If a panel puts out 2 watts or less for each 50 battery amp hours you probably don t need a charge controller.
Do solar panel need to match the controller.
The charge process is performed in a smart or intelligent way.
If the quotient is above 200 you don t need a controller.
The solar panel connects to the controller through positive and negative leads only creating a charging function when the controller is connected to a battery.
You don t need a charge controller with small 1 to 5 watt panels.
Anything beyond that and you do.
Amperage ratings can be between 1 60 amps and voltage ratings from 6 60 volts.
For example if you have a 100 amp hour battery and a 10 watt panel you take 100 and divide it by 6 600ma and you get 166 6.
The safest way to figure out if you need a charge controller is to take battery amp hour capacity and divide this by the solar panel max.
You connect solar panels in series when you want to get a higher voltage.
The load is then responsible for the discharging function from the controller if it is connected to the controller.
So if your solar system s volts were 12 and your amps were 14 you would need a solar charge controller that had at least 14 amps.
First between the charge controller and battery bank second between the charge controller and solar panels and third would be between the battery bank and inverter to determine the fuse size needed between the charge controller and battery bank you simply match the amperage rating on the charge controller.
If the number is less than 200 than you need a controller.
Do i always need a solar charge controller.
The good news though is that the power going into your battery array increases as it gets charged.
I suspect this 2 misunderstanding is where companies like west marine advise readers that a solar panel with 1 5 of amp hour capacity in current potential does not need a controller.
The pmw solar charge controller will match the solar panels voltage to that of the battery bank that is 11 7 v but keep the current at 5 2a.
Matching solar modules to mppt charge controllers.
In a 12v battery system you took a 12v solar module watched carefully that the maximum pv current would not exceed the charge controller maximum current and the system would work.
Different types of solar charge controllers.
There are three different locations that we recommend installing fuses or breakers.
Again this is not chock full like unregulated solar can do just full enough to stop pushing them at absorption levels and switch to a float voltage.
Life used to be so simple.
A solar charge controller is designed to receive power from a solar panel or array of panels and use it to charge a battery or bank of batteries.
The most common pv charge controllers come in 12 24 and 48 volts.
That way you get 11 7 x 5 2 60 watts going into your battery bank instead of 100 watts.