Panel direction effect on charge controller

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Bargain Tom

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Can I save money by using a Rover Li 60 Amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller to charge my 48v lead acid battery pack (from a forklift truck) and then fit a single large used non hybrid inverter or multiple small used inverters to convert the surplus DC power to AC. Does this cure the problem of panels facing in different directions or partially shaded panels needing multiple inverters. OR would I need multiple charge controllers for panels facing in different directions.
Can I also charge my vehicle directly from the charge controller without an additional charger
 
"panels facing different directions" - e.g. East, West ? An inverter with two MPPT inputs can take two separate strings of PV array, one string from east facing array, the second string from west-facing for example. Provided all the input specs are honoured of course and you have enough startup voltage from the PV then that would be possible from at I've read here on the forum.

So an MPPT charge controller which could take two separate strings of PV array as inputs, sounds like it might be a possible solution.

It's not considered to be a good idea to combine PV facing in different directions into one string. The MPPT will definitely not give you maximum power output.

Web searching for the Rover Li60 led me to the Renogy website. They look like they supply off-grid kit only?

The rover Li-60 appears to only have one PV input though?
https://uk.renogy.com/rover-li-60-amp-mppt-solar-charge-controller/
Suggest you contact Renogy with your query, they might be able to recommend a different device?
Did you spot this ?
https://renogy.my.site.com/helpcenter/s/article/Charge-Controllers-Overview

Can't comment on the lead acid battery aspect, however I note some comments about charge cycle in the link below, which might open up a line of enquiry for you, looks like some careful battery management is needed.
https://www.victronenergy.com/uploa...-MPPT-75-10,-75-15,-100-15,-100-20_48V-EN.pdf
some info here too
https://anguslifttrucks.co.uk/forklift-batteries-their-maintenance-complete-guide/

What vehicle battery are you trying to charge? EV batteries are typically connected to something like a 7kW charging point. I don't think you'd be able to charge an EV directly from a charge controller

I saw a post here
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/l...t-tech-and-teachings-for-offgrid-solar.33316/about someone using an homemade battery to run their EV. Is this similar to what you had in mind? Might be worth exploring that site a bit. I imagine an MOT inspector might not know quite what to make of it though!

If you want AC output then you need an inverter. And if that AC is not completely off-grid then it needs approval - web search for ENA

Victron do a lot of marine and off-grid kit, and some domestic
maybe something like this would be of interest to you for domestic use...
https://www.victronenergy.com/inverter-charger-mppt/easysolar-ii-gx
A useful tool here for victron kit can be found here
https://www.victronenergy.com/mppt-calculator
Their forum will have something on lead-acid and forklift I expect
https://community.victronenergy.com/index.html

Hope this helps in some way, it's just info I've picked up on various forums, please do your own checking...
 

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