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Anonymous Coward
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Join Date: May 2004
 
2022-11-09, 19:42

I am not up to date with current technology. All I can say is that with too great a voltage difference between charging voltage and battery voltage causes excessive electrolysis. I would guess the hydrogen and oxygen don't have as much time to recombine, so escape faster than if the reaction rate were slower (for a lead acid battery). Presumably, the charge controller has the ability to detect the type of battery, and provide an ideal voltage that will not stress the battery, since the different battery types have different voltage ranges between fully charged and minimum charge.

I would guess that your Navy training has covered that, so all I can say is that you should ensure that you chose a charge controller that matches the range of voltages from the solar panel and produces an output compatible with your specific battery. I have never come across any other components in the solar charging circuit that add any functionality (except for a fused or breaker combiner box if multiple solar panels are involved).

P.S. I guess you should take what I say with a tablespoon of salt because most of my solar knowledge is from my pre-Navy days. I'm not saying it was a long time ago, but my first submarine had a fire control system that generated solutions using analog computers, that is with synchros and servos.

Last edited by Anonymous Coward : 2022-11-09 at 20:35. Reason: Something I thought of while turning one of my compost piles
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