JamesKnightRocks
1 µW
Will a 100 w solar panel be enough to charge six 12 volt Lithium-ion batteries in series and what type of controller from the solar output will I need to accomplish this
Apparently I'm limited text, 100 watt solar panel connected to 6 12 volt lithium ion batteries in series recommendation on controller types.
- Thread starter JamesKnightRocks
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6ea 12-v batteries in series is 72v nominal, perhaps 84v full charge. Most 100w solar panels max out at 20v. Which means if you really want to do it this way, you'd need a boost converter. I've used this one, it works just okay, because in generally boost conversion isn't great efficiency, so you're looking at really slow charging times. In other words, it can be done, you just might not want to go through the trouble.
Also, given your location in Ontario, you won't get anything like 100W out of the panel even with the most efficient MPPT possible.
A two second google for insolation there says you might get an average of somewhere around 4 kilowatt-hours of solar insolation per square meter, daily, meaning that if you had a square meter of panel, over the entire daylight time, on an average-length day, with no cloud cover the whole day, you'd get around 4kWh of sunlight average *onto* that panel, assuming the info I skimmed from the several top results is accurate. If the panel is say, 50% efficient, then it would actually output around 2kWh...then let's say the MPPT is 50% efficient, it could output only about 1/4 of the original sun power, or about 1kWh.
With no details about your batteries or usage, we'll assume they're for a typical solar-use-case and need to store several kWh--that means it will take several days to charge them up to full, if they were empty. Actual charge time depends on actual weather conditions, how empty the batteries are, etc. The more power you use, the longer it will take to recharge them. If weather conditions are not "perfect", it could take much much longer to charge.
Since the panel is only a max of 100w, then to get the 2kwh out of it, it would need 20 hours of optimal daylight. You probably won't get even a third of that on an actual day, so it's likely to take at least 3-4 times longer than the above to charge your batteries.
A two second google for insolation there says you might get an average of somewhere around 4 kilowatt-hours of solar insolation per square meter, daily, meaning that if you had a square meter of panel, over the entire daylight time, on an average-length day, with no cloud cover the whole day, you'd get around 4kWh of sunlight average *onto* that panel, assuming the info I skimmed from the several top results is accurate. If the panel is say, 50% efficient, then it would actually output around 2kWh...then let's say the MPPT is 50% efficient, it could output only about 1/4 of the original sun power, or about 1kWh.
With no details about your batteries or usage, we'll assume they're for a typical solar-use-case and need to store several kWh--that means it will take several days to charge them up to full, if they were empty. Actual charge time depends on actual weather conditions, how empty the batteries are, etc. The more power you use, the longer it will take to recharge them. If weather conditions are not "perfect", it could take much much longer to charge.
Since the panel is only a max of 100w, then to get the 2kwh out of it, it would need 20 hours of optimal daylight. You probably won't get even a third of that on an actual day, so it's likely to take at least 3-4 times longer than the above to charge your batteries.
Hillhater
100 TW
Hmmm ?.. i thought the best solar PV panels were less than 25% conversion efficiency ..?
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No idea. I just said "say" to create a math example for the OP; I'm not going to do all the research for them. 
If you've already got specific information, you could provide that for them.
If you've already got specific information, you could provide that for them.
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