Do I Need A Charge Controller For Solar Panel

It detects when to allow the maximum available charge that the solar panels can produce to be applied to the batteries and it also detects when the battery is fully charged and cuts off the charge supplied by the solar panels.

Do i need a charge controller for solar panel. It is a device which most importantly properly charges a battery or battery bank enabling as long a life as possible. Last summer i finally had the opportunity to set this up for demonstration with a small 12w solar panel and two different battery banks. If a panel puts out 2 watts or less for each 50 battery amp hours you probably don t need a charge controller. Keep in mind that you don t need one when the panel releases less than or equal to two watts for every fifty battery amp hours.

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. I get asked this question quite often and the answer is almost always a resounding yes. You don t need a charge controller with small 1 to 5 watt panels. Not at all times but frequently.

Anything beyond that and you do. Do i need a solar charge controller. If the number is less than 200 than you need a controller. 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.

There are always caveats to everything however. It is the charge controller that regulates the charging of the batteries. In general you do not require a charge controller that usually requires the minimum maintenance or drop charge panels including but never limited to the one to five watt panels. The charge process is performed in a smart or intelligent way.

It regulates the voltage and current coming from the solar panels going to the battery. If the quotient is above 200 you don t need a controller.