When hooked to a solar panel does this regulator not only step down the voltage, but also act as a charge controller to prevent over charging and back
338119
Actually, if you set the output voltage and amperage limits using the trimpots. Once set, it will govern the output to whichever limit it bumps into first. So if you set the max charging current to say 500ma @ 24v then it will reduce the voltage to stay at/under 500ma while never allowing the voltage to exceed 24v. In theory, if you set the voltage to just under you battery's fully charged voltage and then set the current to a sane limit it should float when charged. For 'back' feeding to the solar panel, just put a diode in-line on the output. You can think of diodes like little check valves. ;)
1832905
No.The circuitry is designed to look at the battery conditions (voltage, current draw etc.) and another charger in parallel would confuse that.If you need more power, you need to buy a larger charger or get multiple solar panels and feed those into Delran's separate solar controller.
1248019
No. You also need a voltage regulator to ensure no overcharging of your battery, or you need to manually monitor charging so you do not ruin your battery. I think the regulator I bought was less than ten dollars and it was all I needed for three panels.
919576
Kind of. The voltage regulator is actually part if the battery. It shuts off at full charge and also shuts off to prevent over discharge.
1753805
No I use a charge controller for that function, I am making a circuit to turn the controller of at night as well.
726990
yes. that is one of the reasons you need a charge controller. also remember your open voltage on solar panel [without load] is much higher. I have digital meters checking my system and when the battery is near full I can see the meter increase. that's because the charge controller limits the input to a trickle. so the load on the panel is lower. so you start to see more of the open voltage [higher voltage]. this controller also cuts off the load when the battery gets to a very low charge. so you do not damage the battery by over discharge. hope this helps.
1796518
You need an MPPT controller to prevent the battery from overcharging. The controller also prevents the battery from discharging at night.
1090211
Yes, but you will need a charge controller with this panel. A charge controller is designed to protect the battery by managing the charge rate.
1114389
No, this item only comes with the panel. It is prewired with about 4' of cable. For the price though you cant beat the performance. I wouldn't recommend buying a panel / charge controller combo, there's too many options to consider. Check out mppt & pwm charge controllers on YouTube to determine the best controller for your application. I bought a pwm for my home installation. Regardless you really dont want to go cheap on your controller, its quality will affect the lifespan of your battery. There is a 30 watt panel on amazon that does come with a cheap controller, But it is trash.
16925
Not sure about "regulation". I use it as a roof mount on my RV to keep the house batteries charged. I think that the 5 watts is such a low charging rate that there is little fear of an over charged situation. I use a 3 watt on my RV vehicle battery as well; and have used that on the dash board for over two years with no problem. I think it would be the same for the 5 watt. I do however have a 40 watt solar charger that I use when camping and it has a controller (regulator). I think it is too large not to use something to control the charge to prevent over charging. I hope that helps!!
1682930
I'm not 100% sure what you mean by aftermarket regulator. If that's a charge controller (basically a thing to prevent too much charge from going in the battery or any charge from leaving the battery when the sun isn't shining) then I have the answer. I've been using an AGPtek charge controller. They're around $40 and are pretty easy to wire correctly. They have LEDs that show you when you're charging, when you're drawing and how full your battery is. Hope that helps.
1880649
You usually have to have some type of controller to prevent battery overcharging. I hooked my solar charger to a gate opener that has a built in controller for the battery.
2003023
No ! The charge controller should be mounted in a dry , cool place . The PV cable supplied is of no use , unless you are mounting the panels on a garden toolshed roof and installing controller , batteries and inverter inside the shed . Since my panels are 50 feet from my charge controller , I am using # 10 awg pv cable ,very little power drop ; charges my batteries fast. Hope this helps . ..Roger
1316171
no, a charge controller must be between solar collector and the battery. The charge time depends on solar intensity, and duration.
22135
Yes. Charge controllers, like this one, are specially made to go through different charging cycles to extend battery life span and protect batteries from overcharging.Thank you,AW
2226860
Hello I believe it is a voltage regulator only,I bought several of these and I did not see any thing more then just to regulate the voltage, and it works good,make sure the voltage regulator and the solar panel are both 12 or 24 volt as i burned my first 12 V reg as I bought and hooked up a 24 V solar panel and cooked it :(John graber
453603
Since the Controller os automatic Voltage sensing on the Battery Side, the answer is NO. The Controller will sense a 12v battery system and will shut down, as in overloaded. The Controller will allow you to hook up to a 24 volt solar panel but the max input into a 12v battery system is 390 watts (30 amps nominal throughput to the batteries).