Which is Best? - 12 vs 24 vs 48 Volt Solar Batteries Explained

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0:00 - Intro
0:29 - 60 Second Electricity Lesson
1:39 - 12V Batteries
3:06 - 24V Batteries
3:53 - 48V Batteries
5:31 - Summary

Curious about the differences between 12V, 24V, and 48V batteries for your solar power system? In this video, we break down the pros and cons of each voltage, how they affect performance, cost, and which one is best for your setup.

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[TheSolarLab]

🛒 We Recommend Shopping At:
• Use Code: THESOLARLAB50 for $50 Off Your Order

• Use Code: THESOLARLAB50 for $50 Off Your Order


0:00 - Intro
0:29 - 60 Second Electricity Lesson
1:39 - 12V Batteries
3:06 - 24V Batteries
3:53 - 48V Batteries
5:31 - Summary

Curious about the differences between 12V, 24V, and 48V batteries for your solar power system? In this video, we break down the pros and cons of each voltage, how they affect performance, cost, and which one is best for your setup.

🔔 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: @TheSolarLab

⚡ FOLLOW US:

👨🏼‍💻 The Solar Lab:

We maintain an affiliate relationship with some of the products reviewed, which means we get a small percentage of a sale if you click our links, at no cost to our viewers.

[john-jee]

now this is a good video explaining voltage.
could never understand voltage but now i do.

[peterxyz]

FINALLY……someone illuminated volt, amp and watt in a way my tiny mind can see!

[elshaddai]

Thank you For These Videos. I Learn A Lot

[MrTrevorkemp]

For anyone who's curious any of the power stations that were in the background of this video that are basically capable of handling a thousand w of continuous output from their AC or more are typically going to be 36 to 48 volts and the ones that are capable of handling $1, 500 plus continuous Watts are going to all have a internal battery configuration of 48 volts so the companies that make the power stations are already using the much higher voltage because it actually makes the stations much less expensive to produce and they can actually be more compact by using the higher voltage because of how much extra space the wiring alone would take up as a lower voltage system The one caveat about all of this is unless you're using a power station and you're making your own homemade system. The cheapest and most common equipment that you're going to be able to find is all going to be 12 volt 12 volt solar panels are going to be the easiest and least expensive panels. You can find 12 volt charge controllers are going to be the most readily available and least expensive ones that you can find whether they're pwm or mppt as well as 12 volt batteries are going to be the easiest thing to find and get your hands on without having to then start making a complicated series wiring setup and 12 volt inverters are also going to be the easiest and most common thing that you're going to be able to find as well and yes, he is right. Basically, 1500 w continuous load is kind of where you're going to end at using a 12-volt system. After that you're going to want to go with a higher voltage. And yes another thing that most people commonly do from what I've seen here on YouTube for all the off-griders some of them just jump straight into having a 48 volt system with 48 volt batteries if the batteries are lithium or they just buy depending on what they want and how big of a storage system they want either 8. 6 volt batteries and hook them in series for 48 volts or four. 12 volt batteries and hook them in series for 48 volts for my personal needs, I would probably be doing a 12-volt system if I was not using a power station. Just because once you start getting into the 24 or even 48 volt equipment it becomes so much more expensive that literally you're almost better off just buying a power station given how expensive some of the 24 volt charge controllers and 24 volt inverters can be.

[goodcitizen]

48V is the way to go! Nice vid, thanks.

[kevm]

Thank you very much for the comparison explanation. You do great videos and give excellent advise. 🙏🏿👍🏿

[JeffPowers]

What about safety considerations for the beginners that this video seems aimed at? Is it much easier to get yourself in trouble/danger handling 48V stuff? What are the most important safety cautions for the beginner? If that kind of info isn't in that playlist you mentioned, perhaps it would be a good candidate for another video.

[paultech]

One caveat to your skip 24V statement is if your setup is running DC load components w/o an inverter.

[Scott-igzd]

I built my system back in 2020 48v components were hard to find and expensive. Back at that time Will Prowse was recommending 24v system for medium system like my 250 square ft cabin. I bought a Big Battery 24v 170ah lifepo4, 2000w inverter and 1000 watts of panels. I use it about it about 120-150 days a year and I'm using the exact system I started with and no down time.

[teardowndan]

I wish 24V was a lot more popular than it currently is, makes a lot more sense than 12V for ~1kW stuff

24V is ideal for affordable and efficient DC-DC power conversion in the 500W-1.5kW range: heaps of cheap MOSFETs and integrated power stages to choose from that don't compromise much on switching performance and ON-resistance compared to what you'd need for equivalent 12V systems. It should be a no-brainer upgrade from the manufacturing side of things apart from more cells in series being more potential points of failure.

Of course, that will never compete against the vast market for 48V stuff that stems from telecomms using 48V switchgear for 70+ years to dodge needing to get all of their techs fully licensed for electrical work.

[Needlesssay]

At 5:28 in the video you contradict yourself using voltage "48 volts " ??

[junkerzn]

Also charge controllers are far more effective at 48V than at 12V. A 20A charge controller at 12.8V can handle up to 256W worth of solar panels. That SAME controller at 51.2V can handle over 1000W (assuming a controller that does 12/24/36/48V of course, but many do these days). Just as an example.

Convenient kitchen appliances... Microwave, induction tea kettle, toaster oven, induction "burner", well pump.... the list goes on. Best to just go straight to 48V (51.2V LiFePO4) in most situations. In fact, I would only consider 12V at far lower wattages than the channel recommends. If its less than 500W then 12V is an option. If its more, or you might scale higher than 500W, then I'd go straight to 48V.

At 48V, 2 AWG main battery and inverter wiring nets you 100A @ 51.2V = 5000W of continuous power without anything even getting warm to the touch, let alone hot. And all the solar panel string and charge controller output wiring can be 10 AWG.

The only real gotchas with 48V is that (A) You need to be a bit more up on your electronics skills. (B) Getting any fusing and breakers right is more important. And (C) you need to pay more attention the solar panel topology. The best charge controllers are buck controllers (Victron's for example) which means that to work properly with a 48V system the solar strings have to generate roughly 65VDC or higher "operating voltage".

---

For string voltages I shoot for at least 70V. Higher if partial shading might be an issue. My go-to charge controller is thus something like a Victron 150/35 for the voltage range it supports rather than a Victron 100/20. A single 150/35 can handle 1800W worth of generation all by its lonesome.

You can do this with any solar panel wattage but you need to figure out how many in series you need to get decent results, plus one more to help deal with partial shading situations. Even 25W panels would work, but you would need 4 x 25W in series to develop a decent voltage for a 48V system. Similarly for other small panels. When you get to more serious panels... 100W you typically need 3 x 100W in series (but if they are low-voltage 100W panels you'd still need 4). 200W panels you would also typically want 3 in series. Higher than that the voltages are higher so typically residential panels would need only 2 in series.

My go-to is always 48V. I only consider 12V for very very small systems and only consider 24V in very special cases. My default is 48V these days.

-Matt

[Needlesssay]

I think the reason for having a 12 or 24 volt system is greater flexibility when comes to the power source if the lithium batteries went bad ( do to a mafunctioning charger or otherwise) finding 1 or 2 lead acid batterys would be easier to find in town at a local store in the event of an emergency.

[markfrye]

You are clearly living true to your ideal. Thanks for your explanations. (DoMore)

[janmessek]

The one down side of higher voltage is the battery packs get heavier to the point where you can't pick them up i.e. 100lbs or more for 48 volt 100ah battery. Also the battery management needs to monitor more cells in series so there are more little wires running around and more connections between cells to keep tight. Then there's the arcing at higher voltage with DC you need to be really careful.

[carlthetruthwilliams]

Excellent vid. Thank you. I'm just starting my list. so 48v to start. What's next? I have a 900 s/f home.

[NFLY]

At 4:51 what is that cart and where can I get one?

[ahmetmutlu]

Also higher voltages require less guage/thinner cables for the same wattage.. thats clearly wisible when using from heat... when voltage increases amperage decreases if watts stays same... thats why..

[BillyBobDingledorf]

Appreciate the video. Good info, explained in a simple and clear manner.
What if I can save several hundred dollars on a multi battery setup and just run the batteries in series to get 48V?