Traditionally, it was expected that a solar panel, lets say one rated at 130 watts, would only produce a portion of those watts (say only 88 watts) due to inadequate voltage levels between the panel and the battery in off grid systems. Most panels are designed to put out 16 to 18 of actual volts, while a typical battery produces somewhere around 12 volts. A standard charge controller transfers the current from the panels directly to the battery resulting in the panel voltage being dragged down to sync with the battery. Up until relatively recently this was the norm. However, with the creation of the Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT), solar panels have been able to produce power much closer to their optimal electric load. A MPPT is a high efficiency DC to DC converter that uses inverter technology to convert the voltage that the panel wants to work at for maximum power and turns that into more current at the voltage level of the working battery. A MPPT works to track what is called the maximum power point, which changes based on weather conditions and the time of year. Without a way of tracking this power point, it won’t be reached. Nowadays, on-grid inverters use MPPTs to maximize power from the solar panel array. For off grid systems, an MPPT charge controller is utilized to generate maximum power. More recently, MPPT charge controllers have become more affordable making it a very wise investment for any off-grid battery supported solar energy system.
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