If we have two solar panels with the same voltage but different wattage there is no problem.
Connect 2 solar panels together.
Then they are connected to the charge controller or to the inverter of the solar system.
When the wedgie is open the roof hinges over 180 degrees and becomes the base of our bed.
Connect all the positive terminals of all the solar panels together and all the negative terminals of all the panels together.
During shading night when there is no generating power from solar panels the battery stored energy will be used as a backup power and it.
When solar panels are wired in series the voltage of the panels adds together but the amperage remains the same.
Firstly lets take a look at connecting solar panels in series.
Connecting solar panels in parallel.
There are two ways to wire up solar panels.
If you had 4 solar panels in parallel and each was rated at 12 volts and 5 amps the entire array would be 12 volts at 20 amps.
For example a 110ah battery should never be connected to a panel more than 11w without a solar controller and if you are using a solar controller you do not need a blocking diode.
The rule of thumb when connecting solar panels directly to a battery is never connect more than c 10 watts where c is the capacity of your battery.
The wedgetail camper has two solar inputs via red anderson plugs.
Wiring solar panels in a parallel circuit.
You have two different higher voltage solar panels i e one 100w 24v and one 200w 24v that you want to connect to the already working 12 v solar power system comprising the two 12v 50 w solar panels connected in parallel from the previous scenario see the picture above.
It s all in the wiring.
On the other hand if our two solar panels have both different wattage and different voltage then parallel connection is not possible since the panel with the lowest voltage would behave like a load and would begin to absorb current instead of producing it with the.
So if you connect two solar panels with a rated voltage of 40 volts and a rated amperage of 5 amps in series the voltage of the series would be 80 volts while the amperage would remain at 5 amps.
Wiring solar panels in parallel implies connecting positive terminals of each panel together and wiring the negative terminals of each panel together as well.
The following wiring diagram shows that the two 12v 10a 120w solar panels connected in parallel will charge the two 12v 100ah parallel connected batteries as well as power up the ac load through batteries and inverter during the day in normal sunshine.
Both have their own purpose and applications and both have different outcomes when hooking up solar panels of different wattage together.
This is used when the solar panel is stored for travelling.