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I am fitting 2 strings of 4 panels. One string will be in the sun more than the other. the strings will both feed the same battery.
Should I use 2 solar charge controllers because the strings will be producing different amounts of power, or will the MPPT in 1 controller cope with this?
You can use one controller, this is OK. When there is a big difference in sunlight between the two strings, there are some losses. If you think about, adding efficiency with a second controller, I would think of adding more panels instead.
Adding more panels surely depends on, if the ratings of the single charger allows this.
Regards,
Markus
Thank you Marcus, that makes sense. I just wasn't sure if the MPPT would cope ok.
Appreciate your thoughts.
I believe that you will lose the efficiency advantage of having MPPT (vs PWM) if your controller is working with all four and they are different panels in different exposures.
If I wanted to optimize charging, I'd consider a second controller.
Should do the job with just one controller though.
