I currently have an off-grid system (2- 7amp panel 30 amp controller. Can i add 2 more panels, 2nd 30 amp cont, & connect to the same battery bank
1074720
You don't need another 30 amp controller. 2 more panels would only put you at 28 amps, and I've never seen a panel that puts out its advertised amperage anyway.
1074721
The Grape 160 watt panels are rated at 8.65 amps at 18.5 volts, so yes a larger CC is needed if you add two of them to the two 7 amp panels you already have. You never want to push your CC to its limits or they will fail . I have these panels and they will go over the rated 8.65 amps on many days,10 amps is seen many days. I use a 60 amp MPPT with 5 0f the grape 160 panels and that is at the limit. Don,t forget to add a fuse and disconnect between panels and CC.
980672
You would need to read the info on your controllers. Some of them can not be paralleled.
1012292
Yes, your two panels should have less than 20 amps output, under the best conditions. They should put out about 7.5 amps each, equaling 15, well within the 20 handled by the controller...
974747
Yes you can however you will need a controller capable of handling both panels. Most small inexpensive charge controllers handle 7 amps or less. Two 60 watt panels will produce more than 7 amps on a sunny day.
1296116
Yes you can wire as many batteries as you want theoretically. You need to hVe adequate panels to charge your battery though.
1591681
Hello, Since this unit is 50 watt you can use at least a 5-10 amp controller. If you want to add more panels in the future you may want to consider a 30A controller. Other than the panel you also need cables to run from panel to controller and cables to run from controller to a battery/set of batteries. Let us know if we can help with anything else. Regards, AW
1332098
I don't think you can connect 1 solar panel to multiple controllers effectively at the same time. I would rotate the batteries as needed for charging; only one controller would be needed.
1283048
A 30A Charge controller WILL be adequate and will work but it is a narrow margin for your 145 watt panels. I estimated the amperage on your panels @ 7.25 amps each, that put you right at 29 amps. Barring any solar fluxes that might tip the controller to temp shut down you should be ok.
426996
Yes you can hook them up together in parallel and the voltage will remain the same but the amperage will be 4 times that of one panel. You will definitely need a charge controller with what is going to amount to 80 watts of panel input to the battery. It might be helpful to know more specifics about what you plan to do. If you want to just keep a battery up this is far more panel than you need. If you plan to use the battery daily to power things than 80 watts may or may not be sufficient depending on the size of the battery, the wattage/amperage draw of the loads, and how much daily sun you anticipate. There are a lot of variables. You will also definitely need fuses for fire safety. Hope this helps. BTW, it might be cheaper to buy a singe 80 watt panel as opposed to four 20 watt panels.
1832903
No. Two panels on one battery will not work. Waste of money only one panel needed if using as a maintance charger. If looking at using as a power supply to a cabin this is not the setup you will want. Would need larger panel and controller for that purpose. This unit is strictly a 1.25 amp charger for maintaining a battery in storage. Like my old beat up pickup that is used once or twice a month and sets outside all the time. Keeps the battery in top shape and counter acts the lite drain of the factory radio and computer in modern vehicle.
1014215
One will need MPPT charge controller with this setup 45 Amp should be good enough for three of these solar panels. Morningstar is the brand we sell & support with these panels.
1373853
I have not tried this and wonder why you want to unless you have too much power for one. They do make a controllers that works up to sixty amps. I don't know how you want to wire this. Using separate panels is the only thing I can guess. I use my meter every day to read the total amps going to my batteries and the voltage at any given time. The lights on the front of the controller tell you most things about the system but not the voltage or the current. The voltage tells you how close you are to a full charge. If you have two sets of panels you would need two controllers with two meters. Hope this helps. I have not tried this and wonder why you want to unless you have too much power for one. They do make a controllers that works up to sixty amps. I don't know how you want to wire this. Using separate panels is the only thing I can guess. I use my meter every day to read the total amps going to my batteries and the voltage at any given time. The lights on the front of the controller tell you most things about the system but not the voltage or the current. The voltage tells you how close you are to a full charge. If you have two sets of panels you would need two controllers with two meters.... » Read More I have not tried this and wonder why you want to unless you have too much power for one. They do make a controllers that works up to sixty amps. I don't know how you want to wire this. Using separate panels is the only thing I can guess. I use my meter every day to read the total amps going to my batteries and the voltage at any given time. The lights on the front of the controller tell you most things about the system but not the voltage or the current. The voltage tells you how close you are to a full charge. If you have two sets of panels you would need two controllers with two meters. Hope this helps. « Show Less
1873945
These panels put out 5.25 amps each, so a 30 amp controller should be able to handle five of these panels. A charge controller is used to keep your batteries from being overcharged and as the battery state of charge increases, the controller allows fewer amps to get by it. A solar array that exceeds the capacity of the controller could cause system damage. Do not confuse volts and amps, remember that you are working with DC rather than AC, and short circuiting across the positive and negative wires is to be carefully avoided.
763249
The kit assumes you are putting all 4 panels in series and close to one another all in a row do that the short cables on each panel connect to each other. If you want to do two banks in series and then parallel, you wil need additional mc4 cables. Also if you are not putting the panels adjacent to one another you will need some mc4 cables to jump the gap. Otherwise you only need a pair of 4awg (or so) wires from the MPPT to your battery bank to charge them up. Then you can also get an inverter to run off your battery bank for AC outlets.
575744
Controllers don't care about brand name solar panels. It's just an input. You should consider a 30 amp controller for about the same price. You will expand your system as you find out how much more useful larger systems are. I started with 100 watts and now have 400. Just my humble advise.
1978775
yes all solar panels can be connected to more u just have to get a higher amperage controller...always connect in parallel series will double the voltage while parallel will double the amperage
1332096
The charge control can handle up to 7A. Your 30 watt panel puts out ~1.68A at high noon. You should be fine with one charge controller charging two or more batteries and it would require more charge time. Just make sure you hook up your batteries correctly. Personally and for convenience I would much prefer to get two charge controller with two solar panels for the two batteries so that I could avoid having to move and or reconnect the batteries. A larger solar panel can would benefit you quite a bit if you need to drawn power from the battery each night. Hope you are using deep cycle batteries. The charge control can handle up to 7A. Your 30 watt panel puts out ~1.68A at high noon. You should be fine with one charge controller charging two or more batteries and it would require more charge time. Just make sure you hook up your batteries correctly. Personally and for convenience I would much prefer to get two charge controller with two solar panels for the two batteries so that I could avoid having to move and or reconnect the batteries. A larger solar panel can would benefit you quite a bit if you need to drawn power from the battery each night. Hope you are using deep cycle... » Read More The charge control can handle up to 7A. Your 30 watt panel puts out ~1.68A at high noon. You should be fine with one charge controller charging two or more batteries and it would require more charge time. Just make sure you hook up your batteries correctly. Personally and for convenience I would much prefer to get two charge controller with two solar panels for the two batteries so that I could avoid having to move and or reconnect the batteries. A larger solar panel can would benefit you quite a bit if you need to drawn power from the battery each night. Hope you are using deep cycle batteries. « Show Less
598514
I believe you are asking if you can mix panel types with this controller....no. You will need the MPPT type Morningstar controller.