Which Charge Controller for solar project?
I’ve decided to turn my 1972 Ford Champion RV into a Green machine. It will be a series of projects, but I guess you’ve got to start someplace. I’ve purchase 2 20w 24v solar panels, and I want to connect them to my RV. There initial job will be to keep the battery charged, but later to charge a set of batteries to run the electrical appliances (mostly the interior lights).
currently, I’ve only purchased the two solar panels. I figure that the charge controller should be next. Should I just buy a cheap charge controller and lose some of the efficiency of the solar panels (i’m guessing i’ll lose some charge when the panels drop to match the battery voltage)… or should I choose the more expensive MPPT charge controller.
Another note… what device should I use to have the solar panels automatically switch over to charge the 2nd set of batteries once the started batter is fully charged?
Thanks in advance.
MPPT is a waste at those power levels. Generally, you will only benefit from power tracking when the array is 500w or more.
In fact, at 40w total, you might be able to get away with no charge controller – you’ll be putting less than 2 amps into the battery.
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