Expect my EB150 in a couple weeks or less hopefully. I have 2 Rich 100Watt 12v poly panels, for now. First will charge it with just one panel I am thinking. I know it would be slow. Second when I use both of them would it be better to wire in series or paralell or would there be no difference. I am thinking series because of the voltage requirement possibly.
Thanks in adnavce.
you just need to maintain 16 volts minimum to 60 volts maximum input. Assuming your single panel will output 16+ volts you should be fine single. If you have great sun with no chance of shading any portion of both panels, series connections will work best. If any of the two panels receive shading, both panels will be affected when connected in series however.
With Parallel you have a maximum of 12 amps input which will be right at the limit if you connect two of your panels in Parallel. You should be less affected by partial panel shading when connected in parallel.
Basically my advice is go with series for simplicity and the ability to add even another panel to the mix in the future assuming you have excellent exposure to the sun with no shading. If you are only going to have two total panels as you described and have any chance of partial shading I would go with Parallel.
Thanks for the great info. My EB150 shipped today and I am getting panels by Monday so I will do some experimenting and see how it goes.
I really don’t get series or parallel. I wired each panel individually and used a 3 branch connector. I am using 3 100w renogy panel. When I use two it won’t charge up to full all day. Full sun. When I use 3 then by noon I am fully charged. I don’t know what I went over just that it works for me. Don’t get volts or watt or any of it. But have had no problems using full time in 4 months.
Series is like a column of 10 people in line at a traffic light in a single lane. The light turns green and all the cars start moving at the same time, no problem and all 10 people get to move. But…if car #3 does not move (gets shaded) then all the cars behind it also cannot move and only three cars were able to move forward and produce motion. Benefit is that you only have to have a single lane with a narrow road to carry the traffic.
Parallel is like the same 10 cars at a traffic light but they each have their own separate lane (10 lanes side by side). When the light turns green, all the cars begin to move forward except car #3. The remaining 9 cars are still able to move forward and produce motion. This comes at a cost of having to have a wide road which takes up more room.
Now this is all completely non technical but my attempt to explain it in simple terms so for all the engineers out there go ahead and post more technical explanations that most will not understand : )
You are already connecting your panels in Parallel so no explanation needed.
To connect your panels in Series, do the following:
Don’t use your parallel branch connectors. They are not used at all in series connections.
Take panel #1 and take either of the two wires and lead that wire to the only wire on panel #2 that it will snap into. Take the remaining unconnected wire coming from panel #2 and connect it to the only wire on panel #3 that it will snap into.
This will leave you with a disconnected wire coming from panel #1 and a disconnected wire coming from Panel #3. These two disconnected wires are what you connect to your EB150. You may have extension cables leading to your EB150 which is fine.
You should get the best results by using the panels in series and they are simpler to connect this way.
Series gives you more electrical pressure which is easier to transmit over your wires.
Parallel gives you more volume of electricity but less pressure. This is harder to transmit over the wires and requires larger wires. You are also limited by the volume of electricity your EB150 (amperage) can accept and when you wire three panels in parallel you are likely exceeding this maximum and not receiving all the available charging power.
Thank that made sense. I will redo my wiring. I get 178watts.