Your guide to smart, optimal, self-sufficient energy.
Your guide to smart, optimal, self-sufficient energy.
When trying to figure out what size charge controller you’ll need for your 800W system, you’ll need to consider 3 ratings: The Battery voltages (12V/24V/48V) that the charge controller is designed to operate with. The Output Current rating of the charge controller (in Amps). The Maximum Input Voltage…
The main rating of a solar charge controller is its Output Current rating (in Amps), and this rating represents the maximum amount of current that the charge controller will be able to deliver at its output. However, when sizing a charge controller for your 400W solar panel you’ll…
When sizing a solar charge controller, the main specification to consider is the Output Current rating of the charge controller. For example, a 10 Amp rating means that the maximum amount of current that the charge controller is capable of delivering at its output is 10 Amps. The…
The main rating of a solar charge controller that you should consider is its Output Current rating. The Output Current rating or the “size” of the solar charge controller that you need for your 300w solar panel, will mainly depend on 3 factors: The voltage of your battery…
In this article, I explain how to correctly size the wires that you need to connect your solar panels to your charge controller. After reading this, you’ll learn about wire size and ampacity, wire insulation, electrical codes for sizing these wires, temperature correction factors, etc…To make this guide…
Fuse and other overcurrent protection devices are an essential part of any electrical circuit. In this article, I’ll explain why you need fuses between your solar panels and the solar charge controller, and I’ll show you how to correctly size these fuses. Do you need fuse between solar…
Do I need a fuse between charge controller and battery? The answer is yes, you do need a fuse between your charge controller and battery bank. Should an overcurrent occur, you would want to have an overcurrent protection device (OCPD) placed between your charge controller and battery. An…
Undersizing your wires can lead to unwanted power and energy losses and potential safety risks. And, since copper wires are expensive, you also don’t want to oversize your wires too much. Below you’ll find a calculator that will help you find the right cable size to connect your…
A solar charge controller also called a regulator, is an electronic device used in solar energy systems to protect the battery. Solar charge controllers are mainly used to keep batteries from overcharging and over-discharging. However, newer MPPT charge controllers can also decrease power production losses. In this article,…
PWM charge controllers are probably the most used type of solar charge controller in small off-grid systems. Compared to MPPT charge controllers – another type of solar charge controller- they are very cheap and accessible. In this article, I’ll explain what a PWM charge controller is, how it…
