Hello,
I have an AC200P with (2)SP120 panels. I would like to add one SP200 panel to my setup. Any issue with mixing these?
Secondary question.
There is no way to hook these up wrong, correct? Just plug one panel into another (either red or black), then into the next, etc. then connect each end to the XT90 adapter that comes with the AC200P, correct??
Thanks for your help.
The SP200 produces 10 amps at max power point of 20 volts. The SP120 is 6.06 amps at 19.8 volts. When you put panels in series, the voltage adds but the amps will be limited to the lowest current panel in the series circuit. So, that would limit the SP200 panels power to about 120 watts at best. So this would not be a good mix. You be better off just adding another SP120 or some other panel that has a max power current around 6 amps.
You always need to think of panels as volts times amps, not just watts. And also consider that the AC200P will limit current to no more than 12 amps.
@chris53168 you could also purchase 2 of the sp200 panels, (instead of just 1) and then run your panels in a series/parallel configuration.
As I’m pretty new to the whole solar game myself, I had the same question because I had 2 x 180w BougeRV panels before purchasing my sp120 panels. This video really helped me understand just why it’s important to buy in “sets” and to actually pay attention to the the numbers. Haha hope this helps you as well!
That would certainly work in series parallel, but then the AC200P 12 amp limit would still limit the array to about 12 amps, even though the SP200’s could potentially add 4 more amps. So the end result in overall watts would be the same as the cheaper SP120 panels because you lose the extra 4 amps that the SP200’s are capable of producing. It gets tricky… Panels and what you are charging with those panels have to be designed as a system.
Thanks guys, that helped a lot. Definitely sounds like I should just stick with buying more SP120’s. Thanks again!
Definitely better to add more SP120s in my opinion.
Thank you, that’s what Im going to do