How Do Solar Panel Charge Controllers Work

Charge controllers block reverse current and prevent battery overcharge.

How do solar panel charge controllers work. How does solar charge controller work the solar charge controller will first check if the battery is fully charged or not. Let s examine each function individually. Some controllers also prevent battery overdischarge protect from electrical overload and or display battery status and the flow of power. The controller also keeps checking at certain.

Its job is to regulate the battery charging process to ensure the battery is charged correctly or more importantly not over charged. At night the panels may pass a bit of current in the reverse direction causing a slight discharge from the battery. Maximum power point tracking mppt is a popular technology that an increasing number of solar charge controllers offer. If it has the full charge the controller will disconnect the solar panel automatically from the batteries.

There are two main types of solar charge controller the pulse width modulation regulator and the maximum power point tracking regulator. A solar charge controller is an electronic component that controls the amount of charge entering and exiting the battery and regulates the optimum and most efficient performance of the battery. It regulates the voltage and current coming from the solar panels going to the battery. A charge controller or charge regulator is basically a voltage and or current regulator to keep batteries from overcharging.

Most 12 volt panels put out about 16 to 20 volts so if there is no regulation the batteries will be damaged from overcharging. While mppt charge controllers usually cost more than traditional solar charge controllers the gain in overall charging efficiency makes them well worth it in most cases. Batteries are almost always installed with a charge controller.