How To Connect Solar Panels To Battery

E Mana’omia Ea Ni Fa’aola Ole La

Talu ai e leai ni vaega fe’avea’i o paneta o le la, e la’ititi la’u auaunaga ma tausiga e mana’omia. Ina ia fa’atumauina lelei le fa’atupuina lelei o au paneta sola matou te fautuaina se auaunaga fa’aletausaga e fa’amautinoaina o lo’o fa’atumauina lelei lau masini ma so’o se fa’aletonu po’o se pa’u i fa’atupulaga e vave fa’ailoa ma fo’ia.

Can You Add More Batteries To Your Solar System

In most circumstances, adding a battery to an established grid-tied solar system is achievable however, the degree of difficulty depends on whether your system was built with that goal in mind.

There are several options if youre looking to add a battery to your current solar system.

One advantage of installing batteries is that you will be able to use electricity in the event of a power outage in your neighborhood.

Though this may be a significant advantage for you, there are a few additional factors to consider when choosing a battery for your solar system.

How To Connect A Solar Panel To A 12 Volt Battery

Building a solar panel system at home helps you to live an environmentally-friendly life. But wiring it correctly is not an easy task. Usually, you start it by installing solar panels. After that, you begin to deal with the wring.

How to connect a solar panel to a 12-volt battery? Many of you will encounter this problem. If you are a professional electrician, this is a piece of cake for you. But if you are not, you need some instructions and guidelines. This article will help you to handle the task.

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About Solar Panel Battery

Solar panel batteries allow you to store the energy produced by solar panels when it is sunny. You can use it at times when there is none, such as at night or on cloudy days. Also, it allows you to make use of a current intensity greater than that provided by the solar panels in operation.

The batteries are responsible for accumulating electrical energy and providing it to you when the solar panels are not producing electricity or the amount you need. Solar panels produce an amount of energy greater than what we consume. This is used to charge the individual batteries.

Installer And Quotation Checklist Including Tips For Evaluating Quotes

Grid-connected batteries for solar battery systems are relatively new. None of the currently available products in the Australian market have been around for more than about five years. Consider the following advice when buying a grid-connected battery, either as part of a solar battery system or on its own.

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Three: Series And Parallel Connection

The first step to form a series and parallel connection is to form a series, sequence, or line of batteries connected to each other.

• Now, heres the next step, and I cannot stress this enough, ALWAYS CONNECT THE NEGATIVE POLE OF THE SERIES FIRST and ONLY THEN the positive poles. Now comes the parallel connection.

For this, you should connect a fuse between the multiple series of batteries.

You must pay close attention to the polarities at the time of connecting. You may use cables with a suitable section.

Be sure to make them as short as possible to have less resistance, which will result in reduced energy loss. Moreover, use the same length cables to connect the series and parallels.

You might be wondering how this method is better than the rest. Well, let me clarify. By using a series and parallel connection, you will be able to double both the capacity and the voltage compared to those supplied by a single battery.

So, if you have a high economic budget, the series and parallel connection method is the right one for you. It is also an excellent solution for those interested in having a high capacity and high-efficiency solar system.

How To Connect A Solar Panel Battery:

For home appliances, using solar power as clean and reliable power energy is getting popular. All you have to do is connecting solar panels to house wiring properly. By this, you can reduce the electric charge in a large amount.

• Take professional help to install a solar panel on your roof. For home use, you may need twenty 250-watt panels to run the appliances.
• Install batteries for the panels. Try to wiring solar panel to 2 batteries.
• Connect the panels to the inverter to the battery. The inverter converts the solar power to consumable power it means DC power to AC power.
• To transport the DC power to the inverter, connect the wire to the circuit breaker from the battery. Keep an electrical jolt connected to prevent an overload of solar power.
• Link the inverter to the AC fuse box of your home. Your home appliances are ready to get smooth and clean power. Keep the AC generator and power inverter connected to get extra electricity in case of an emergency.

How to Use Solar Panels to Charge Batteries:

Charging batteries with a solar panel is the best way to use clean energy. To use this energy, you have to install the charge controller to help adjust the voltage, or else the solar energy will produce more power than the battery capacity.

To install a solar panel system all by yourself, you will need:

• Wrench

Step 1:

You have to charge the battery with the charger and keep it enough charge to connect with solar panels to generate electricity.

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

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Battery Depth Of Discharge Chart

So you can see that the battery is fully charged at 12.73 volts and 90% charged when the voltage reads 12.62 volts.

Once the voltage drops down to 12 and under, a lead acid battery is pretty much discharged and should be charged up as soon as possible to avoid damage.

Note that the voltage reading should only be measured after the battery has not been used for at least 3 hours, so there is no chemical activity within the cells.

What Kind Of Solar Charge Controller Do I Need

Remember I talked about the Maximum Power Point of a solar panel? An MPPT charge controller adjusts its internal resistance to match that of the panel, thereby drawing maximum power from the panel safely.

The chart below shows results of a MPPT vs PWM solar charger tests I carried out on a lead-acid deep-cycle battery MPPT shoed an increase in power of 22%:

MPPT solar charge controllers are proven to be about 30% more efficient than PWM, so will charge your battery 30% quicker.

PWM controllers are more primitive and cheaper. It depends if youre looking for maximum efficiency or if you have plenty of time to charge your batteries.

Check out this page on DIYSolarShack to read a detailed comparison MPPT vs PWM Test.

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Install The Solar Panels

Before connecting any component to the other one, you should mount the solar panels first.

Firstly, you should choose the most appropriate location for the solar panel. We recommend you install the model on the roof because usually, the top-roof can be best exposed to the sunshine. In that case, your solar panels will enjoy the most sunlight and longest sun hours or peak hours to generate solar power.

Next, you need to prepare a space to place the solar panels. Namely, there should be a platform for your modules. And you are allowed to use metal rails like aluminum rails to build the platform.

Then, arrange the solar panels on the platform. After that, you should wire the solar panels in series or parallels. You need slice boxes and fuses to improve and perfect the safety and protection of the system. Junction boxes are added to better insulate the power inside the modules.

How To Connect Solar Panels To Battery Bank/ Charge Controller Inverter

If you are planning to reduce your carbon emissions this year, one of the best things that you could do is to invest in a solar power system.

The solar panels are the most importantparts of the power system, and it makes use of solar energy from the sun togenerate a photoelectric effect, which results in the production ofelectricity. The generated voltage specific to the panel is then transmitted tothe battery as direct electric current, from where it will charge the batterybank.

But between the battery bank to power your appliances, some integral process needs to take place the direct electric current/ DC current must be converted into an alternating electric current, AC. This conversion takes place in the converter, the other important component of the solar powering system.

Note, however, that the inverter is incomplete on its own, and for the conversion to be done correctly, there must be a charge controller present between the solar panel and your battery. This controller is an important component that protects the battery from overcharging or any other form of damage.

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Is The Solar Input Cable Heavy Enough To Handle The Higher Current

If your BMS has been wired correctly, the solar input cable should be large enough to handle the maximum input current that the BMS is rated to. You can ask the manufacturer of your camper or caravan to confirm this. The last thing you want is to melt the cable and start a fire.

Alternatively, you can check it yourself. Use this handy calculator to check the required cable size.

Connect Your Solar Panels Solar Charge Controller And Battery Bank

Before you connect solar panels to batteries, you have to set up the charge controller first.

You have to connect positive to positive leads and negative to negative leads on the battery and solar charge controller. If you have more than one battery, make sure you connect the positive of your solar charge controller to one end of the battery and the negative to the opposite for a balance charging.

For you to hook up solar panels to your solar charge controller, connect your solar panels adapter kit first. After that, connect the panel and the controller positive to positive and negative to negative.

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Pattern : Connection In Series

The solar panel connection of the batteries in series is made by always connecting two or more identical batteries. To connect the solar panel with the batteries in series, connect the positive pole of each battery with the negative pole of the next.

We have connected in series 2 batteries from 12V to 100Ah. At the output, we will have a voltage of 24V equal to both batteries. A total capacity identical to that of a single battery .

The series connection of the batteries with the solar panel allows the sum of the voltages of every single battery to be obtained at the output. The capacity of battery power is the full capacity.

The series connection is used to optimize the efficiency of our system. Because we are interested in building a solar system with the lowest energy losses.

Wire The Solar Panels To The Charge Controller

After the solar panels are wired, you need to wire them to the charge controller.

A charge controller is an essential component used to prevent your model from overcharging. It interfaces the solar panels and the batteries. Thus it plays an important role in regulating solar power from solar panels to batteries.

And there are two types of charge controllers in the market: PWM, and MPPT.

PWM means Pulse-Width Modulation. It is cheaper but may produce some power losses. According to the data, as much as up to 60% of power can be lost during conversion.

MPPT refers to Maximum PowerPoint Tracking. An MPPT controller can effectively optimize the voltage coming from the solar panels. As a result, the produced energy by solar panels can be transferred to the battery bank at a maximum rate.

Choosing the right charge controller for your system. You can simply divide the solar panelâs load wattage with the batteryâs voltage rating.

If the wattage of the solar panel is 1200 watts, and the required battery is 12 volts, then you will need a charge controller with a current of 1200watts ÷ 12v = 100 Amps.

After choosing the required charge controller, you wire it to the combiner set of the solar array.

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Can A 12v Battery Be Charged With A Solar Panel

In most circumstances, depending on the size of the battery, fully charging a 12-volt automobile battery with a solar panel capable of producing 1 amp of current will take between 5 and 8 hours.

To get a reasonable charge, ensure sure the panel is set towards the sun directly with no obstructions in the way.

What Happens If You Connect Solar Panels Directly To A Battery

When sunlight hits the cells on a solar panel, it produces a chemical reaction and generates direct current . The solar panel transmits this current into the battery. The current is used to charge the battery and can also be used to run appliances and other devices.

If the solar panel is directly connected to the battery, all of the current is placed in the battery. A 12V battery needs only 12 volts, at most 14.4.V to charge. A 12V solar panel produces up to 20V.

If you put 20 volts in a 12 volt battery, it will overcharge. This is going to damage the battery and whatever device or appliance is connected to it.

By installing a charge controller like the Binen 20A Charge Controller , this can be avoided. You place the charge controller between the solar panels and the battery, and it will regulate the current flowing into the system.

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Connect The Solar Panel To The Charge Controller

Next up connecting the solar panel!

Most solar panel cables come with pre-attached MC4 connectors. To connect a solar panel to a charge controller, you need MC4 solar adapter cables.

For the panels positive cable, connect the MC4 inline fuse, positive extension cable , and then the MC4 adaptor cable.

For the panels negative cable, connect the negative extension cable and then the MC4 adaptor cable. Dont let the exposed wires touch!

Follow the instructions in your charge controllers manual for connecting it to the solar panel. Ill show you how I connected mine:

First connect the negative solar cable to the charge controller, then connect the positive. Your charge controller should turn on or light up to indicate that the panel is properly connected.

Everything is now wired together!

Just one more step

Connect Solar Panels To Charge Controller

The third and final step is to connect the solar panels to the charge controller.

If you have more than one panel and are unsure if you need to connect it in series or parallel, check out my article here.

Confused about specifications of the solar panel you got? Check out my article where I explain all the parameters of a solar panel here.

Use the cables that come with the solar panel, these are UV-resistant cables. Other cables will crack and break over time when they are exposed to UV radiation. This is the part when you need to oversize the diameter of the wire to account for voltage drop. Try to keep the voltage drop under 3%. to calculate the voltage drop.

What is voltage drop?

Voltage drop is a phenomenon that appears when you have a long cable that delivers energy from point A to point B. The length of the cable increases the resistance in the cable which will reduce the voltage at point B.

For example, your solar panel delivers 18 Volts DC and 5.8 amps to the charge controller and the wire length is 40 feet.

As you can see in the calculation, the voltage drop is 4.09% which will reduce the overall power delivered to the charge controller.

Lets calculate the amount you will lose: 0.74 volts x 5.8 amps = 4.3 Watts.

This is not much, but if you have multiple panels, this can add up quickly. It could be that in your country the voltage drop may not be above 3% by law. To reduce the voltage drop, you use thicker wire.

The final version will look like this:

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How To Connect A Charge Controller To A Battery And Solar Panel

Instead of connecting a battery directly to a solar panel, you should install a charge controller between the battery and solar panel. The solar panel will charge battery with current but the controller ensures only a safe amount goes into it. The following steps show how it is done.

Required Tools and Materials

• 12V deep cycle battery we recommend CHINS 12v 200ah LifEPO4 Deep Cycle Battery

The basic steps are:

Step by Step Instructions

1. Prepare all the tools and materials. Set up the solar panel so you can link them to the main connector later on. Lay out the panels first. Depending on your setup, an extension cord may or may not be required.

The wires should be covered for protection. If the battery is not yet charged, do this first. Its a good idea to charge the battery while you set up the solar panels to save time. Make certain the batterys negative terminal is on one side and the positive terminal on the other.

If your battery is already parallel, proceed to step 3. If not, cut the cables and make some jumpers. The bigger the inverter, the longer the cable, but chances are your solar panel already has cables ready.

Tips and Warnings