Solar panels have to have enough leeway built in to perform under the worst of conditions. How can their output be optimised?
We upgrade our solar panels to “Supercharged Solar Panels” by adding a Maximum Power Point Tracking solar (MPPT) Controller. First, this is NOT Panel tracking – this is where the panels are on a mount that follows the sun. Maximum Power Point Tracking – this is electronic tracking, and has nothing to do with moving the panels. Instead, the controller looks at the output of the panels, and compares it to the battery voltage. It then figures out what is the best power that the panel can put out to charge the battery. It takes this and converts it to best voltage to get maximum AMPS into the battery. (Remember, it is Amps into the battery that counts). Our Supercharge MPPT is around 92-97% efficient in the conversion. You typically get a 20 to 45% power gain in winter and 10-15% in summer. Actual gain can vary widely depending weather, temperature, battery state of charge, and other factors. How Maximum Power Point Tracking works: Assume your battery is low, at around 11.5 volts. In the e
