You, Will Prowse, and Hobotech should all get together and have an insane conversation. Thanks man.

@lifesartnow2730

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed, my favorite you tubers as well 👍

@caseykelso1

Жыл бұрын

Wouldn't understand a word of it 🤣

@invisibilianone6288

9 ай бұрын

If I could only take some wire, dirt, air and water, to create a power supply...lol, these three gentlemen could probably do it🎯😁☕

@josepeixoto3715

2 ай бұрын

hmmm...

Dude, you are tied with Dave Poz, Tin Hat Ranch, and Will Prose for the best info/teaching in solar. Each of you excel over the others in your specific areas. This is meant as a complement. I prefer your speed and detail of info and diagrams are fantastic! I learned more detail and had holes in areas I thought I knew filled in after watching your videos!

Great video Nate. Basic electricity at its finest!

Wow, you clearly put a LOT of time into this (script, diagrams, filming, editing, etc.)! This is the best video on explaining the pros / cons and how-to on combining mismatched cells / panels. THANKS!!!

@EXPLORISTlife

2 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@wlewis1217

2 жыл бұрын

Indeed! Your explanation is awesome! Thanks man!

@riverzin3186

Жыл бұрын

@@EXPLORISTlife Yea that was great, thanks. In the last example, why can't they just wire them all in series?

@evil17

Жыл бұрын

@@riverzin3186 All in series would overvolt the charge controller.

@riverzin3186

Жыл бұрын

@@evil17 Thanks for the advise

I'm so glad you're continuing with this series. It helps so many people.

@dwight7651

7 ай бұрын

I just learned a lot Thank you

A brilliant video, thanks for the awesome explanation of the results of combining different sized panels.

Best tutorials on the Internet great job!

Thank you for all you do to help people. I do not have my 41 motor home.

Thanks for the easy to follow explanations. I am learning so much.

Man, really great info, love the way you break it down for us!

You are the best at this. You actually have real life installs verse talking about "how it can be done" from inside a room. Thank you very much for this great information

You are a very good teacher. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. *.*

Nate, Thanks for all the work you two have done!

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

This is one of the best solar videos I’ve seen. Thank you!

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful. Cheers!

clear and concise ..thanks for all your hard word ..its much appreciated

your explanations are so clear. thank you

I appreciate the repetition of the formulas and the sums. I learn faster that way. Thank you, sir!

Thanks again for great details!

Legend mate. That has simplified everything. I was worried I would lose watts on my mismatched panels. Now I know correct wiring

Wonderful teaching! Very helpful. This is what I was looking for!

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful. Cheers!

Nate, you have one of the best DIY sites I have visited. Love your style. I get Volts /Watts / Amps / Parallel / Series. I was missing the part that the MPPT controller actually made the adjustments. Cool, got it.

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching!

Hi Nate. Really appreciate your efforts to help us all DIY. I have watched all of your DIY solar videos, some of them multiple times to help me learn solar/RV electrical. I've learned a lot but I'm still not 100% confident in my decisions. I would like to have 2 arrays for my RV. One array will have 4 Renogy 100W (18.6V, 5.38A) panels run in S/P 2/2. These panels will be placed on the ground to get better angles to the sun and to help avoid shading. The other set of panels will be placed on the roof of the RV to allow us to charge while on the road (and in camp), but since placement is more challenging they may get obstructed. I was originally looking at the Renogy 200W but given the array specification differences it seems that their performance would be too low. So based on your advice I changed to using the Rich Solar 200W (37.6V, 5.32A) panels wired in parallel, which if I have done my calculations correctly should get us to 99.8% efficiency. Can you please double-check my logic on this? Thanks. Now for my "real" question - do you think I should use 2 solar charge controllers (say a Victron 100/50 and a Victron 150/60) or would we be better served using one solar charge converter (say a Victron 150/100). The price difference between the two S.C.C. approaches is negligible. Thanks for whatever advice you can provide! Jim

Great videos, direct a quick to the point , and extremely informative, thumbs up every time!!

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Hey only1jonnyg, Thanks so much! Cheers!

Thanks for this video This one give me good knowledge

Best explanation of solar panels I've seen yet!! Thanks!!

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

The Series has been great! Think I've watched everything! Certainly picked up a lot of clue, from tools, to when to fuse on the roof. What about discussing East / West panels? (when one has no suitable house roof pointing to the equator). I understand that this could be more desirable as one can catch both the early and late sun rays. One thing you don't seem to have mentioned is that if there is shade on a string - it affects the whole strings production of power - so having a well chosen placement of a mix of Series and Parallel panels can be the wisest configuration. Lastly (back to East/West configs), if there is less sun on an area - does this affect the voltage or the amperage of the string? Oh - the hour long video with your friends RV - four panels down each side in series, why that format? I think I'd put the four at the front in series and the four at the back in series - so parking with one end in shade gives at least one good string. The Left & Right strings is primarily beneficial if in the complete open with the RV parked North/South. Perhaps have a method of switching between the two layouts?

Thank you so much for making this make sense.

Finally found a video explaining this! Thank you!

Wow. Very informative. I will watch more of your videos...under ideal conditions.

This is a great video! Thank you for giving such a clear and in depth explanation!

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Hey Goncalo Valle, Thanks so much! Cheers!

Waiting on the future video about when in line fuses are needed. Thanks for good info.

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Coming soon!

That was very helpful!

Thanks for very nice clarification

New to the channel and solar,(subliminal message) "VxA=W".lol great video.thanks for the panel explanation, was curious on this subject

Thanks so much for this! Saved my bacon again today. Please keep 'em coming.

The best explanation by far. Thanks!

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Awesome! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching!

Excellent presentation, well explained, thank you.

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful. Cheers!

@RVingwithG

3 жыл бұрын

@@EXPLORISTlife I will be watching this one again and again... I have 3 x 335 for 1,005 and I wanted to add one more over the dining room window for shade and to face South... But unless I get the same one, it looks to be tricky to add on to the three I have>..? I have 3 x 100 amp hours Lithium too

That was the question I’ve been asking, now that I know how to figure it I can decide what solar panels I need to buy thank you

excellent work, very comprehensive and to the point.

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

That's awesome. Thank you, Nate.

Watched 3 of your videos and think you are an excellent instructor who is clear and totally understandable! Bravo

@EXPLORISTlife

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching!

Good explanation and great graphics! 👍😎

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching!

Brilliant explanation

Exelent video. Was Very very helpful to me. Thanks alot!

Super helpful thank you so much!

Great tutorial, you are a good teacher!

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Hey, The Woodland Companies! I appreciate that. Thanks for watching! 🙂😀

Excellent video, very informative. Thanks 👍🏻

@EXPLORISTlife

3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

The diagrams help it sink in Nate thank you, I’ll just watch this video another 3 or 10 times and get a new piece of paper and start again. I usually get professionals to do my electrical work but I want to DIY to understand what I’ve got for remote travel troubleshooting if something happens.

Thank for the video! After watching it an doing some comparisons, I realized I'd get the best watt output if I wired them all in series. Ended up with 250 watts vs previously I was getting something like 100 watts.

Such a clear explanation- thank you. 👏

@EXPLORISTlife

2 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful. Cheers!

First video explaining solar configuration - you have done a great job creating this. Well done

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful. Cheers!

Thanks!

Thanks for the great and expertly explained information! I wish I’d seen this sooner, but glad I didn’t see it any later

@EXPLORISTlife

7 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Excellent. Easy to understand. Thank you for making it easy ☮️🙏☯️

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

I came across your KZread site. Very good explanations on the panels and systems. You have done a very good job on the educational aspects of the web site. Using ABYC as a guide is also brilliant. I wish I had found this 5 years ago when I was exploring solar. I am retired, used to run a fire LAB and I am now bored a lot. I set up a test rig a few years ago to verify the different types of 12V 100W panels and types of controllers. I used a 4 tube Florent ceiling light fixture for a constant light source. I put the panels on the light source and fed them through both PWM/MPPT controllers. Measured all the outputs, charging times, loads etc. after a few weeks of testing I came up with the best configuration. I charged a 950 Ah lead acid battery, then I would use a 2Kw Inverter to power up 3 100W light bulbs and drained the battery to 11V, then charged it back full. After doing this 15-20 times I was able to calculate the power generation of each panel and efficiency of the controllers. Then moved outside to do sun source testing. Lots of fun was had. I have a 76 VW Camper. I installed the test solar system on the bus. I have a pair 100W panels in series feeding a cheap MMPT controller. I live in the Pacific NW and all the rain and clouds here are not optimum for solar. Plus the latitude of 48 Deg north means the sun angle is low. The standard 12v panel would not reach charging levels all the time. My testing showed only a couple hours a day they would produce charging voltage when in parallel. So I put the panels in series so when each panel made 7-8 Volts the sum of the voltages will start the charging cycle. Current is low 5-7 amps, but acceptable for this application and this actually works very well in this area. I have a pair of 650Ah Lead acid batteries and they stay full with the system. When the batteries are full the controller shuts off the charge and the panels go to open circuit voltage. The bus is parked most of the time and not used much. The MPPT controller has a switched load, (like they all do) I am looking to use the excess solar panel power on a restive load after the batteries are full. Since the bus has a refrigerator that runs on Gas/DC/AC. I wired the switched output of the MPPT controller, to the Refrigerator electric heater (12V 1500W) through a diode. I have run this for a few weeks to see how the system will operate. The refrigerator stays cold and occasionally will freeze water on a bright day. This works very well to use the excess power generated so the panel does not sit around at open circuit voltage most of the time. But it's a manual operated, go push the button system. The power is way less than the 1500 watt design but just warm enough to boil the ammonia in the evaporator. I have also wired this into the cheap Chinese diesel heater, it will run on the solar panels alone after it is started and up to temp ( heater fans use 2.5-3.5 amps ) so it will operate on a bright day. It can't start on solar, since the glow plug on start draws 10 amps but after the glow plug cuts out the fan blowers work fine on solar. Question for you.... Do you know of any MPPT controller that will automatically switch to the "external load mode" when the batteries are full. Or a way to automatically switch with a relay to off load the excess power. If the refrigerator load could be automatically switched, it would run on the solar panels when driving and the alternator is keeping the battery voltage above the MPPT cut off voltage. This is not all that important on this bus, but on larger solar systems, the excess power can be sent to the 1500W heater strip, or maybe a hot water heater element. . On larger RV's this could save the panels from the Open Circuit condition which is not good for the panels. . Thanks for your time, great job on the solar series.

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Although it is indeed possible, load dumping is not something I have experience with. Here is a forum post on the Victron discussion boards that may get you pointed in the right direction: community.victronenergy.com/questions/2089/mppt-dump-load.html Also... having the panels in 'open circuit condition' is not bad for the panels.

freaking fantastic. i have space for 4 (maybe 6) x 270 or 300 watt panels and was thinking to add some in the extra space. this is so fruitful to know these plans. for example if i had space for 4 matched panels then added in 2 smaller extra ones but used a different controller to feed the same battery bank how would that work?

very nicely explained. very helpful

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Exactly what i searched! You are my man!!!

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful. Cheers!

Awesome! Thank you.

Thanks, with your help I able to solve my problems

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Happy to help

What? You just save me from spending unnecessary different size of panel that was not gonna work for my solar array. Thank you. 👍🏼

This is a great explanation.

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Hey Patrick York, Thanks so much! Cheers!

Thanks for explaining all detail information

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Awesome! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching!

The last example of adding an additional panel that cuts output in half is super informative.

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Best explanation on this topic I have run across, and exactly the information I needed to help me configure my ever growing solar system...thank you....aloha

@EXPLORISTlife

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching!

Very helpful, very informative 👍 👍👍

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Charles A, Thanks so much! Cheers!

This video literally just helped me figure out the mathematic equation for my system. Under perfect factory testing conditions, ill be installing a 98% efficient system. I appreciate it sooo much!

solid explanation bro- fantastic

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Appreciate it!

Excellent video and blog post, thank you. Today I tested my new Renogy 100W and 50W panels wired in series and in parallel. I will mount two of these pairs, each connected to its own MPPT charge controller, either side of my yacht's main sail. Based on the panel specs (same Vmp but different Imp) I expected that wiring them in parallel would produce more power output. Surprisingly, when I measured the amps in series they were double what I expected - 5.2A instead of the 2.69A Imp of the smaller 50W panel?! Any idea what is going on here?

Thank you, this was very helpful.

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

Awesome video and series

Great stuff! Thanks

Just an awesome explanation and so well put together. Thank you!

this was very helpful

@EXPLORISTlife

8 ай бұрын

Awesome! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching!

This was a great guide :) I had been pondering on similar problem when using 24v system and using 12v light bulbs and what would happen with mismatched bulbs in series to make 12v work on 24v and came to similar conclusions, had not thought about it when it comes to solar panels and it would be simlar problems... But it is logical when you think about it :)

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful. Cheers!

I needed this. OMG! Thank you...

@EXPLORISTlife

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching!

Great info.i heard that battleborn has their own solar panels.have you received any information on them.

excellent video thank you very much!!! 👍

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful. Cheers!

Hi Nate, love your channel. I have learned so much. My question is when you talk about a 20v panel are you using the VOC number on the panel specifications. Thanks

I'm researching solar set up for my RV and ran across your channel. Thank you for the very helpful content. I currently have the 190 watt overlander solar kit that came factory installed on my travel trailer. It came with a port/plug on the trailer to plug in a portable solar panel. My question is what impact or considerations should I take into account if I wanted to supplement my overlander solar with a portable panel for some additional solar when needed? Would it have a negative impact on the entire system if it's a smaller panel??? Thank you in advance.

Thanks I new this but still I wired them wrong. Thanks to your great video I now get more watts out of the same panels. Brains need to be refreshed now and then.

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Anders Andersson, Thanks so much! Cheers!

I'd like to see an addendum to this video in which you explain the use of separate mini-controllers (I'm not sure that my terminology is correct, but I think you understand the gist of my request).

Awesome video, thanks

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

No problem 👍

WOW, Great stuff.

I am using 3 solar panels in parallel to charge a 12v car battery. This is used to power up 3-4 leds street lights on the wall. The lights used to stay on till about 4am. The solar panels are not of same size so I think the wire is not right to get the battery charged full. This video helped me to understand the wiring. I will try to correct it.

Great video!

Good video as usual. Could you maybe consider making videos on how to use software tools to add batteries and assign inverters as master inverter etc .

Your video is very good. Explainations and diagrams are spot on!!👍👍 Math is also awsome. The one problem I have is you keep calling it watt's law, the correct terminology is ohm's law. I say this with 49 years of electrical experience. I am not trying to bash your presentation because it is quite good, just putting this out there for information purposes. Keep up the great work!!

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

How about this since it sounds like you're pretty confident... If I link a credible source that states that watts law is Watts = Amps x Volts and Ohms Law is Voltage = Current x Resistance... you send me $100. Sound good?

@TeutonicNordwind

Ай бұрын

@@EXPLORISTlife BOOM LOL

I appreciate this information... about keeping the panels the same size... and what you explained about adding in a smaller panel, it reduces the overall performance. My question is If smaller panels are at the beginning(negative end)of a series, then larger panels are added, is the math the same?

Good job

Pretty fast. Top. Very good.

@EXPLORISTlife

Жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot!

Thanks Nate for providing this very comprehensive and understandable information. I have 48V electric riding mower which I'm setting up with solar, so that it will charge as it is running, thereby extending my range. Unfortunately, through using your online PV/mppt calculator I found out that my pv voltage has to be 5V above that of the 48V battery bank. From a lack of knowledge I assumed I could just have one 100W solar panel push wattage into the bank while driving it. Why does a trickle charging solar panel (the little ones you can buy for RV batteries running at about 10 watts) work on a 12V rv battery, since the voltage of that little panel would be way below the 12V of the rv battery. In my case I'd have to provide at least 300 watts of solar panels (there is no way I can fit that many panels on the support rack I'm building on the mower) in order to actuate the dang mppt controller. Is there any alternative way to push the single 100W into the 48V bank? I see this as a major drawback over a 12V or 24V system in some applications. There should be devices that up-converts (inversion from +- 18V PV voltage to +- 48V battery bank voltage) PV voltage to activate the charger at any time? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated since I've already put in a lot of time into this built.

Hi there. Thank you for this video! It was really helpful with deciding how to set up my solar on my RV. I had a question maybe you can answer... I currently have 2 x 100w panels and 2 x 175w panels on the roof of my trailer. I've wired them in series-parallel as you demonstrated in 7:10. However, I didn't account for the fact that because my panels are near my roof AC, there is usually a high chance of shade on at least one of the panels at any given time unless the sun is straight above. In my scenario would it have been better to just get 4 x 100w panels (4 x 175w won't fit) and wired them all in parallel? These are all going to a single MPPT charge controller.

I have tested the same and yes this happens. In order to have proper solar array,we must use equal wattage,voltage,amps and type of panels.

Good video! Just wondering what software do you use to make the diagram?

Hey Nate, Great video, but have some questions, specifically to my setup but with the calculations you provided. I currently have a 170-watt solar panel on my RV. It is connected to a PWM Charge controller. My wife saw on sale at Costco, a 120-watt solar panel, so we picked it up; however, watching some videos, mixed match panels can be a bit of a pain and bring the entire system down. I understand I have 2 options when wiring them (3 options if I decide to use a separate charge controller) Info about each panel: 170watt panel shows VOC at 22.8 and Amps at 8.79 120 watt panel shows VOC at 21.5 and Amps at 7 Combined Watts= 290watts First: Series Connection: 22.8+21.5=44.3. Amps take the lowest common denominator which is 7amps (44.3 x 7 = 310) But 310 is more watts than the 2 panels combined (290) Second: Parallel Connection: 22.8 and 21.5. Volts take the lowest, so we sit at 21.5 V and add the amps 8.79+7=15.79 amps (15.79 x 21.5 =339.48) again higher watt rating than 2 panels combined Every calc you do shows that you have lost efficiency of your solar array. Where are my numbers mixed up? Edit: Now that I have read some comments I see I may have used the wrong Voltage- for the 120 watt Solar Panel I see it says VMP=17.1 and the 170 watt panel shows a Rated DC Voltage of 19.3 if I do the series and parallels calcs with these numbers I get 254 watts in series connection and 270 watts for parallel connection. I assume if these are the correct calcs then it is most efficient if I connect the panels in parallel. Thanks for you help Nate

Great vid, do you know of an online or spreadsheet tool that you can quickly plug in your existing array and then play with what-if scenarios? Reason I ask I see some vendors with B grade panels for sale and I'd like to add to my SunPower system. Thanks

Great video Nate, long time follower and I've referenced your material for my own RV solar installation. One way to work around the problem with panels of different voltages and amperages and preserve 100% power efficiency is to wire them into a 2nd charge controller. If budget is a concern and you've already spent $$ on the MPPT controller, the second controller can even be a lower cost PWM controller which will still boost overall power output.

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Definitely! That would be moving into a dual array setup, which was a bit out of the scope of this video, in particular and if you wanted/needed to mix solar panel sizes in either of the arrays, they math would remain the same and would be treated as 2 totally seperate arrays. I'll be sure to add a video to my queue for when I talk about solar charge controllers to talk about dual array systems.

@mikesmultimedia

3 жыл бұрын

@@EXPLORISTlife Nate. If you have not already done so, please include a jump starter video to discuss multiple array systems. You can discuss the reasons why to add a separate array (under it's own SCC) would be considered, and method's of introducing the other array(s) into the current array. For instance, my system is still patched together kinda rigged. But I do think it is worthy to keep my starter battery (veh battery) charged by the panels while charging my solar system battery. I have thought to just provide the veh battery with it's own mini-array and a cheap PWM SCC, but haven't really prioritized that task just yet. My other concern regarding multiple arrays (under their own SCC) would be to avoid the blanket affect of shade on all panels connected to the shade affected array. You may have covered this, or Will Prowse did, where if any one part of a panel gets shaded, it, like you indicate regarding the volts/amps affects, can/will affect the entire energy in that entire array assembly. To avoid this, each panel should be given its own SCC so no one panel getting shaded can affect all the other panels if in an Array. My first guess would be, when having separate arrays with their own SCC would simply be to connect them (ALL) (+ - out wires) to a common terminal effectively turning all them into one main "in".

@johnjones1812

Жыл бұрын

Not necessarily as sometimes having two separate charge controller not communicating with each other will send a fully charged reading to the second charge. This sometimes will have only one charger pushing current.

@Robert-jm1kk

Жыл бұрын

@@johnjones1812 Good point. When employing 2 charge controllers it is best to have the same model. If not able to do that the battery parameters must be the same between controllers. No need to communicate then.

@johnjones1812

Жыл бұрын

@@Robert-jm1kk communication between two chargers is necessary for most efficient charging. I have seen where one charger will float charge or sleep in midday because it's reading the charging voltage from the other charge controller not the actual battery state of charge because they require battery voltage for battery status.

Thank you thank you thank you!

Thanks for the video Nate. Have you considered a video on how to wire the leisure battery to jump the van battery in the event that you drain it, such as when leaving the lights on? This is a topic I cannot find info on but I'm sure many would like to know.

@EXPLORISTlife

3 жыл бұрын

Great idea! I don't have a video for that out, but will be incorporating that into my next van build so will be sure to talk about it.

@crpth1

2 жыл бұрын

Look for ANY video about how to jump a car battery! And I really mean any... Positive (Red) first to be connected. Followed by the negative (Black). Make sure to produce a good contact, with CLEAN poles and clamps! Start the vehicle. I always let it run for a short while... Disconnect the negative (black), and finally the positive (red). Be aware of the sequence! A detail many tend to forget! Easy way to keep it in mind! Red (positive) first and last. The rest in between. ALWAYS manipulate ONE cable at a time. AND do not hold them together (clamps) under your arm pit while connecting/disconnecting. A colleague literally lost is shirt and had some of his arm pit "fur" burned because of such small detail! LOL 😂 Cheers