October 16, 20232 yr As the title states, I am in the market for 80Voc solar panels. 2, but preferably 4. I have limited roof space and my 5kW Sunsynk MPPT requires 150Voc minimum to "start". I have Googled for hours, but AliExpress is all I end up at and have to order a pallet as minimum. Thank you is advance.
October 16, 20232 yr Look for high voltage panels and expect to pay a premuim. https://www.sustainable.co.za/collections/rigid-solar-panels/products/enersol-395hv-395w-high-voltage-solar-panel https://www.sustainable.co.za/collections/rigid-solar-panels/products/renewsys-prime-275w-high-voltage-solar-panel
October 16, 20232 yr Author Amazing. Thank you. I kept searching for 800W panels, thinking the bigger they are the more Voc they deliver.
October 16, 20232 yr Weigh up the costs of lower wattage panels at high Voc vs higher wattage but slightly lower Voc. i.e. take these 555W panels with Voc of 45V if you were to get 4 of these, you will be well on your way and have 2kWp plus. At this price it will be hard to justify lower wattage with higher voltage which will probably cost you the same. https://www.inverter-warehouse.co.za/products/jinko-solar-panel-tiger-555w-mono-facial
October 16, 20232 yr How limited is you roof space? Otherwise it might be time to put a "roof" over a porch of build a carport?
October 18, 20232 yr Author On 2023/10/16 at 8:00 PM, Vaal said: How limited is you roof space? Otherwise it might be time to put a "roof" over a porch of build a carport? Very. The north facing is already populated with 6x 645W JA's. The East and West facing sides is what I wish to utilise now. The East and West facing string connected to 1 MPPT. Catch the morning and evening sun for maximum production. Did the whole simulation with 40Voc panels (2 strings of 2x 645W JAs), but it will only start generating enough Voc from 11am to 2pm in optimal conditions during summer, so the cost vs. benefit does not makes sense. Therefore, 2x 80Voc panels per string will allow the MPPT to start from 8am already, in optimal conditions during summer. This is all in preparation for a 2nd Greenrich UP5000 LiFePO. Yes, probably an overkill, but after 18months of monitoring, initially to just be blackout free, this setup will allow me to move my heat exchanger heatpump to the inverter and realise 55% saving from ESKOM as well.
October 18, 20232 yr Here is something I came across a while back when looking into boosting panel voltage. It can boost the voltage by 15x. I went with 18x100W panels in the end to get my 800V, but it's an interesting product nonetheless. https://www.sustainable.co.za/products/microcare-svb350-single-phase-solar-voltage-booster
October 20, 20232 yr On 2023/10/18 at 6:59 AM, AJBester said: Very. The north facing is already populated with 6x 645W JA's. The East and West facing sides is what I wish to utilise now. The East and West facing string connected to 1 MPPT. Catch the morning and evening sun for maximum production. Did the whole simulation with 40Voc panels (2 strings of 2x 645W JAs), but it will only start generating enough Voc from 11am to 2pm in optimal conditions during summer, so the cost vs. benefit does not makes sense. Therefore, 2x 80Voc panels per string will allow the MPPT to start from 8am already, in optimal conditions during summer. This is all in preparation for a 2nd Greenrich UP5000 LiFePO. Yes, probably an overkill, but after 18months of monitoring, initially to just be blackout free, this setup will allow me to move my heat exchanger heatpump to the inverter and realise 55% saving from ESKOM as well. You get almost full Voc even in the shade. As long as the sun is above the horizon.
October 20, 20232 yr To the best of my knowledge, to have East West arrays on a single input is not best practice. Or am I wrong? To the original poster: at wat time is your current battery fully charged? What is your baseload? Wouldn't it be better to first raise your battery capacity, till you run out of charging capacity and then do the panels?
October 20, 20232 yr Author Indeed. 2nd 5kW battery due for commissioning on the 25th of this month. Base laid is roughly 500W. Battery is fully charged by 10am from 30% DOD, the past couple of sunny weeks. Correct, having two separate facing sets of panels on the same string is not ideal, but still better than nothing.
October 21, 20232 yr 10 hours ago, Vaal said: To the best of my knowledge, to have East West arrays on a single input is not best practice. Or am I wrong? To the original poster: at wat time is your current battery fully charged? What is your baseload? Wouldn't it be better to first raise your battery capacity, till you run out of charging capacity and then do the panels? Nothing wrong with east/west on 1 mppt provided you parallel the 2 strings and you use the same number of panels and same specs.
October 21, 20232 yr 2 hours ago, Chris_S said: Nothing wrong with east/west on 1 mppt provided you parallel the 2 strings and you use the same number of panels and same specs. Here is a interesting writeup on East West arrays and the conditions. https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/an-eastwest-spit-of-solar-panels-on-a-single-string-can-work-well/
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