The PWM worked fine. Only I have 48 volt panels and a 12 volt battery bank.
I am not sure I'm upgrading my battery bank.
So, to get the most out of my panels I needed a mppt controller.
On this note, I now regularly pull 865 watts out of my 1k array and the old PWM only ever saw a high of 335 or so.
I know now that going to a 48 volt battery bank is the most efficient use of my resources (panels, wire, batteries etc). The problem is it comes with the need for more batteries and a new inverter. A good 48 volt inverter/charger is 2000 bucks after taxes and shipping etc.
And the system is working really well.
I cannot use all the power I'm generating. Even after two cloudy days: with visitors for supper and using the microwave and watching the hockey game I went out the next morning thinking ... uh oh. Still cloudy. I probably need to cut back. And my panels were making over 300 watts under dark cloud.
I have discovered the disadvantage of L16 batteries. They charge at 15.4 in absorb mode and my Ramsond inverter specs say to go to 15 max. I'm hoping there's some wiggle room there. It's working but am I damaging anything?
