Charles in Aus.
Well-known Member
My farm is run on 12 volt solar batteries with a single panel and it's time to increase the capacity .
12 volt panels are expensive here but I can buy 36/40 volt panels left over from grid feed systems very cheaply.
Can I use these on my system ? I can relocate the 12 volt panel to an out building and use it on a separate system .
My biggest concern is whether the regulator will drop the 36 volts down to the 14 or 15 required to charge the batteries . I have four, six volt batteries each rated at 400 amp hours.
The new panels would sit 130 feet from the batteries so voltage drop is likely even though the cables I have are 3/8ths thick.
12 volt panels are expensive here but I can buy 36/40 volt panels left over from grid feed systems very cheaply.
Can I use these on my system ? I can relocate the 12 volt panel to an out building and use it on a separate system .
My biggest concern is whether the regulator will drop the 36 volts down to the 14 or 15 required to charge the batteries . I have four, six volt batteries each rated at 400 amp hours.
The new panels would sit 130 feet from the batteries so voltage drop is likely even though the cables I have are 3/8ths thick.