scott bendtson

I see what you are saying Steve but the charge controller allows more than ten amps through especially if it's a mppt controler.

Steve from everything I have read what you have said just doesn't make sense to me. Doesn't the charge rate of any lead acid battery bank need/should be 10-13% of the total amperage of the bank. His battery bank total is 400 so charging amperage should be between 40 and 53 amps. So to me it sounds like he is right in the ball park of the total bank charging needs. From what your saying it sounds like if he gets another charge controller it will up his charging amperage, isn't the amperage Dependant on the panels out put not so much the controller (minus inefficiencies with in the system) especially seeing it's a pwm control unit. I'm still learning all this stuff and sometimes I miss key information about how stuff works so please correct me if I'm wrong because I don't want to learn the hard way.

I guess the reason for they Genny would be when we get multiple days of little sun. I was thinking of using the generator to charge the batteries and supply power to the house until they are charged. Luckily I have already planned on not much power usage especially on ac. I will have a propane fridge, hot water, cook top with Wood for heat. As many DC items as possible like water pump, tv and led lights. The inverter would only be used for very intermittent use. I will probably pick up a few more panels soon because they are a great deal. I haven't really thought about wind energy mostly because I have been focused on learning about solar. I did look into small turbines but the reviews on them were not good.

I don't mind paying more for what I need but trying to figure out exactly what I need is the problem.

They are schuco 245 watt 24 volt. Wont the trickle charger take a really long time to charge vs using a higher amperage converter charger?

Oh and the batteries are lead acid and the panels are 24 volt.

Thank you for your replies. I haven't thought about using five different charge controllers and wiring it the way you described. I like that just for the fact if something breaks it's cheaper to replace one of the controllers instead of a large expensive one. I guess I may have worded my question wrong. What I was looking at finding out is what type of charger should I use to top off the batteries or charge them completely when hooked up to a generator. I was looking at inverters/chargers but they are pricey. Just recently I stumbled upon perhaps using a rv converter/charger (converts Genny ac to DC) what would your recommendation be? Im very new to all of this and have been learning allot as I go. Thanks for the help

I am putting together a off the grid solar set up. I'm doing it piece by piece when I find deals. So far I have 1300 watts of panels and 20 225ah 6 volt batteries. I won't be installing these panels until this summer. My question is that I need to charge these batteries while they are in storage and I don't know what charger I should use. I would like to get one that i will use when off the grid to use with my generator. I have been looking at inverter/chargers but My home will have minimal a/c use so I won't need much of an inverter and they are expensive. Could I use a regular household charger if so witch one?

8146 is the model number. It's government surplus so no warranty. They have 180 of them that have been in climate controlled storage no charging still in the boxes. Ii was going to check with a multimeter for state of charge. Should I pass on ones that are below a certain percent?

So I have an opportunity to get a bunch of napa 8146 225ah batteries for 50$ each. They are brand new never used still in boxes. Even though they are new they have been sitting in storage for a year maybe year and half. My question is are they still a good? What should I check when looking at them? I won't be using them till this summer for my off the grid house, should I just wait and get different ones when I need them? I need to make a decision by Friday so any help will be greatly appreciated