1 Panel Too Many?

[scdock]

I currently have 3 190 watt Go Power panels and am looking to add a 4th. I want to wire in series/parallel as I get both increased voltage and amps, my current panels are wired in series. My question is on the solar charge controller. I have a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/50. In reading the specs the maximum wattage it will support is 700. With 4 190 watt panes that brings my total wattage to 760. The specs indicate any wattage over the maximum will be limited by the controller. Losing 60 watts doesn't seem like much as I'll gain 130 with the additional panel. Would this be the best approach or would it make more sense to add a second charger? Just curious what your thoughts are.

[Country Campers]

I am no expert by any means on solar but what I have learned is that there are very few times that you will see full performance from a solar panel. I guess you would have to calculate the cost of the upgrade to the yield of the 60 watts, juice worth the squeeze analogy.

Brian

[scdock]

Good advice Brian. We do camp mostly in wooded areas so not likely to max out the controller.

[Jimmer]

This is my understanding of the Victron specs, not saying it's right, just my belief. For your Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/50, the 700 watts is not actually a max input power but it is called a nominal power. So, the 700 watts is not a true limit on the input. A strict limit is the 50 amp output. (I just confirmed this on the Victron forums)

So assuming 100% MPPT efficiency, and assuming your batteries are charging at 14.4 volts, your max output wattage is 14.4 volts X 50 amps = 720 watts. So, it's possible that you can get 720 watts out of the possible 760 watts your panels will product. So, that loss of 40 watts is not a big deal, especially since the angle of the sun and the time of the day are going to cut back on the energy reach the solar panels.
Thus, it's going to be a a fairly rare situation that your solar panels are going to be putting out more power than your 50 amp solar charger can process.

[scdock]

Jimmer , Thanks for the additional details. It sounds like I'll be in a good place, but 4 panels will be the max limit unless I add another controller.

[tonygoncalves]

The other limit is the 100V input to the Victon MPPT. If you wire all four panels in series, depending on the panel specs, you be close to hitting 100V on open circuit? If you go over 100V, it could fry the controller. Keeping it all in series/parallel will keep you within specs for both amps and volts from the panels.