I have the AC200 MAX.
I have 3, 200 watt panels on the roof of my RV. I have them in series now but wonder if I can hook up in parallel.
Having them in series now but most of the time I cannot get more than 375-400 watts from them all 3 panels.
I have 10 gauge wire no more than 15 feet of cable.
What is the peak amperage under load rating on your panels? If it is above 5 amp’s (& it most likely is) you will be over the 15 amps that the max will use. It won’t damage your unit, but you will get less peak power if you run 3 in parallel. Series should be your best bet. Peaking at 400 watts is not abnormal for 600 watts of PV. 450 - 500 watts is what you should get in good conditions. I have six 200 watt panels on my max and it rarely gets up to the 920 watt limit.
Yes, about 11 amps each. You will wan’t to keep your panels running in series. Perhaps add a 4th panel if possible.
I wonder if I hooked up just 2 in parallel id I would end up with more wattage than 3 in series.
I find it amazing how many videos you watch. Oh I have 1000, 2000 watts of panels. They never mentioned how critical the sun direction is and how little you actually get from them.
Well if you run 2 in parallel your peak power will be limited to the max’s 15 amp input. That will yield you a peak power of approximately 19.1 volts X 15 amps or about 286 watts. Same peak power if you ran 3 in parallel. But you would hit that peak # more often in less than ideal solar circumstances.
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Moreover the higher the amp, the higher the loss due to wire resistance. Series should always be the first approach, matching Voc (with 10% safety margin).
Hi, my question fits well to Thread:
How can I maximise the number/loadpower of my solar panels for the AC200MAX ?
I would like to use 4 or 5 400 Watt Panels, but this might exceed the max Voltage DC input (=145 Volt) of this Powerstation.
Is this correct or does this Powerstation limit the DC input in a way that I can use seriell plugged panels with more than 145 Volt Output ?
My considerations are for days with less sunshine.
Thx in advance.
Exceeding the voltage input rating of 145 will make the solar input either just not work or it will cause permanent damage. You may want to consider running a series-parallel configuration. You can exceed the amp rating with out causing damage.
THX Emax … that means the AC200MAX has an inbuild protection against too high AC-Ampere load but might react “crashing” if voltage exceeds 145 V.
To understand better:
In case of 120 Volt DC / 7.5 Ampere nothing will happen - yes ?
In case of 120 Volt DC / > 7.5 Ampere powerbox is protected ?
Will it disconnect from AC panelcharging / run on error mode / or switches off ?
Will it switch on if the panel load gets again lower than 900 Watt
Anyway thx - I don’t want to crash this nice product
It will work just fine as long as the voltage is below 145. The peak amps it will use is 15. If you are pulling more than 15 amps it will only make use of 15. Additional Amps will just not get used. My wattage caps off at around 920 - 922 watts. If you have more watts than that coming in it will reduce the number of watts to it’s usable limit of 920ish. No damage comes from having higher watts or higher amps, they just won’t get used. You really just want to make sure the voltage is below 145 and it will run just fine.
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Again Thx Emax, good morning, it‘s Sunday here in South of Germany.
Got your excellent feedback and know how to proceed.
Cheers - take care.
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Thx Eric … my question is well answered.
Cheers from Germany.
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