After reading what Jaahn Aus Kiwi and others have said about moveing the voltage regulator,from the portable solar panels to closer to the battery's,it makes a lot of sense so I had a serious look at what's involved today .
At the moment the long cable is connecting the panels to the battery.
when the regulator is moved from the panels to be near the battery it will be connected directly to the battery via a small cable wired permanently to the battery?
now the long lead to the panels would be connected directly to the voltage regulator .
this seems pretty straightforward is this correct guys?
Iam already running larger cable so that should be ok, with the solar panel it's been suggested to update the regulator,now the problem with that is,most regulators on the nett are only a few dollars,so probably no better than the one on the panel,if you want the red arc regulator it will cost as much as the portable itself.
Hi.
A decent regulator will cost MORE than a panel our size.
$80 to 100 will give reasonable unit.
Just stick with basic MPPT and around 12-20a to give room for expansion.
Normally. The BIGGEST upgrade to all Solar systems. Is thicker wiring.
Panel. Wire. Regulator. Fuse. Battery.
Always set up so the battery's. NEVER go below 12.4\12.5a By dawn with the loads you have on there.
(ADD MORE battery if you do, If starting off from float.).
Have the Battery's Capacity to take YOUR load up to but not past the 12.5v by morning.
Basically, add enough panels. That the system "floating" on 13.2\13.4 ish Voltage by 11\11.30 am.
Then preferably. Stick another panel in there for RON.
I carry a spare 85W panel on top of ute. that I can use if necessary.(Long cable\Anderson)
Usually it used to float the tub battery's.
-----------------------
I just bought a roll of 1\2in black water pipe. Mounting it on top of deck beside pool.
down to a pump. that will circulate water (slowly) through it. from pool\to pool.
130w panel on there mounted with a 12a Spare reg. and 85a Spiral battery.
to feed pump.
Just a boost to heaters. and free juice.
Plus can add to later, to run Pool pumps through Latronic Inverter I have.
The Latronics run Grid and battery feeds with just a little addition to it. (Legal)
Putting that extra juice from house system through grid at 44c per kw.
All these little bits add up over the yr.
We run the home. Completely. FULL Air cond, heating for 24\7. the months we need them.
Pool pumps (not Heating) incl full Electricity costing.
and still get $600Plus cash in pocket too. Per yr.
Anybody in home and not on solar. Wants their bumps reading.
Figure what you use. Buy system to cover it. (Including heater\Air cond)
It'll pay off in 6 to 7 yrs. after that all profit. Zilch billing.
With a LOT more Internal home comfort.
We run heating at 26deg 24\7. for 2 months plus.
and Aircon at 21 deg for 4 to 5 months 24\7 for hot season.
ALL for free. with returns.
Nowadays you don't get returns in cash anymore as such.
but house can run for near free after half a doz yrs or so.
Completely. If you assess over supply of panels.
MORE panels than INV capacity.
Easy way to tell.
Have heater\Air cond on. while running home normally.
Power still going INTO grid through box. You fine.
Power coming back through box. You need more panels.
You can have 5kw inv with 6\7\8kw and more of panels.
Inv stops any more than it's capacity going through grid so law man not come knocking.
You just get max supply of power through system for more hrs per day.
Covers cloudy days. IE. Draw LESS from grid than you did before.
Less draw. == less bills.
I've got a thing about solar. Has run my Yachts and vans for near 40 yrs.
Home. Completely for well over ten with around $8k cash income on top of.
Hi there. I run the leads from my portable solar panels to the solar controller ( Projecta 20 amp ) and then in to the anderson plug which normally charges the batteries from the alternator when travelling This way the lead into the van is only about two to three meters. To save the leads being pulled out tangled etc I have made up this board in the photo, Cheers Daz
That looks great dazza that would plug straight into the Anderson plug on the side of the van that's already connected to the battery,and the other end would simply feed the panels,much appreciated I will make one up...
the watt meter where ,how much,is it useful .
-- Edited by Ron-D on Tuesday 24th of October 2017 06:55:45 PM
The watt meter is good . Gives you a read out of the amps put in over the day as well as the instant amp feed as well as the current battery voltage. Lets you know that your panels are working. About $35. Look up kickass on the net and you will find them there, or any online 12 volt supplier. Cheers. Daz
Looks like a bargain Daz amazing that anything that's any good can be manufactured for that price..
the wiring on the solar control is straight forward .the spare terminal with the light bulb icon, I take it that's for a meter to be connected to I guess..
-- Edited by Ron-D on Wednesday 25th of October 2017 08:49:14 AM
This simple yet extremely handy device gives a digital display of exactly how much charge your panels are actually producing. It has been difficult to measure this without special equipment or expert knowledge - until now!
The device is easily installed and provides you with all the key ratings of your solar panels in real time.This is a perfect companion to our range of KickAss Portable Solar Panels but can be used with any type of solar panel as well.
Installation is easy - the watt meter has two Anderson plugs, and is installed in-line between your solar regulator and batteries/load.
Simply connect the solar panel regulator's output to the "source" side of the watt meter and connect the battery/load cabling to the "load" side. Once there is power flowing through, the device will initialise and show you a full range of ratings including:
Current (Amps/A) at the present moment
Voltage (Volts/V) at the present moment
Power (Watts/W) at the present moment
Total Amps (Amp hours/Ah) since device initialised
Total Power (Watt hours/Wh) since device initialised
Highest Voltage Maximum (Vm) since device initialised
Highest Power Peak (Watt Peak/Wp) since device initialised
Highest Current Peak (Amp Peak/Ap) since device initialised
The Solar Watt Meter only requires a tiny 7mA draw to operate so there will be no significant reduction in your power production during usage.
Hi Ron The above is from the Australian Direct ( Kickass ) website
Currently $35 with Anderson Plug connectors. There are cheaper on EBay but they have no connectors
I have no affiliation with Australian Direct but I have found them very good in the past and what I do like is that you can ring and talk to some one. '
I have never used the auxiliary on the meter but think you could use it as a 12 volt power supply. Not much use that I can see.
As I said in an early post the meter lets you see what amps / watts is being supplied and the voltage of your battery.
I have one without the connectors and have not installed it yet as I wonder if the lighter cabling will cause problems especially heat and voltage drop. What say the "drips under pressure" experts.
Looks like a bargain Daz amazing that anything that's any good can be manufactured for that price..
the wiring on the solar control is straight forward .the spare terminal with the light bulb icon, I take it that's for a meter to be connected to I guess..
-- Edited by Ron-D on Wednesday 25th of October 2017 08:49:14 AM
HI Ron
The spare terminals on the regulator with the light bulb are actually for----- wait for it ------ light bulbs !!
In a different application these regulators may be used to control outside lights from a simple battery and panel system. The regulator can be programed to switch these "light bulb" terminals on and off as wanted. These programing instructions are seperate to the charging functions. SO DO NOT PUT OTHER LOADS ON THESE TERMINALS AS THEY MAY BE LIMITED IN OUTPUT, unless you know what you are doing. No meter either. Do not guess, read the instructions and your electronic devices will last longer The chinese instructions may be a little hard to interpret though sometimes.
Thanks Jaahn Iam wondering if Iam the only one your educating but mate Iam grateful for the info , Iam gettin a good understanding of the solar system now,these areas have never been something I have ever had to consider before...
Daz Iam going to order one they are a bargain...
-- Edited by Ron-D on Wednesday 25th of October 2017 06:25:59 PM
I have the watt meter and put Anderson type plugs on, like Paul, I was also concerned about the small wires on the meter
Using it with a portable panel, it was good to see what was happening
Being sometimes "a bit too smart for my own good", I connected two more Anderson type plugs near the battery between a fixed roof solar panel It worked OK until the next morning Next morning it allowed the current to flow to the battery, but the screen was blank I figured out that you had to firstly connect it to the solar , and then secondly to the battery
Being connected between the fixed roof solar panel, and the battery, in the morning when the solar started working, was like connecting it to the battery first By just pulling the battery side of the Anderson type plugs apart for a few minutes, then reconnecting, everything was good, until the following morning, etc Perhaps I had purchased only a copy, of a genuine copy, because I only paid about $8 for it
I would just like to say that, if you are removing a regulator from a portable solar panel, if they are glued on, then be very careful how you remove them I have been advised, by someone in the household solar panel mob, that you can easily damage the panel
Yeah what Iam going to do is leave the stock regulator in place and buy a new better quality regulator to do the job ,I agree with Tony I would rather leave the original in place rather than damage a new set of panels..
Yeah what I am going to do is leave the stock regulator in place and buy a new better quality regulator to do the job ,I agree with Tony I would rather leave the original in place rather than damage a new set of panels..
Good idea Ron But you are going to bypass the regulator on the panels aren't you>>..
Yeah what I am going to do is leave the stock regulator in place and buy a new better quality regulator to do the job ,I agree with Tony I would rather leave the original in place rather than damage a new set of panels..
Good idea Ron But you are going to bypass the regulator on the panels aren't you>>..
Daz
Yeah Daz the one on the panels will be just an ornament.all wiring will be connected to the replacement near the battery..
The final piece of the puzzle ,sorry guys for turning this into a saga , but how many amps would a regulator need to be to power both my panels totalling 240 watts..
Looking at a Victron blue pwn-light 10/20 amp models on the nett $100/150 any regulator recommendations?
-- Edited by Ron-D on Friday 27th of October 2017 11:26:51 AM
.
The chinese instructions may be a little hard to interpret though sometimes. 
but mate Iam grateful for the info , Iam gettin a good understanding of the solar system now,these areas have never been something I have ever had to consider before...
