How to Connect Different Solar Panels Together

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[WillProwse]

*Does off-grid solar confuse you?*
Check out my DIY friendly website for solar system blueprints and product recommendations, and so much more!

*Join our DIY solar community*
#1 largest solar forum on the internet for beginners and professionals alike:

*Check out my free book*
Best-selling and beginner-friendly guide to 12V off-grid solar!


*My Favorite Online Stores for DIY Solar Products:*

*Current Connected*
My favorite USA Distributor! Best Prices for EG4, Victron, Solar Panels and high quality components. Fantastic customer support and fast shipping:

*WattCycle*
My favorite 12V budget battery!:

*Epoch Batteries*
My favorite high-quality 12V battery:

*Watts247*
Need international shipping for large batteries and big inverters? Check them out!

*Rich Solar*
Budget 12V Inverters and MPPT:

*Battery Hookup*
Cheap used lithium cell deals:
5% off code: diysolar

*Contact Information:*


*FTC Disclosure Statement and Disclaimers:*
Every video includes paid promotion or sponsorship. Some links on this youtube channel may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these.
My videos are for educational purposes only. Information is subject to change/update at any time. Electricity is DANGEROUS and can kill. Be smart and use common sense :)
DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

[spankymagee]

Had to look everywhere and watch 10 videos before this one for such a simple answer. Everyone else MASSIVELY over complicated this problem. And im already subscribed to you. Should have started here first.

I have a bunch of small 25 watt, and 1-175 watt panel. All the same voltage though, so now I know what to do.

[grimacres]

This is a thing worth repeating often. I was going through my assorted odd panels and was wondering this very same thing. I've done a few different small stand alone projects but never anything requiring more than one panel and a marine battery. (I use solar and LED lighting for holiday displays) I stumbled across this older video today and was glad to have found it. It saved me asking a rather basic question that you've most likely answered all too often. So today I ordered your book on Amazon and I am looking forward to being better educated in solar tech. Thank you for being an actively involved YouTube content creator.

[jhettorazo]

I love the accent and pronunciation 😍😍😍

[awishhamza]

SIMPLE AND WELL EXPLAINED. THANKS.
.
ALSO FOR DIFFERENT VOLT AND AMPS.
check either different volt values are close or different amp values are close for both mismatch panels. then if amps are more close then go for series, go for parallel either.

[kingclown]

Aww man the new cut looks amazing in contrast lol

[peterwalton]

Will you must keep doing this. Excellent information for a novice like me 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿😊😊

[Endless_Skyway_Adventures]

Good stuff, one other option (more cost) is to use a separate charge controller for each panel or group of similar panels. Controllers would be wired in parallel. This method would allow completely mismatched panels to be used..Good job on the video's, I like your work.

[David-crfb]

Hello, quick question. When you say in parallel they need to be the same voltage, is similar voltage fine?
Eg: two 12v panels, one 175W one 100W. VMP 18.9V and 19.5V, IMP 5.29A and 8.98A. So amps add and volts go to lowest available.

Sooo
18.9 x (5.29 + 8.98) = 269.7
That’s only a 5.3W loss from 275W, not bad.
Am I missing something?

Thanks for any help… have not been able to get a straight answer on this..

[markvincentdelacruz]

What if the only gap is 1volt, for example i have a 70w solar panel with 18voc and a 100w with 17v voc, can i parallel it

[BeFree]

Short and sweet but good info to know, thanks Will.

[aaronwalderslade]

If my panels are the same voltage in parallel but one is getting less sun, will they both drop to that voltage? I have two hundred watt panels but one is much more efficient because it has the multi direction bobble coating.

[lindaferguson]

I have 27 panels of blue sun bifacial panels, 460/575, that are currently hooked with my 2- eg46500 ex inverters. I also have a battery bank of 12- 5.12 48v batteries totaling over 61k of backup. Wanting to upgrade to 2-Sol Ark 15k inverters. I want to use my 27 pv panels on one Sol Ark 15k inverter. I want to buy more panels that are not blue sun but supply 400w of power each. Better price point for me. The newer panels I want to hook up to the 2nd Sol Ark inverter. I'm hoping that this setup overts the problems with placing these newer panels to the current ones and making my current ones work at a lower capacity. I posed this question to the tech support 2 days ago at Sol Ark, but there has been no response yet. What are your thoughts on this? I don't want to buy anything until this gets figured out. Thank you in advance for your response.

[bensanchez]

Hi Will. Enjoy all your videos. Thank you very much for producing these and educating. Now the questions.... this is my plan:
1. Starting with a HQST 100W (two 50s) Folding briefcase kit with a 30A MPPT Controller.
2. Later in a month or two; add Two HQST 100W = 200W connected in Series to the 30A MPPT Controller.
Some values:
Solar Panels Watts Volts (Voc) Amps
HQST Folding Kit 100W 100 21.6 6.16
HQST 100W Panels 200W 100 21.3 5.58

Will the above work if I connect the 100W briefcase kit in series with the 200W system all going to the same controller for a max of 300W?

[norbertrivera]

I have two banks of different solar panels(previously i had 24 volts solar system), i have 6 panels with 375 watts and recently i buy 6 more panels of 400 watts each .i'm migrating to 48 volts so i must connect in parallels to create 48 volts so how i connect the panels?

[montgomeryliteflyers]

Will, I have a 350 watt solar system in my Van, connected parallel to a Renogy 50amp B2B charger/controller.

I would like to connect a set of 100 watt panels in series as a supplement through a 48v- 12 v regulator and connect directly to the Renogy b2b charge controller. Will this be acceptable and safe?

[DonRamon]

Can I hook up the 200watt solar panel that came with my Anker 767 and add after market 400watt solar panel to it too ? For total of 600 watts

[Moes_Prep_and_Tech]

So what would be the best advice for Four 100 watt panels and TWO 190 watt panels all from HQST?

[larryll]

rule #1 never talk about fight club. rule #2 buy all wills books they will all help you greatly:) great vid will:)

[doc]

Always some good info. Have you though about leaving Ca, like a road trip?