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Maximising power output from solar panels

Former Member

There is an ongoing debate in the sector about how best to maximise the power from a solar panel and minimise shading effects: do you use a micro-inverter with built in MPPT or do you use a solar tracker. Both have cost implications, but what is your preference from a technical viewpoint?

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    One big lost  is the use of inverter but lot of thing run on 12v or under. After the wall wart lost power again and they use power when is not in use. Lot of home electronic use 12v but have internal power supply to use 120v ac. maybe we need 12v line in the new(green) home.

  • 0 in reply to bad_boy_y

    Sounds good to me, but the amount of copper would be more to use 12v since you lose more power in the line for a given power transmission. Think about it, to send 100watts through the line you would need a current of 100/12amps. To send 100watts at 240v you would need a current of 100/240 which is much less, and the less current you pass, the less copper you use. If every house had a 12v supply the extra copper needed would be enormous. Yes it would be safer, but AC is much safer than DC. My own solution would be to use the DC 12v to charge a battery, you don't need a very large panel to charge a rechargeable battery, and then you would have a cheap 12v DC power supply for you to use for your experiments, but remember to use a fuse rated around 10 amps in series or you might blow up the components (accidentally of course).

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  • 0 in reply to bad_boy_y

    Sounds good to me, but the amount of copper would be more to use 12v since you lose more power in the line for a given power transmission. Think about it, to send 100watts through the line you would need a current of 100/12amps. To send 100watts at 240v you would need a current of 100/240 which is much less, and the less current you pass, the less copper you use. If every house had a 12v supply the extra copper needed would be enormous. Yes it would be safer, but AC is much safer than DC. My own solution would be to use the DC 12v to charge a battery, you don't need a very large panel to charge a rechargeable battery, and then you would have a cheap 12v DC power supply for you to use for your experiments, but remember to use a fuse rated around 10 amps in series or you might blow up the components (accidentally of course).

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