Author Topic: "Regulatorless"SolarPanels?  (Read 1458 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

doubledipsoon

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 98
"Regulatorless"SolarPanels?
« on: January 06, 2013, 11:20:32 PM »
    I've had some old Arco 16-2000 solar panels stashed for a couple decades and now I'm finally going to put them on a tracker and cut 'em loose. According to an old Home Power magazine, issue #3, Feb. '88, they don't need regulation from a controller. Since each panel has 33 cells, and each cell puts out .46 volts, the maximum power of 15.2 volts won't ever overcharge a 12 volt battery. It sounds like they were specifically manufactured to follow the charge curve of a 12 volt battery. Has anyone ever used panels with 32 or 33 cells, without a controller/regulator? Joe

DamonHD

  • Administrator
  • Super Hero Member Plus
  • *****
  • Posts: 4125
  • Country: gb
    • Earth Notes
Re: "Regulatorless"SolarPanels?
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2013, 03:03:29 AM »
One (monocrystalline) cell is much like another in terms of variation of output voltage with temperature for example, and 12V lead-acid batteries are not all identical so what would not 'overcharge' a big flooded battery might destroy a gel SLA in short order, I suggest.  And undercharging can be as big a killer.

Plus, no solar cell can do a 3-stage charging process all by itself!

Thus, I think that unless you are charging a huge battery you should use a controller for safety and efficiency.

Rgds

Damon
Podcast: https://www.earth.org.uk/SECTION_podcast.html

@DamonHD@mastodon.social