Connecting Multiple Solar Panels To One Charge Controller

Yes you can have two controllers on a one set of panels array.

Connecting multiple solar panels to one charge controller.

Solar panels connected to multiple charge controllers strings to multiple charge controllers and one battery. If we have two solar panels with same voltage and power the connection will be very simple. Maximum rated voltage 19 8v. If both panels are rated at the same maximum voltage then you ll get maximum output.

If you connect the output of each controller on two separate battery banks each controller will charge the bank that is connected to its output using whatever power is available depending on the need state of charge the battery bank has. For example our 115w sunpower solar blanket has the following ratings. Maximum rated current 5 8a. As clearly visible in the picture it will be enough to wire the positive pole of one panel to the positive pole of the other one and then wire the negative pole of one panel to the negative pole of the other one.

Each controller is independent and the outputs will not be parallel unless you put them that way. The rule of thumb when connecting solar panels directly to a battery is never connect more than c 10 watts where c is the capacity of your battery. In addition to displaying information from any individual controller or aggregated system totals it allows simultaneous initiation of an equalization charging cycle for all tristar or tristar mppt solar charge controllers in the system. Yes you can connect two different arrays and charge controllers to the same battery bank.

The meterhub was designed specifically for systems with multiple controllers. Generally speaking it is a good idea to obtain your solar panels before you buy a charge controller. Connecting two solar panels in parallel. And you can connect more than two arrays and charge controllers all in parallel.

In this example there are two strings or arrays of solar panels that go to every charge controller. There is only a certain amount of data that a hard drive can store so you typically purchase a hard drive that is big enough for your needs. For example a 110ah battery should never be connected to a panel more than 11w without a solar controller and if you are using a solar controller you do not need a blocking diode. Connect the negatives to the negatives and positives to the positives.

You can think of a charge controller in the same way that you would think of a hard drive on a computer. For mppt controllers mppt tracking of each subarray is preferred as there is less impact with voltage mismatches. Connecting in series means joining the positive terminal of a solar panel to the negative terminal of the next solar panel until eventually you are left with one free positive and one free negative terminal of the array which are to be connected to the input either of the inverter in case of a grid tied system without a battery backup or the charge controller in case of a grid tied system with a battery backup or off grid solar panel system. The battery bank voltage must be lower than your array voltage so that your pv system would charge your battery.