Does this panel require a charge controller? And is this a good choice for keeping motorcycle 12v batteries charged?
765121
As the electrical engineer answered, his keeps three batteries charged. he also mentioned he doesn't use a controller. Since this panel is very efficient it might be best not to leave it charging a single battery long term without a controller. If you weigh the cost of controller($15?) against battery, what would be your choice? This solar panel seems like it will last a long time so you might consider the controller. Most are good up to 95 watts if you decide to add to your panels.
765122
Hi -- I am an electrical engineer and I use this panel to keep the three full size 12V deep cycle batteries wired in parallel on my camper charged. It does a really good job and I do not use a charge controller. I mount the solar panel vertically facing south so that in the summer when the sun is high in the sky and the temps are warm it receives less solar input, but in the winter the sun angle is low and I get relatively more charge and any excess battery heating will be less of a concern. The panel seems to be very good quality and has held up fine outside in Park City UT for over 9 months. The current from the panel in full sun should nominally be 5w/12v = .42 amps, which may be a little high for trickle charging a small motorcycle battery. Check for your battery specs on line. By mounting the solar panel vertically it will generate less current in the summer and avoid overheating. You can also probably mask the panel with tape to reduce output if needed. Also, I don't think charge controllers are too expensive for this size panel so that is an option. Hope this helps. ---Dan in Park City UT
765123
I also wanted to add that battery tender makes quality products. In your searching for controllers you should also look for "solar light controllers" (an older form of simple 12v lighting controllers) you may be able to find some cheap from the big names like morningstar, xantrex etc. that make top notch solar electrical stuff.
1004221
Yes, they're ideal for that purpose. You'll need a solar charge controller to manage the charge voltage and current, just as for any 12V battery system. The best and most efficient charge controller is the "maximum power point" (MPPT) controller.
991192
Yes. You will need a 12 volt charge control box also. You shouldn't wire directly to the battery/batteries
1626141
Do not wire it straight to the panel as it will over charge your battery in nothing flat. The panel came with a charge controller than it very easy to wire into the system. You wire your load up to 10 amps through the charge controller. If you are going to pull more amperage than 10 amps then hard wire that load to the battery. As far as charging the "low" battery there is a formula to determine the charge time but there are several variables you need to know to figure that out. It has no problems meeting our electrical needs on board a 20 foot sailboat with one deep cycle battery on board but our total load is less than 4 amps if everything was on at once. We have been just totally pleased with the panel and controller as they meet our needs perfectly.
1563646
No charge controller needed. Just clamp onto the terminals. You could keep a modest battery topped off for a backup light, but it would not recover the battery very quickly, if you anticipated daily need. But if you just want a battery to run one bulb for a while on occasions, it's fine for that. Otherwise, for a larger lighting array or for frequent outages, use a larger charging system. I use it to keep my backup tractor and the battery on my herbicide pump tank topped off.
2144575
No, it needs the stripped wires. You can get pair of wires that have MC4 on one side to connect to panel and bare wire on the other to connect to the charge controller. Better to do this than cutting off the MC4 connectors.
243759
I used this panel to keep the batteries charged for my gate opener. If you use this make sure you cover it to block the sun until after everything is connected. IE: Load controller and the load, batteries also if you are charging them. This panel puts out around 28V so it will fry anything that is not going through the controller. I charged to motorcycle size batteries, 24V kept them charged. Am going to use it now to keep the batteries charged on my Quads, I will reset the charge controller to use 12V instead of 24V Great little trickle charger and it will maintain your battery, Not meant to recharge the battery just maintenance. I used this panel to keep the batteries charged for my gate opener. If you use this make sure you cover it to block the sun until after everything is connected. IE: Load controller and the load, batteries also if you are charging them. This panel puts out around 28V so it will fry anything that is not going through the controller. I charged to motorcycle size batteries, 24V kept them charged. Am going to use it now to keep the batteries charged on my Quads, I will reset the charge controller to use 12V instead of 24V Great little trickle charger and it will maintain your battery, Not meant... » Read More I used this panel to keep the batteries charged for my gate opener. If you use this make sure you cover it to block the sun until after everything is connected. IE: Load controller and the load, batteries also if you are charging them. This panel puts out around 28V so it will fry anything that is not going through the controller. I charged to motorcycle size batteries, 24V kept them charged. Am going to use it now to keep the batteries charged on my Quads, I will reset the charge controller to use 12V instead of 24V Great little trickle charger and it will maintain your battery, Not meant to recharge the battery just maintenance. « Show Less
576631
Purpose of a charge controller is to charge a battery. This charge controller can handle battery banks from 12v to 48 volt. you can connect all 4 panels to this CC in series. However you will need 2 of these CC or convert your system to a 24v. Inverter needs to connect to the battery and NOT to the CC.
1708384
All solar panels should use charge controllers. For this controller you need at least a 5-10 amp controller to support this panel.Let us know if you need any further help.Regards,AW
641032
You're probably thinking of a charge controller, not an inverter. And yes, you always need a charge controller so you don't overcharge the battery with the solar panel
1157680
The controller charges 12v batteries, and its ment for turning on lights at night from battery power. The controller feels cheep but I like the panels, I have 4 panels charging a 48v golf cart, and an inverter in the cart that can run almost anything you plug into a standard outlet.
26869
That depends on what you want to use it for. For charging a battery I would use a separate charge controller. A 12 volt panel can put out 20 volts in peak sunlight which would over charge and damage your battery. For something like an DC attic ventilation fan you can just run it direct. The fan will spin faster or slower depending on the amount of sunlight / voltage, which is not a problem.
1123838
Yes, the charge controller will automatically bind to the single 12 volt battery, with appropriate charge from a 24 volt panel.
1027176
According to the directions you do not need a charge controller for a 30w panel on this unit. Larger panels would require a charge controller.
1034084
Directly? Probably not. The output from the panel is DC. It needs a controller to settle it to c. 12+ volts (to charge battery.) If your radio works on 12v DC you are set. If it runs on 110v ac you will need an inverter (DC to ac).
2242774
You need a charge controller pretty much for any solar panel over 10 watts. I like the ones that have a digital voltage meter and built in float mode. Lots of choices for controllers in the $20 range Panel has held up well so far on my sailboat.
763247
If you are just going to charge batteries then all you need to provide is the wiring and fusing from the charge controller to the batteries. You also need to find a good way to mount the panels. They are 2'x4' each.