Hey everyone! I'm working on a small solar project and I have two mismatched panels: one is 450 watts and the other is just 100 watts. I'm curious if there's a proper way to connect both of them to a charge controller. Currently, if I try using two separate controllers, my Renogy controller gives me an overvoltage error. If you have any advice or solutions for connecting these panels together, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks for your help!
3 Answers
I've got a setup with a 100-watt panel on an MPPT controller and another smaller 25-watt panel on a PWM controller. No issues whatsoever, but I did have to replace the really undersized wire going to the battery. That fixed some serious voltage spikes and kept my controllers from freaking out.
Honestly, it's not a great idea to connect mismatched panels together. If you wire them in series, the output will be limited to the amp rating of the smaller panel, which is 100 watts. And if you go for a parallel connection, you'll face issues with the voltage too. Basically, whichever way you choose, you're going to lose performance. It's usually better to just use one or the other instead of combining them.
There’s really no problem using separate controllers for each panel. If you're encountering an error, it could be due to a wiring issue or a configuration problem with the controller itself. Make sure everything’s connected correctly!