Mixing Solar Panels Mppt

Not planning on touching that one.

Mixing solar panels mppt.

Mixing solar panels of various voltage or wattage or produced by different manufacturers is a frequently asked question by most diyers. When connecting modules of dissimilar electrical characteristics in series it is each module s current that plays a heavy role in how the string is going to perform in the solar power system. With the matching outputs of the charge controllers you can now combine 2 or more power sources of equal voltage together in parallel and the current from them adds together. Though mixing different solar panels is not recommended it s not forbidden and things would be ok as long as each panel s electrical parameters voltage wattage amps are carefully considered.

This allows you to add additional panels to an existing battery based system and still maximize the output of both sub arrays. The principle of mppt is squeezing the maximum possible solar generated power from a solar panel by making it operate at the most efficient combination of voltage and current also known as maximum power point. Current total wattage is 900w. First look at the datasheets of the solar panels to see what their maximum open circuit voltage is.

One is 2x325w 72 cell panels in series feeding a victron 100 50 mppt. I currently have 2 solar arrays. When mixing solar modules is important to remember that it is not the wattage of the modules that is important to consider. The other array is a single 250w 60 cell panel feeding a separate victron 100 30 mppt.