Wiring Mismatched Solar Panels To Get The Most Power
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2023
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For many different reasons, we might want to combine multiple different-sized solar panels into one system. This is not as easy as just wiring everything up in parallel and expecting to get the sum of the rated wattage for each panel. I will walk you through an example of what I would do if I had 1 large panel (360 Watts) and 1 or more smaller panels (100 Watts).
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.
I had to stop when you introduced the other 100w panel: the whole point was you only had the two dissimilar panels, not three! You can't just change the scenario..."buy another panel"! The answer with two panels was separate solar regulators, surely?
Great to know if you do not understand ABC's of solar panels. At one time I did not understand ABC's of solar panels. I learned from people just like you ! Thanks so much for your video even now just nice to review.
Great tip for someone who may be getting a couple used panels to get their feet wet and their bulbs lit.
💯
Very informative, thank you! I'm very interested to see your upcoming grid tie project. I hope you do a whole series and really delve into the decisions you made, pros and cons, problems encountered. Hopefully later you will follow up with after-install analysis of energy production, any problems or issues you have with the installed system, etc.
Fantastic video, can’t believe you only have a few thousand subscribers. Keep making stuff like this and you’ll be the No1 solar channel.
Thanks so much for the support. I don't plan stopping any time soon 👍
Kind of like watching Mr. Wizard from a few years ago! Thanks
This thumbnail was great, simple and to the point but created intrigue.
Finally i found a intelligent guy who actually understand the term "different watt solar panels".Great work,find you help full.Thanks man.Great work appreciate you❤
Thanks for the feedback 👍
I was just about to order a 100w panel (on sale) to go with my 200w one. Good thing I saw this video. Thanks!
You need to disregard the Wattage numbers and look at the current and voltage numbers.
If the 100W panel has same voltage as the 200 Watt panel, then you can simply wire them in parallel and be totally fine.(no loss of power)
But if the Voltages are not matched, then you’ll probably find that the currents will likely be matched… and that means you can wire them in series and will be fine. (No power loss)
In his first example, his panels neither matched voltage nor current… which is what complicated the solution.
In your situation, 100W plus 200Watts, you will very likely have either the voltage match or the current match. Which will dictate either series or parallel wiring.(and give you full power!)
Thanks for the info just did a rewire of some panels and this helped me. :)
Yup, that's a good tip. You can't force current through a solar panel. Each panel is only going to let as much current through it as there is light falling on it and whatever it's max. current is. That's why you get almost no current from the total solar array if you completely shade just one panel that is connected in series with other panels in full sunlight, if there are no bypass diodes.
Great explanation. Thanks.
great work, brother! some of us are new at this topic, and the longer we mingle with the subject, the clearer things become. Your explanation methodology is top notch for many! Greg (Garden Grove, CA)
Thanks for the feedback Greg 👍
I did the same with my delta max 2000. I had
2x 250 watt trina panels
37voc, 34vmp, 7.3imp
And 3x 100 watt renogy panels
24voc, 20vmp, 4.91 imp
I wired the 2 trinas in series and the 3 renogys in series and paralleled the 2 "arrays" and got
74voc, 62vmp, and 13.2imp and my end result was about 800 watts. It was hard to stay in the 100voc range for the DM2000 but i was able to consistently get my 800 watts. With the renogys in play i had great low light production as well. Since ive moved to the delta pro and running 4 different 100 watt panels in my 1800 watt 6S3P setup that i het 135voc,115vmp, and 15.9imp (max input current). I consistently see 1600 watts safely by adding in some lower voltsge panels into my setup lol.
This was a PERFECT informational tutorial! I've needed this exact information shown in this exact manner for years, and this was shown in such a simple way that even a kid could understand. Subscription earned!
Welcome to the channel 👍
Love your easy to understand videos. I was expecting you to say we needed one of those little inverter/converter boxes on the little one. Can we get a video for when those little boxes are needed?
Thanks for posting this educational and entertaining video. I hope to buy enough solar power equipment to run my oil fired furnace in winter time outage here in Mass.
Happy to help, and best of luck on your setup. I wonder if a EcoFlow Delta 2 would be enough to pull your through an outage. Those unit are handy, very portable, and pack a punch for that type of application.
Great hands on and informative video. I was wondering if you also tried paralleling the two 100 watt panels and then putting them in series with the larger panel. Then you get the 58 to 59 volts at 7 amps instead of the 33 volts at 11.4 amps. Since a lot of medium size solar power stations have a hard 60 volt limit, and most are limited to 10 amps, this type of approach may allow a little more power into your power station. I know a lot of Bluetti products have this limitation and between 40 to 45 watts would not be used with the 33 volt, 11.4 amp wiring method. Thanks again for these hands on easy to follow videos!
Great video
Or if you want to maximize the production, instead of wiring them together, wire them to separate charge controllers.
To wire together:
* If you can match voltage pretty close, wire in parallel
* or if you can match current pretty close, wire in series
but if the panels are different the MPPT is not going to have a good point to track because of the different panel characteristics.
Good point on the separate charge controllers and MPPT challenges. Thanks for the feedback.
Excellent video!
Thx 🙌
I bought a Bluetti PV200watt pannel with my AC180 power station.
....then i bought (2) Fanttik EVO SOLAR 100 solar pannels.
....now being that i bought (2) of the 100w panels and after watching that very last part of this video ....im HOPEFULL that the amperages and voltages equal probably..... about the same.
Here is the specs for the Bluetti PV200:
Voltage at max power 20.5v
Current at max power 9.7A
Open circuit voltage
26.1V
Short circuit current 10.3A
~~~~~~~~~~
My Fanttik EVO SOLAR 100w panels ...which i have 2 units of btw!
The specs are:
Power voltage
18V
Power current
5.68A
Open circuit voltage
21.6v
Short circuit current
6.15A
....now is there a way that if i go on Amazon & buy the stuff you showed in this video ....that i would be able to DIY and somehow be able to connect these to get aprox 350w-400w max altogether out of all 3 of what i just sescribed above??
THANKS!!
THank you for the video! I just ran into a a build where I can only install nine modules instead of ten. All the modules are the same and I have 5 on one string and 4 on the other. I have a 250/100 Victron mppt with the mod specs at 24v and 11amps. Should I just drop it back to 4 on each string? Best, MIke
So without wiring in the 3rd panel how would you do it? I have 2 100w renogy panels and a 100w renogy suitcase panel ran in series. Is there a better way to run it?
I'm so glad the Eco Delta 2 Max now has 2 inputs for solar power. I know this isn't too complicated, but I prefer solutions that don't require thinking :P
This is great! I've got a couple of mismatched panels and have wondered how to link them up. I'll have to go buy another 100w panel, but that's easy enough.
Best of luck on the project!
Why didnt you do the second one with the one panel ?
Does the 5V difference between the 2 in series connected solar panels backfeed into the larger one? Or what happens with this voltage that is being omitted? Can it damage any of the panels?
Thanks!
Thanks so much for the support 🙌
can I connect first in parallel, but then connect those combined leads into a series array?
2 panel series 340+380 to 40A mppt at 12v battery. My mppt pick one panel and when I disconnect and reconnect the connectors or solar wire in mppt it’s start working with both panels. What to do now? Volts and amps are little different
cable gauge would have a say how much can go through as well.
So, if I got 100 watt and 400 watt panels, but both have current outputs of 6 amps each, I should be okay hooking up in series?
Спасибо! Очень информативно и интересно! Скажите пожалуйста, а что будет если соединить две группы одинаковых панелей, но направить их немного в разные строны. Например одна группа строго на Юг, а вторая строго на ЮгоЗапад? Не будет ли перетекания тока с одной группы в другую, или встроенных диодов достаточно? Будет ли выработка суммироваться контроллером, кода солнце будет освещать обе группы даже под разным углом?
What about using panel optimisers? Eg. put one on the 100W panel and then put that in series with the 300W. The optimiser should 'fix' the problem you showed of the 100W panel limiting the current to just 4.4A when in series before.
this is the way!
What would happen if you wired the 360 and the 100 on individual strings going into a combiner box each on its own breaker?
🌞 2x480W series panels (Vmp: 37,10 lmp: 12,95) are charging Lifepo4 battery (48V 11,7kWh 230ah) via Victron 150/35 charger ...
⚡ LiifePo4 battery is charging Ecoflow Delta pro via solar xt60 input (max input 150V 12A 1600W) ...
🌞 2x480W parallel panels (Vmp: 37,10 lmp: 12,95) are charging Powerstream (max input 55V, 600W) panels too ...
⚡ PowerStream, conected with Delta pro, is charging house and Delta pro too, with excess energy from Powerstream.
⚡ Delta pro is charging household appliances AC output 💪
Problem situation: In the morning the LifePo4 battery was dead because it had been charging the Delta pro during the night. When the two panels started charging the battery via the Victron charger (approx. 100W), the Delta pro went wild and started to overheat. I turned off the Delta pro. What could cause a malfunction in Delta pro?
Can you put the 100w pannels in parallel to get 8A, then the 300w in series after so you can get closer to the 60v max of the eocoflow?
Yep, that would work. Just remember to leave a little buffer between your max voltage under perfect conditions and the 60V max of the Delta 2. Once you hit or exceed 60V the solar input will shut down which would be a bummer 😁
I have Renogy 25 x 100w panels I have bought over 2 years and dumb me, I purchased 2x 320w Renogy panels thinking how good am I. But now, the Volts from 2x100 is just about the same as 320w . Goodie goo. Thanks for the info.
You bet!
So you just connected the two in series and compared...what happend to connecting then in parallel and comparing?
Why didn't you do the second test scenario with the one smaller panel again? Would have been better to show results with the same gear - series vs parallel. Would have been a much better video!
I am looking at getting an ecoflow delta 1300 and i have found 2x 200w panel which the specs are VOC 41.2V IMP 5.95A.
Another set of 1 x 250w panels at VOC 37.9V IMP 8.3A.
Both 2x 200w panel and 1x 250w panels are up for sale as used panels which are relatively cheap. But i am confused about all the types of current as i have no prior experience to any electrical works. I want to try and max out the charging capacity of 400w but basic calculations tell me the V and A of the 2 x 200w panels will already exceed my input amount. Or should i just get the 1 x 250w panel?
The Ecoflow will have either a max charge current or voltage it will accept. Wire your panels to not exceed either. The closer to the optimum of each, the better the result.
@@CncObsession the delta 1300 is max 65v or 10A at 400w max. Is taking 2 of the 200w panel a better choice?
I must disagree, I calculated that in this case it should be more proffitible to wire the 2 small 100W panels in paralel so it would give us 8.8A and than adding the 16.5V to the 38, which should give us 54V but it would gave us the measured 58V and we will be limmited by the lower curent of 7A.
i WOULD REALLY LIKE YOU TO COMPARE THIS 2 COMBINATIONS. (also what would happen if you just added paralel to the 7A pannel properly calculated resistor to take care of the 1A, it should be possible to extract the most energy of the system, but I am not sure if it would just eat the power of the bigger pannel)
Please i have a question,
I have 195w solar panels (4) and a 150w solar panel (4) also another 150w solar panel (4) i like to connect them all on a 220ah battery (2) on a 12v inverter, please how do you suggest i connect the panels?🙏🏻
What are the open circuit voltages for the 195W and the 150W panels?
To be honest sir i don’t really know because some installer had already installed them on the roof top
I just plug all of mine into the charge controller. Let 'it ' figure it out 😂😂
That is one way to do it 🙂
What will happen if you connect one 300 w panel to ONE 100 w panel?
I'd add in a blocking diode on each set of panels.
Why did you add an extra panel?? Missed the whole point of the videos title. Bit of a fail there hey!
What is the solution for the two panel setup? What happens with parallel wiring of just the two?
Brother can you help me to solve my problem.
I have eight 380w solar panel of 41 volt with 9amp, and two 550w solar panel of 41 volt with 13amp.
How I should connect these in my 5.5/7.5 Kwa inverter whose input current rating is 15/20amp.
MOST inverters don't take solar input
The two panels wired in parallel would have been ~339 watts, using your data. Adding the third 100-watt (73-watt) would have brought the system to ~ 410 watts, which would be expected. But you did add a third panel to do it. Should have stuck with the two. 😉
Can I charge the ecoflow delta pro with just 1 400w solar panel?
Sure can!
Or you could use micro inverters for each panel
👍
Generally a good example but of course it has nothing to do with whether it is a 100W or a 200W panel and everything to do with the open-circuit and operating voltages, and operating amperages.
The general rule of thumb is:
(1) When ganging strings in parallel, the lowest open-circuit voltage minus around 2V for any string MUST be greater than the highest operating voltage for any string, period. Zero flexibility for this rule. Do NOT gang strings in parallel if this rule is violated because continuous reverse polarity on a string is a very bad idea.
(2) When ganging strings in parallel, the operating voltages must be somewhat similar but actually have a lot of flexibility (within about 5V of each other) as long as rule #1 is followed religeously.
(3) When ganging in series, operating amps absolutely must be similar, and there is very little flexibility. Voltages can differ significantly.
(4) Pay attention to the limitations of the MPPT input. Both voltage and current.
--
So, for example, lets compare 100W and 320W Renogy panels.
100W Renogy: 24.3V open-circuit, 20.3V operating-voltage, operating-current 5.29A
320W Renogy: 40.1V open-circuit, 32.7V operating-voltage, operating-current 9.79A
No reasonable topological configuration. For example, 2x100W in series for string 1, in parallel with one 320W for string 2: 2x100W in series = 40.6V operating vs 1x320W 40.1V open-circuit. Violates #1. Do not use this configuration. Parallel configurations also don't work because the voltages are massively different.
What about 3x100W against 2x320W? 3x100W in series for 72.9V open-circuit vs 2x320W for 65.4V operating. that works (as long as the MPPT input can handle the voltage). Ok, 3x100W in series for 60.9V operating vs 2x320W in series for 65.4V operating. Yes, that works, and it is significantly below both open-circuit voltages. So you can do (3x100W in series) in parallel with (2x320W in series).
--
Now lets see about a 100W Renogy vs a 200W Renogy:
100W Renogy: 24.3V open-circuit, 20.3V operating-voltage, operating-current 5.29A
200W Renogy: 23.0V open-circuit, 19.2V operating voltage, operating current 10.42A
A 100W Renogy and a 200W renogy can be put in parallel, but not in series. Lowest open-circuit voltage is 23.0V against highest operating voltage of 20.3V. Not terrible. So they can be put in parallel and cabled for roughly 15A. They cannot be put in series because one is 5.29A and the other is 10.42A, so the 200W panel will only operate at 100W in that situation.
--
Quite often, there are combinations of mismatched panels that DO work. It will never be as good as properly matching panels, but it will work ok as long as shadowing between the strings is not variable.
That said, as a general rule of thumb:
(4) Try to avoid paralleling strings regardless. It is always better to give each string its own MPPT charge controller input than to parallel the strings. That way variable shading on one string, or damage to one string, will not interfere with the other string.
For example, lets say you have two strings of 5 panels each, all the same type of panel, and you parallel them. If one panel in one string is damaged your effective output will be reduced by two panels because the lower output from one string will interfere with the other string due to the large voltage differential caused by the damage panel. Same thing happens for shading.
Also, when paralleling more than two strings, a short in one string can cause all the other strings paralleled with that one string to feed their combined current into the shorted string, potentially resulting in a fire. And even if you just have two strings paralleled, failed panels in one string can result in the other string feeding excess voltage back into the string with the failed panel(s), which is also very bad.
This is why solar combiner boxes with individual string fuses should always be used when paralleling strings. And this is why paralleling is always the last option. It just isn't as robust. Still, when talking about a small number of panels like 1-3 panels? Series is still preferred (far more efficient), but paralleling is also often a reasonable solution as long as the numbers work out.
-Matt
Wow Matt great write up. Thank you. I’m going to try running my two 24v panels to my smaller 40a hqst mppt and leave the other 6 12v panels on my 60a controller. The hqst brand can be tied to each other as well. Got more experimenting to do. It seems like the panels always change and it’s hard to buy a lot of panels all at once. I should have planned better and bought them the same.
@@1unsafer Yes, panels do seem to undergo changes quite often, so exact matches are difficult. For people like us with discrete charge controllers, the solution is to have as many charge controllers as needed to get decent topologies and shade handling.
It's a lot harder for people using power stations due to their more limited MPPT inputs.
Oh, one other configuration that works quite well... if one has two sets of solar panels pointing completely different directions, aka generally only one or the other set is producing significantly, then as long as rule #1 is still followed, they can be paralleled.
I do that with two old 165W panels (2s) that I have paralleled with two 320W panels (2s). They happen to satisfy rule #1. Normally paralleling the sets would be silly and non-optimal, but since one set is pointed south and the other set is pointed west, it actually works.
-Matt
Why did you suddenly introduce another 100 watt panel ??
100W panels are pretty handy 👍, just need a lot of them 🙂
So the goal is to get the mismatched panels to be as close as possible in series before you connect them in parallel to the larger one.
In this instance but for some applications you might bring the 100W panels together in series and then parallel with the 360W panel. Since each of our setups are unique there are many use cases for both approaches.
These two panels have different volt outputs. There is no way to connect these two together properly. If you have several panels all with the same voltage output they can be wired in parallel.
If you have several panels with the same CURRENT output they can be wired in series. ( note that this is why any shadow over a single cell of your panels reduces the output of the entire panel. The current will not exceed the current of the shaded cell. ) Otherwise each panel would need its own controller so that the OUTPUT volts of all controllers have the same voltage. In other words be careful when CHOOSING your panels.
Do not use the solar calculator in the video link unless you want to be giving out info and want to be called by solar companies. Its not a calculator like you think.
You added the extra panel, what if you didn’t have the extra 100 watt panel. This makes no sense
If all your panels are 12v, their Voc should be between 20-25. Just put them in parallel. Important to remember: parallel branch connectors tap out at 30amp, so don’t go above that. Also use individual panel fuses when you go parallel. 2 panels can be fine without, but 3+ need their own fuse. I’d just fuse them all out of principal.
Lastly, know your mppt or solar generator specs for PV input. Don’t exceed them.
What doesn't make sense to you?
I think he showed us you need to at least get closer on voltages, cause parallel is the one you should be doing not series
Agree he changed a Major part lol
Some good info but it's pointless and confusing to mix hypothetical examples.
It isnt hypothetical if someone has many panels with different ratings and has no idea for best results. This was pretty straight forward.
@@CncObsession Watch the video -- attentively. It's the presenter's evaluation that the info is hypothetical. The info may prove out in actuality, but until proven it's merely theoretical.
Just wire in parallel lol
#RPP😂😂😂
Stop saying, "so if you understand"....assume NOBODY UNDERSTANDS.
From the comments, I assume nobody does understand.
So I wasted my time as you never show the best way to wire 2 different panels
Thanks for saving me time
you can't combine theese two pannels. becouse theu have different output voltage and current. if they have same voltage - they be good in parallel, if they have same output current - they be good in series... in series the current is tre same for both pannels..
Everywhere are goddamn "influencers" and "selling bloggers". When we will have normal content?!
Thanks for the feedback.