Connect Two Solar Panels To One Charge Controller

Connecting two solar panels in parallel.

Connect two solar panels to one charge controller.

If you have a pwm charge controller and plan to charge a 12v battery bank you must connect your panels in parallel. To meet high power charging requirements several solar controllers can be connected in parallel to a battery bank with each controller connected to its own separate pv subarray. For example our 115w sunpower solar blanket has the following ratings. You can think of a charge controller in the same way that you would think of a hard drive on a computer.

Maximum rated current 5 8a. Parallel connection 2x rng 100d 100 w mono if you have an mppt charge controller you have the option to wire your panels in series or parallel. Maximum rated voltage 19 8v. There is only a certain amount of data that a hard drive can store so you typically purchase a hard drive that is big enough for your needs.

Yes you can have two controllers on a one set of panels array. Each controller is independent and the outputs will not be parallel unless you put them that way. Most of the time you are going to use the series connection. Generally speaking it is a good idea to obtain your solar panels before you buy a charge controller.

Connect the negatives to the negatives and positives to the positives. Place your charge controller as close to your batteries as possible. If you connect the output of each controller on two separate battery banks each controller will charge the bank that is connected to its output using whatever power is available depending on the need state of charge the battery bank has. Place your charge controller as close to the two solar panels as possible to minimize wire losses.

Large off grid solar and battery backup pv systems often require greater charging than a single controller can provide.