Solar panel equal/unequal siting

[flippineck]

I have an off-the-shelf MPPT solar charging regulator connected to a 12V lead acid battery, and two solar panels.

The panels are advertised to have 'built-in blocking diodes'.

I could mount both panels side by side on an east facing wall, both panels side by side on a west facing wall, or one panel facing east and one facing west.

The power and voltage input range to the regulator is high enough to support either parallel or series connection of the panels.

The west facing wall will be in shadow in the mornings, and the east facing wall will be in shadow in the afternoon, both to roughly the same degree.

Which mounting and connection combination would be best?



I cou

 

[kellys_eye]

If you connect in parallel then only the 'dominant' panel output would be used. Connect in series.

 

[flippineck]

If you connect in parallel then only the 'dominant' panel output would be used. Connect in series.

Am I understanding correctly then, that the shaded panel (if one's on the west wall and one's on the east wall with both in series) will act as a low resistance and not seriously hinder the power coming through from the panel in direct sunlight? Sounds good..

With the weather in the UK being patchy at best I'm thinking I'm better maximising the overall time footprint for collection, rather than trying to maximise the power collection over a small portion of the day which might often turn out to be cloudy anyway

I'm thinking half a day at half collection is better than missing everything in the morning because no panel's seeing the sun, and then also missing everything in the afternoon because the 2 panels that should see the sun, can't because it's gone cloudy.

 

[Bluejets]

Am I understanding correctly then, that the shaded panel (if one's on the west wall and one's on the east wall with both in series) will act as a low resistance and not seriously hinder the power coming through from the panel in direct sunlight? Sounds good..

If one series panel gets a shadow, all is lost.
It's why consideration to panel placement is so important.