Wiring Different Size Solar Panels Together

Click on calculate to see the size wire required in awg american wire gauge.

Wiring different size solar panels together.

Both have their own purpose and applications and both have different outcomes when hooking up solar panels of different wattage together. When solar panels are wired in series the voltage of the panels adds together but the amperage remains the same. 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. 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.

If we have two solar panels with the same voltage but different wattage there is no problem. Use a wire sizing calculator for solar arrays that will figure out the size of wire you need. You need to understand how different stringing configurations impact the voltage current and power of a solar array. Solar panels are usually connected in series to obtain higher output voltage.

There are two ways to wire up solar panels. Enter the distance in feet from your solar panels to your battery bank charge controller. For instance in the demo below we have a 100w 24v panel and some 50w 12v panels. Enter the total amps that your solar panels will produce all together.

Solar panel wiring aka stringing and how to string solar panels together is a fundamental topic for any solar installer. Wiring solar panels in series. They can be wired in parallel. Enter solar panel output voltage.

When you wire in series there is just a single wire leading from the roof for each string. When a solar installer wires your solar panels in a series each panel is connected to the next in a string the total voltage of each solar panel is summed together but the amps of electrical current stay the same. Another option is to take multiple solar panels and wire them together to equal the same output as the other mismatched panel. What we can do is wire the two 12v panels in series plus to minus and then we can wire it in parallel with the 24v panel.

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.