Mixing Old And New Solar Panels

And with good reason.

Mixing old and new solar panels.

2020 new solar technology where are we headed. When most people hear the words solar power they instantly think of good ole solar panels on rooftops or in a solar farm in the desert. When you intend to wire two panels produced by different vendors the vendors are not the problem. In fact solar energy accounted for 32 of the new power generation nationally in 2014 exceeding coal and wind energy.

You can mix old with new but know in advance that there will be a potential for trouble as i mentioned before. When connecting modules of dissimilar electrical characteristics in series it is each module s current that plays a heavy role in how the string is going to perform. However those years old components might be listed on energybin. The only way to accomplish this is to use one or more additional charge controllers and combiner boxes where appropriate with the new panels.

Traditional utility scale and rooftop solar panels have dominated the solar market until this point. Westbranch s suggestion of the a b switch is the most practical way of keeping the old one around til there s no more life in it but you will have to remember to monitor both batteries and make sure each gets regular charging. Also read why solar power panels are necessary for you when mixing solar modules is important to remember that it is not the wattage of the modules that is important to consider. So the best approach is to combine the output of the new panels with that of the old panels at the battery bank.

Though mixing different solar panels is not recommended it s not forbidden and things would be ok as long as each panel s electrical parameters voltage wattage amps are carefully considered. Installers seeking older replacement panels to match the panels in existing solar arrays might be hard pressed to find them with distributors. Though mixing different solar panels is not recommended it s not forbidden and things would be ok as long as each panel s electrical parameters voltage wattage amps are carefully considered.