charger.
Farouk

AnswerID: 405362

Reply By: Mandrake's Solar Power- Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 14:27

Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 14:27

There was a previous thread on this subject - Might have been one of mine ,,

There was argument that the regulator would become confused electronicly by the charger's output - I think this was to do with the type of regulator ..
Most new ones are solid-state PWM or PWM/MPPT -

I have been running a 15 V DC charger through a 10 Amp PWM reg and have not had any problems with charging my 26 aH playtime batteries .

Cheers

Steve

AnswerID: 405402

Follow Up By: signman - Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 14:40

Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 14:40

PWM ?? MPPT ?? wots that??

Sounds like a terminal disease !!

FollowupID: 675119

Follow Up By: Mandrake's Solar Power- Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 14:48

Monday, Feb 22, 2010 at 14:48

Ohhh Signman - LOL ...

PWM is Pulse Width Modulation

MPPT - Maximum Peak Power Tracking ..

These are types of regulators for Solar Power -

The PWM one is your standard ( at the moment ) regulator .

The PWM / MPPT is now coming into affordability ( thanks China ) and not only has the PWM circuitry it also has MPPT which may under certain conditions give you a higher current output than your panel is rated at - this can be between 10 and 30% more available current ..

Cheers

Steve

FollowupID: 675121