Attaching extra solar panel to batt for a bit of extra humph

[Cadence]

[QUOTE=simonpickard;1759948]Yeah that's what was worrying me. I want to mix both I guess.

The only other thing I can think of is to tee in the main panels cables just before they hit the controller. Then attach the spare panel to a connector there so they are fed into the controller also.

Would that cause any issues? All of the panels are 12v and of similar voltages.

Regards,
Simon


Simon,

I don't honestly know. It sounds like it may be a better option. I'd bet that may be dependent on the capacity of your controller. Feeding the unregulated output behind the controller doesn't sound good. Why should you need a controller in that case?

I hope someone can tell you, that is not going to convince you they know Ohms law.]

[onestepcsy37]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

The only other thing I can think of is to tee in the main panels cables just before they hit the controller. Then attach the spare panel to a connector there so they are fed into the controller also.[/url]

This sounds like the best idea, as long as the controller can handle the additional amperage. Easy enough to add up the amp output of the combined panels and compare that to the amp capacity of the controller. Great idea and best of luck.

[simonpickard]

Interested in the cig plug idea also. So that plug I have can be an 'in' as well as 'out'? I though it was just an output?



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[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Interested in the cig plug idea also. So that plug I have can be an 'in' as well as 'out'? I though it was just an output?



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Electrically the cigarette plug is just a positive and negative wire connected to a female socket.

If you wire a male plug onto your solar panel just make sure the positive from the panel goes to the center terminal (positive).

Note that if the cig plug sockets are on a panel switch the panel switch will need to be on. Also if the cig socket is wired downstream of the master on/off switch the master will need to be on.