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Solar panels

Charles in Aus.

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.
 
I have 24 volt panels that are over 200 feet from my battery bank. I hooked them series-parallel to make 96 volts DC to
keep loss down with the long wire run. Battery bank is 12 volts and works fine. Just have to have the correct controller
that can take a high input and output @ 14 volts to charge the battery bank. I have #8 copper wire that works fine for a
200 foot run. .128" diameter. Max voltage drop is 5%.
 
As long as the charge regulator has the capacity . The higher voltage panels will charge as wee bit more at low light levels vs a 12V panel.
 
Sure, those 36 volt solar panels will work PROVIDED your solar charge controller will handle the 36 input and step it down to charge your 12 volt battery bank which many (not all) are designed to accomplish. My MPPT solar charge controller will handle over 100 volts of input and still charge my 12 volt battery bank not a problem. You can also wire your similar panels in series or series/parallel for higher net operating voltage (and total watts) to reduce the amount of current (and possible I x R Voltage Drop) between your panels and controller etc. I recommend matched panels and an MPPT charge controller that can handle your input voltage and charging current.

Go for it

John T
 
Charles, you could set your batteries in series and discharge them individually as long as you kept your discharge fairly level, that is use each battery about the same amount. If you had six batteries you might be able to dispense with the regulator, but only if you watched your voltage like a hawk.
 
With a soldering iron and a bit of patience you may be able to reconfigure the panels to provide 12 volt output.

A good chance the 36 volt panels have multiple panels internally wired in series to get the 36 volt output.
 
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