Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

lachbus
lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
Hi friends,

I've just joined the club. I received my 2 Kyocera 135W panels and the Solar Boost 2000E today.
I had planned to connect the two panels in series to reduce the wiring sizes and guessing that having the panels in series would reduce the impact shading will have on the performance. They will be mounted on a sailboat and will very often be partially shaded, and be at a variable, often bad angle to the sun. So, I really expect much less performance than under ideal conditions.
Reading the 2000E spec sheet I realize that that controller only allows a max input voltage of 30V. The two panels in series will certainly be above this much of the time. But sometimes these max values are a little conservatively calculated, did any of you try (on purpose, or by accident) feed a higher voltage into this controller? I'd think most of the time my panels would be at 17 or 18 volts, so in series it would put me into the 34-36 range...

Greetings, Stephan
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Comments

  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Welcome Stephan!

    Maximum input voltage on any charge controller is just that: maximum. You don't want to go over it. But the good news is the panels are less effected by shading when in parallel, not series. If a shadow falls on one panel connected in series it reduces the output of the whole string - like having one low battery out of two in a flashlight. If they are parallel it effects just that panel. I shouldn't imagine you'd have particularly long wire runs on a boat, so line loss could be kept at a minimum fairly easily. See this thread regarding wire sizing:

    http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?t=29

    What's the rest of your system set-up? I'm guessing 12 V, and with those two panels in 'partial sun' you should be able to keep 135 A/hrs of battery happy, possibly more. Should be good for 400 Watt hours per day, +/-.
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Paper says 30V max. Sorry. Maybe trade with the vendor?
    Morningstar sun saver http://store.solar-electric.com/mosumpsochco.html
    is good for 75V.

    CAUTION!
    If you have panels in series, and one gets shaded (even a tiny bit), the output of
    the other panel will be cut too, or at lest in proportion of any panel bypass diodes.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Cariboocoot,

    this is indeed great news. I hadn't realized that the panels in parallel are better. Oh, so cool! Some fatter wire won't be a problem, really. You are totally correct.
    The rest of my setup is currently three group 24 dual-purpose lead batteries in parallel, eventually to be joined by a fourth.
    Depending on the space available, I might try to make that fourth battery a group 27 or even 31. But I would ask you first if having dissimilar batteries in parallel would have unexpected bad side effects.
    This group is great! I didn't expect an answer, and such a good one, so quickly.
    Thanks again!

    Stephan
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    You will probably be disappointed with your battery choice. For one thing, "dual purpose" usually means "not as good as the proper thing in two different applications." If you want true performance out of your system, it's worth buying real deep cycle batteries of the "electro-motive" type: i.e. for golf carts and electric forklifts. The other thing that matters is the Amp/hr rating: too high and the panels don't produce enough current for proper re-charging (the experts recommend 5%-13% of the battery's Amp/hr rating for charge current). Too low and you don't have enough capacity to run anything or you'll be drawing them down too much. This is called "depth of discharge" (DOD) and it is recommended you keep it below 25% for most deep cycles. Really, really good ones can take 50% DOD repeatedly. So when calculating your usable power, you have to use 50% MAXIMUM of the battery's Amp/hr rating to see how much usable power you have: 100 A/hrs * 50% = 50 A/hrs @ 12 V = 600 Watt/hours. That's six 100 Watt bulbs for one hour, or one 100 Watt bulb for six hours. These are nominal calculations, and don't include the fine tuning that comes with calculating an individual system's particular efficiency losses (which can be substantial). But it gets you "in the ball park".

    Your 270 Watts of panels would also have to be 'derated' for efficiency losses and the (in your case) quite unpredictable amount of sun that will fall on them. It's easier for a fixed location, but even then there's seasonal differences. So figure roughly 60% capacity average over five or six hours of usable daylight. All in all, I'm thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 Amp/hrs of battery capacity might be viable for your system. That would give you the 50 A/hrs mentioned above with lots of margin for error. But it's very imprecise.

    The other thing about batteries is don't mix different types; they don't discharge/recharge the same, and the end result will be premature failure of all the batteries.

    Now the "$64 question": what is your intended usage? It's important to know what you hope to get out of a solar power system before you can figure out what to put in to it. Too many people buy a "package" and then find out it's hopelessly inadequate and often seriously over-priced.
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Coot,
    thanks for taking time to look at my setup.
    My intended use is to power the boats electric system to a degree that running the engine to recharge can be reduced to as little as possible.

    My biggest power hog will be my fridge, which will possibly draw between 480-960 Wh per day. The good thing is that the fridge needs most power when it's day, and hottest, and that usually means it's sunny, so the panels feed immediately into the fridge.
    The rest of my consumption is mostly lights (some of them LEDs, all the rest low power (15W or 10W)), laptop computer (maybe 3 hours a day, 70 W), and the stereo (3 hours, 20W).
    So, a very rough estimate would be that I'd use between 1kWh - 1.5 kWh per day.

    My planned 4 batteries would have a nominal storage of
    75Ah * 4 = 300Ah * 12V = 3.6 kWh
    As you suggest, drawing them down to 50% is the absolute max I should do, better for long life would be to stay higher.

    On sunny days I think I might be fine with this setup, but on cloudy days, my engine will have to be used to recharge the batteries...

    Since I have the 3 batteries already, I thought it would be quite uneconomical to exchange them all for deep cycle at this time. I was thinking of doing this when they start losing capacity.

    I'm aware that, unless I seriously upgrade my battery bank, I'll live hand-to-mouth, so to speak. But still a step in the right direction, right?

    Greetings, Stephan
  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Your 270 watts of panel will be lucky if they produce ~5-600 wh/day,, even if you keep them optimally aim,, tough to do on a boat.
    My rule of thumb,, is to take the name plate rating of the array,, (270) divide it by 1/2 to take into account ALL system losses,, (Panel ef, charge controller ef, basic battery charging ef, wiring losses, inverter efficiency etc>) that would make 135,, multiply this number by the expected hours of GOOD sun,, normally ~4 = 540 wh. If you go into this using 1-1.5 kwh/day, you will go into deficit right away. That coupled with non-deep cycle batteries,, and I would predict that you will have expensive lead ballast quite quickly.


    Tony

    PS, I that there is some quibble with my 50% number,, some think it too high,, some think it too low. The point is,, for a quick calc,, it is close enough to realize that in cases such as yours,, you are going to be in deficit regardless of if my number should be 55% or only 45%.
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Remember: you haven't got 300 Amp/hrs to work with, you've got 150 MAX.

    Those panels are going to be marginal at keeping up with usage and recharging even that amount, especially given the unpredictability of your solar exposure. Any chance for adding more panels in future?

    And Tony is, as usual, right: panel ratings are peak ratings, not continuous. For an over-all average of actual usable power, serious de-rating is required. Although I use 60% rather than 50%, so I must be something of an optimist!:D
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Thanks Tony and Coot,

    I understand that I'm marginal to keep up with my electricity drain. I'm not expecting to be able to keep my engine off for good, but to reduce the number of hours I need to run it. I hope that by carefully monitoring the battery condition (the controller has a volt meter) I can avoid discharging them too much.
    I'm reducing my power use by increasing the fridge insulation and eventually getting a laptop with lower power drain. The LEDs are the only lights I run a lot of hours, all the other lights are on only infrequently. I have no appliances of any kind. So my hope would be to reduce my use to significantly less than 1kWh.
    I chose the MPPT controller hoping to get higher efficiency than a 'dumb' controller. The current that goes into the fridge compressor doesn't have to be stored, so I have no big loss with the battery. I don't have my inverter hooked up much, unless I'm charging my phone or the hand tools.
    Last not least, I might get another pair of panels eventually, I'll size my mounting frame accordingly. Unfortunately, the space on the boat is somewhat limited, just like my wallet.

    Greetings, Stephan
  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Remember, Voltage is not a very good way of measuring battery condition. The only time voltage is anywhere near accurate is when the battery has been "at rest", neither charging nor discharging for several hours. While charging the battery will show artificially high,, while discharging low. A better way is to check specific gravity with a hydrometer, (not possible with sealed batteries) or use a good battery monitor like the Tri-metric that counts AH out/AH in and gives a real time state of charge.

    The reality is that the increase from the MPPT on such a system is likely to be under 10%, not insignificant,, but in your world not enough to make much difference.

    If you haven't already read these: http://www.batteryfaq.org/
    http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm#Lifespan%20of%20Batteries

    Tony
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    MPPT controller is a good choice because you're going to need to squeeze every bit of available power you can get from the sun.

    Now about inverters ...

    What sort have you got? I ask this because you mention re-charging tools. Some battery chargers don't like modified sign wave, particularly those for cordless tools. In essence, the output appears to be 'low voltage' so the reference voltage they use for recharging is low also, and the battery never gets fully re-charged. Eventually it wrecks the battery. AC induction motors don't like MSW either. The smaller ones will usually work on it, but not efficiently and it will reduce their lifespan.
  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Stephan,

    Does your boat allow for you to aim the panels correctly free of shadows (i.e., docked house boat vs sailboat at anchor)?

    Can you / do yo want to change out your current fridge for either propane (if practical) or a converted chest freezer (perhaps ~250 Watt*Hours per day):

    Chest freezer as a chest refrigerator

    As others have mentioned--an MPPT controller is not going to be a big help here unless a) you are in a very cold climate, or b) you need to run the panel to charge controller wire a long distance and need the higher panel voltage, or c) you have cool batteries and very hot batteries where you may run into an issue where the battery+equalize voltage (cold) is higher than your Vmp (hot) panel voltage+wiring drops.

    You are probably severely under solar paneled for your expected loads... Leading to you needing to run the genset more... Run the genset in the mornings to "bulk up" the batteries and allow the panels to finish up in the afternoon.

    Is your genset "fuel efficient" vs your charging / AC draw? Generally, a genset is most efficient when >=50% load and a real fuel waster when operated below that point (the Honda eu2000i is fuel efficient >=25% load).

    Lastly, a Battery Monitor is going to be your friend... It will be difficult to operate your system (and not damage the battery bank or have "unplanned outages" that take out your fridge when you are not there to start the engine) with out one.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    If I read it right, his "genset" is his boat motor. Probably not a very fuel-efficient way of charging!
  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Cariboocoot,

    You are probably correct... might be sort of OK if diesel--but even then running a diesel at low rated power probably carbons / cokes them up and adds hours to an otherwise expensive engine to feed and maintain.

    lachbus,

    Conservation will be your friend... Finding/using appliances that use the fewest watts (or watt*hours) to do the job is a requirement. Use a kill-a-watt meter to check your loads (watt*hours over a day or so of average usage--especially useful for cycling loads like a fridge or computer). Getting a very low power laptop (if you can use a smaller computer), etc....

    If your sailboat is at anchor (and subject to tracking variable direction winds)--your arrays will probably produce much less power than you expect/hope for... Any direct shade on a solar PV panel will Usually) dramatically reduce its output. Using a high voltage MPPT charge controller (MorningStar 15 amp MPPT) with the two panels wired in series might do a (slightly?) better job than wiring the 12 volt panels in parallel.

    However, I am not sure you could measure the difference between series/parallel if lines/etc. are casting shadows across one or both panels for significant parts of the day. That is just bad news.

    -Bill

    PS: If you can, measure your fuel flow when running your existing generator (main motor at anchor?) and see how many kWhrs per gallon of fuel (volts*current*hours = Watt*Hours) you are getting...

    A gasoline genset will get around 5-6kWhrs per gallon of fuel (5,000 to 6,000 Watt*Hours) at the high end of the efficiency scale.

    Anything less than 3-4 kWhrs per gallon of fuel, can be improved with a separate (small) genset (is it safe/practical for you to use a Honda eu2000i or eu1000i genset?).
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Guys, you are great. Lots of good info. I'm at work and cannot write a lot now, but your point about the hand tools is particularly useful. I have the 18V Ryobi set and I noticed that it's not charging well. I'll take the charger to work and will use it there. Lugging the batteries back and forth occasionally is not a big problem.
    I have a tiny Rosewill 120W inverter (which of course puts out the 'modified sine wave'), mostly for the phone and the AA battery charger. I use it for my laptop as well, at this time, but plan to get the laptop onto the 12V circuit asap.
    I just bought the fridge conversion set for my current ice box. It's rated at 40W, and with increased insulation it should hopefully run 50% of the time, thus take 480 Wh.
    I try to stay away from propane (apart from for the grill), don't like to mess up and blow myself up.

    Stephan
  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Stephan,

    Keeping the inverter small is a good thing... For the hands down most cost and energy efficient inverter right now--The MorningStar TSW inverter 300 watt 12 volt (600 watt peak) (120 VAC 60 Hz; 230 VAC 50 Hz available?) is difficult to beat.

    wind-sun_2058_18463529Morningstar SureSine, 300 Watt Sine Wave Inverter 115VAC

    Here are a couple of nice FAQs that talk about the differences between TSW and MSW inverters (True Sine Wave vs Modified Square/Sine Wave).

    All About Inverters
    Choosing an inverter for water pumping

    If the inverter is going to be your only source of AC power on site--I would suggest only using TSW.

    For some folks, they have larger power needs (well pumps, circular saws, etc.)--and find that a big TSW inverter is not cheap... For those applications, many have a small TSW for the computer, fridge, TV, CFL's... And a big and cheap MSW for the old well pump.

    I would becareful with the automotive 12 volt adapters... Some work well and some do not... The issue is that a 12 volt car typically operates between 12.0 and 14.2 volts... A deep cycle battery system is designed to operate between 10.5 and 15.5 volts. That 15-15.5 volt charge (usually seen during equalization of flooded cell batteries) is often enough to "take out" 12 volt car accessories.

    Many times, is it better to use the AC version of the devices on a TSW inverter (regulated 120 VAC, less voltage drop--1 amp at 120 volts vs 10 amps at 12 volts, etc.).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • mikeo
    mikeo Solar Expert Posts: 386 ✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage
    Keeping the inverter small is a good thing... For the hands down most cost and energy efficient inverter right now--The MorningStar TSW inverter 300 watt 12 volt (600 watt peak) (120 VAC 60 Hz; 230 VAC 50 Hz available?) is difficult to beat.

    Since he is on a sailboat in a marine environment, he needs to look for marine type components. As I recall several manufacturers including Xantrex makes marine inverter/chargers for boats. The marine environment is "heck" on standard non-marinized electronics. Also sail boat engines tend to be very small diesel kickers(12-30hp) for getting into docks and getting though hard spots, like keeping the boat pointing into a storm. Also using the engine on a sailboat is common practice for charging the batteries with heavy duty 130-150 amp alternators such as made by Balmar. Usually solar panels are used to supplement other power systems like wind generators to keep things going while at anchor. He has not said what size sail boat he has which determines typical loads. Sailboats are usually designed pretty efficiently when it comes to power usage. I spent 10 years sailing on a Newport 30 before I decided to become a hillbilly.
  • dwh
    dwh Solar Expert Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage
    lachbus wrote: »
    Guys, you are great. Lots of good info. I'm at work and cannot write a lot now, but your point about the hand tools is particularly useful. I have the 18V Ryobi set and I noticed that it's not charging well. I'll take the charger to work and will use it there. Lugging the batteries back and forth occasionally is not a big problem.

    Way back in the early days of battery tools, I had pretty much two of everything that Makita made (the 9.6v stuff). I also had a gigantic work truck with everything else a working electrician would need.

    Using either an inverter (MSW) or my truck mounted generator (MSW) did not do such a great job of charging my Makita batteries.

    However - Makita also made 12v battery chargers, of which I had two, and they did a great job of charging the batteries.

    Ryobi also has a 12v battery charger for 40 bucks at Home Depot:

    http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100342149

    I plan to purchase Ryobi tools in the near future for precisely this reason.


    EDIT: I was in Home Depot yesterday, and they had that 12v Ryobi One+ 18v charger for $30.
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Guys,

    my boat is an old 35 foot sailboat. The engine is a 24 hp Yanmar diesel, with a small alternator, unfortunately. I think it's 30 amps only. I'm severely constricted with space there, a larger alternator will simply not fit.

    I really want to reduce consumption, and in boats that's easier than in houses, since there are no appliances to use and the number of lights is small. 110 V on a boat is a big no-no.
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Ah, great tip. I had no idea Ryobi has such a charger. And cheap...
  • mikeo
    mikeo Solar Expert Posts: 386 ✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage
    my boat is an old 35 foot sailboat. The engine is a 24 hp Yanmar diesel, with a small alternator, unfortunately. I think it's 30 amps only. I'm severely constricted with space there, a larger alternator will simply not fit.

    I can't be sure but I would expect that size Yanmar to have around a 60-70 amp marine alternator. My 1982 16 hp Universal diesel (Kubota) had a Motorola 70 amp. Have you checked out the compact Balmars? They are pretty small. You might have to modify the mounting bracket to make them work but it should be doable to get a 90 amp two stage charging Balmar working. They are much more efficient then the old alternators. Also is your battery bank divided into a house and stating bank, or is there just one bank.
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Mike, you are right. The alternator is 55 amps. Good news!
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    And I have two banks, indeed.
    When I replace the batteries I'll make the house batteries deep cycle, of course.
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Everybody who helped me with this, thanks again! My next task is to mount the panels. I've rejected two possible spots:

    1. Cabin roof - This area would often be partially shaded, and be somewhat of a safety hazard because access to the boom would be restricted
    2. Lifelines - they would be relatively unprotected from water, slapping sails and ropes, and in case of docking or rafting, would be in danger of being crushed.

    My current preferred solution is a fairly large frame built from standard 1 in stainless steel tubing often used on boats as sun roofs ('biminis'). I'm still drawing this to see how much it messes up the aesthetics of the boat - but solar is beautiful, right?

    I'll keep you posted, thanks again!

    Stephan
  • dwh
    dwh Solar Expert Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    I've seen pics of boats with solar panels on the biminis. Another I've seen was a framework hanging off the transom out over the water with the panels on it.
  • westbranch
    westbranch Solar Expert Posts: 5,183 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    re the 2000e, are you planing to ever add a panel (s) to your set up or is 2 the max?

    I have one, now replaced with an MX 60, due to the fact that the 2000e has a max amperage of 20 A Isc, not the 25 it is sold as!
    Read the manual CAREFULLY, it is in there IN THE FINE PRINT . My thanks to Crewzer for finding it.
    So, for the average 12 v panel, with an Imp of 6 to 7 A rating, you are SOL after 2 panels as you have to use Isc which is higher again

    it is found here:
    http://www.blueskyenergyinc.com/uploads/pdf/Manual_BSE_SB2KE.pdf
    i) Do not connect to a PV array capable of producing greater than 20 amps of short circuit current @ 25°C.

    So if you ever want to expand do it now in the Charge Controller , you won't regret it.

    Enjoy the boat ....;)

    Cheers
    Eric
     
    KID #51B  4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
    CL#29032 FW 2126/ 2073/ 2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3 x 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM 
    Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
    2 x Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr & Bridge,
    Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
    West Chilcotin, BC, Canada
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Eric,

    thanks for pointing this out. I was concerned about this, too, but the next step up MPPTs, like the Outback, are so much more expensive that I chose to go the cheaper route now.
    It's unlikely that I'll be able to fit more panels, the space on the boat is just too constrained. That said, the panels I have produce 8.5 Amps each when aligned perfectly perpendicular to the sun. This will practically never be the case since the panels are mounted horizontally, and I'd expect well below 8 Amps even under perfect conditions, usually much less. That means if I find some extra space, I could mount a small third panel, maybe thin film since I've read that they tend to work better in overcast conditions.
    The usual way to cover the electric needs on many boats is to have also a wind turbine, which would hopefully work on less sunny days, and at night.
  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Do not even consider thin film panels... The stuff showing it works better in lower light levels never seems to have any real data behind it. Many times is it marketing hype highlighting one "independent" test result.

    In fact, you can use a silicon solar panel connected to an amp meter (shorted output) as a pretty accurate sensor to measure solar radiation (there output is very linear with respect to solar energy hitting the panel). There may be some small variations in temperature performance--but it is usually quite small.

    They lose 20% of their output in the first 6 months.

    And they have to be almost 2x the area because they are about 1/2 as efficient...

    A good mono or poly crystalline panel is the best you will do (price / performance terms).

    The only time to think about some sort of plastic array (typically thin film) is when you have panels that many be subject to impacts--they are somewhat less likely to shatter in those conditions.

    On the flip side of flexible panels--they seem to be much more difficult to seal against weather--so they don't last very long in rough applications (such as sail boats).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • lachbus
    lachbus Registered Users Posts: 16
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Thanks for that info, Bill. I'll get my setup together now (just bought the mounting hardware) and will report back!
  • westbranch
    westbranch Solar Expert Posts: 5,183 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    Well you can add a smaller panel as long as it has a lower Amp rating. For a number of reasons you do not want to exceed the 20 Amps... Safety being the prime one of them.

    We have not yet mentioned edge (of cloud) effect where the cloud edge acts as a prism and concentrates the radiation hitting the panel spiking the output momentarily. Bill and others can explain it far better than I as to how far the limits of the CC could be exceeded. One of the 1.25 factor being applied.

    Been sailing in the BVIs several times and can fully understand how it can happen many times through the day....:roll:

    cheers
    Eric
     
    KID #51B  4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
    CL#29032 FW 2126/ 2073/ 2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3 x 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM 
    Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
    2 x Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr & Bridge,
    Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
    West Chilcotin, BC, Canada
  • Ralph Day
    Ralph Day Solar Expert Posts: 1,019 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Solar Boost 2000E input voltage

    I think the edge of cloud events were determined to be temperature related. Clouds block direct sun hitting pv cells, cells cool down, cloud moves sun hits cool pv cells (cooler = higher performance) production goes up. The pupil in your eye will react after the sun comes from behind a cloud much the same way...sort of...it dialates when less light is present, then contracts when there is more. You might think the edge of the cloud increased the amount of light, but not really.

    Ralph