Electrical – Connecting power sources in series or parallel

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Basic question:

Lets say i have two power sources, one supplying 1V and 100mA, the other supplying 2V and 200mA

What would be the difference if i connected them in series or in parallel?

As far as i know, connecting them in series would add up the voltage to 3V, but what about the current? And if in parallel, the current would add up to 300mA, but what about the voltage?

But im totally not sure, thats why i came here to ask

Best Answer

If you connected the 1V @ 100mA power supply in SERIES with the 2V @ 200mA power supply, you would have a total of 3 volts. However the current is limited by the power supply with the least capacity, so you could expect only 100mA.

OTOH, connecting two power supplies of DIFFERENT voltages in parallel is an extremely bad idea. The two power supplies will fight with each other and may actually kill each other. NEVER RECOMMENDED.

Even connecting two power supplies of the SAME voltage together is not typically recommended because here in the Real World, they are never EXACTLY the same voltage. Ways around this include using diodes to isolate the power supplies from each other. Or using low-value resistors to provide a "buffer" between each supply and the load.