EBay Solar Panels

If you have a Ctek dual 250s DC-DC charger do you still use a regulator like this or are they not required?

AlbyNSW
If you have the Ctec 250S then it has facility for solar panel input, and then it operates as a multi stage battery charger, better than having just a voltage regulator (normally only a voltage limiter) fitted.

Whilst the Ctec has the ability to supply up to 20 amp charge to the battery it is quite happy to operate on a lesser input and convert this lesser input to the 14.8 volts required to charge your batteries at a lesser amperage. I have only a 125watt solar panel permenantly fitted to the roof of my caravan charging 2x 125ah AGM-VRLA batteries via the Ctec 250S and this system generally keeps the batteries fully charged by late afternooon (weather permitting).

With the Ctec 250S there is no requirement for any further voltage control to be used.

The other advantage of using the Ctec 250S is that you overcome the voltage drop caused by the length of wiring from the car alternator and therefore supplying a full charge to your van batteries whilst towing, and also there is no further requirement for any form of isolator between the car and van batteries.

I have no affilliation with Ctec or any of their suppliers, just a satisfied customer.

Regards
Athol W

Thanks for the heads up Athol. The retailer briefly told me about the solar side of things when I purchased the Ctek but was not considering it at the time as it was voltage drop that I was more interested in and I too am happy with the product.
With the price of panels these days I think I might set one up as an additional supply

Thanks again

The only disadvantage with the Ctek is that it has no readout so you can't see what it is doing without adding a meter into the system. Bob.

too true

Panels are on a par

Regulators are the cheap type.

Go to ThreadID: 89551

Cheers
Bucky

If it is the seller I am thinking of then they have a long history of supplying undersized panels.

Member Ed C has further info on this.


Cheers Kev

Hi there Sir Kev

Had a look at your panels, Is the stand reasonably secure, & did you use the regulator supplied ? , They all seem much of a muchness to me.
When traveling I do not seem to be getting enough charge back to the two batteries through the Andersen from the vehicle (Cruiser). I do have a Honda 2.0 but you can not use it everywhere to top up the battery bank. I am also wondering if I should run some heavier wiring back to the batteries.
Thanks

Daz

Daz,

I used the regulator supplied with the panels but changed thier battery connection wiring to some heavy gauge wire with an Anderson plug connected So I could connect directly to the anderson plug on either the Camper or the back of the cruiser.

The stad seemed to work ok even with a fair amount of wind around.

Cheers Kev

This is the Bit deals one my brother bought. The stand is a bit light on compared to the Ozplaza one but so far his has withstood the use as well. Bob.

should have added that the stand, while a simple design is more than adequate.

I use the panels at home here to charge up an AGM battery to run LED lighting in the house and it is out in all sorts of weather sometimes.