Led street light question

kayen

If I have a 24v Led street light with a build in 12/24v controller, should my battery bank be 24 volt as well.

Also, I would like to say that this is the best solar site that I have been to. Thanks for all of your answers and hard work it is appreciated.

BB.

Re: Led street light question

It depends....

First, are you sure that the load is a 24 volt load?

Second, does the load connect directly to the battery or through a "black box" (voltage doublers are available).

And the charge controller--is it a PWM or MPPT type (PWM are "simple/less expensive" On/Off type controllers. MPPT are more expensive and capable of "down converting" from high voltage/low current solar arrays to low voltage/high current to charge a battery bank).

Typically, street lamps are less expensive devices, so I would expect the solar panels to "match" the battery voltage (i.e., 12 volt battery would have a panel that outputs ~17.5 to 21 volts; a 24 volt battery would have a panel that outputs around 35 to 42 volts or so), and a PWM controller (controller can charge either a 12 volt or 24 volt battery bank--depending on configuration switches or automatic battery detection (charged/functional battery, not a "dead" battery).

So, if you are sure you have a 24 volt load (or a solar array that outputs around 40 VDC with no loads), then this is probably a pure 24 volt system...

But you will have to do some research/testing to confirm.

-Bill