Well, a diode will keep the power from the bank draining into the
panels at night, not keep them from overcharging the batteries. A
charge controller will control the charge and that's what you want.
A friend of mine had a battery explode in his face. Even tho he didn't
have protective eyewear on at the time he was uninjured. Not related to
solar power, but safety is our friend.
Take 5 batteries (like me). They're about 600 cranking amps each, 65 to
100 amp hours. Take 600, multiply by 5 and you get 3000. That's a lot
of amps. When I was hauling the batteries back and forth to the cabin,
I had one arc off once. Melted the handle, started a small fire and
that's just one battery. Be careful, be safe.
Max
http://www.northernmichigansolar.com
http://www.smallcompanymovingguide.com
>Assuming that you are using a charge controller, a diode would probably be
>redundant.
Morningstar's Sun Guard 4 looks good to me. It's a PWM series regulator vs
an MPPT with a boost circuit, but I think the forward voltage drop is about
0.3V at 4.5A, and unlike a diode, that decreases with current. The reverse
leakage is less than 10 uA at night. Seems well worth t$30, for PV panels
totaling more than about 5 watts.
Nick
XML site map
>redundant.