Hooking HF 45W PV to Xantrex 5548?

[Jedon]

Now I have my full 48V Trojan L-16 bank ( 16 batteries ) and two Xantrex 5548's, is there any way to hook the HF 45W kit into the system to help a little?

Thanks!

-Jedon

[dnix71]

I have that HF kit. It puts out 30 watts on a good day. That's not going to do your setup any good. Those panels don't have blocking diodes, either, there is one in the charge controller/pdu that comes with the kit.

[richhagen]

You basically have something that can charge up to about 45 volts reliably, but your bank, even depleted, will be above that.  If you hook them in series and run them through a blocking diode and fuse to the battery, you may get a bit of power into the batteries on bright sunny days, but it will be less than ideal, and not permitted under the NEC in the U.S. as a charge controller is always required under that code.  Generally, with this type of mismatch between panel voltage and battery charge voltage, an MTTP charge controller such as the Outback MX60 would be the answer, but that seems a bit costly and exotic for just the three panels.  If you could come up with a 4th panel of similar current capabilities, then you can hook them in series and get what current they can output into the batteries through a 48V charge controller of most common types, or directly through a diode and fuse as I mentioned above if the batteries are of a type and sufficient capacity that they could handle the small current you would be getting.   Rich

[Jedon]

Thanks, I didn't think it would really work, just checking. I'll use them as a trickle charger to keep various 12V batteries charged, then maybe put them down by my gate to power a gate opener when I get a powered gate.

I'm going to need a charge controller anyway since after I finish building the house and get the Lister going I'll start on the microhydro setup, unless I transform the voltage up to 110AC I guess, hmm.

[Jedon]

I'm getting close to moving into the main house so won't need to have my 6 golf cart batteries hooked to my trailer any more, I was thinking maybe I could use them as a kind of transfer station into the main battery bank, charge them off the 45W solar panels and then once in a while dump them into the main bank via? 1000W inverter? Probably a bad idea? I just hate having the panels sitting unused in my shed while I burn $$ on gas.