Electronic – How to efficiently charge 48V battery-motor system with solar panels

batterieschargermotormpptsolar cell

I'm wondering how to efficiently charge and use the following system with standard 18V solar panels:

  • 48V lead-acid battery
  • 1kW electric motor

To charge the battery with either PWM or MPPT, the solar panel voltage should be more than 48V, if I understand correctly. Thus I can either boost the voltage to more than 48V (inefficient), or connect multiple solar panels in series (e.g. 3x18V=54V). The panels will not necessarily be oriented in the same direction, and shadows may be cast on individual panels, so I guess connecting them in series will make the whole array highly sensitive to the environment.

Alternatively, would changing the battery-motor system be an option? The 48V battery is made up of 4x12V packs, so I could connect them in parallel to form a 12V system that could easily be charged with the 18V panels. But I guess I'd require a new motor, right?

Any tips are appreciated!

Best Answer

After the discussion in the comments above and asking some electrical engineers, I decided to go with the following setup:

  • leave the 48V battery-motor setup as it is
  • wire three 18V panels in parallel. While this is not optimal, the change in voltage due to shading or orientation should be much lower than the loss in current, so the total power output should be higher than wiring them in series
  • use a MPPT boost solar charge controller that will handle the panel output, boost the voltage to the level needed for battery charging and prevent overcharging of the battery

This is the low-cost version that will hopefully still yield good results. After construction and testing, I'll update you how well it works (or not).