Amphorous Solar Panels

[lisam50]

Hi everyone. I am a solar panel novice. Have a question about the amorphous solar panels. I have 1 60 watt Kaneka. Can I hookup my panel strait to 12 volt battery, or can I use an inverter? Thanks Lisa:

[Mike90250]

Hi, and welcome.

On the back side of your panel, should be a sticker, that states the voltage and amps that the panel puts out. post that here (take a picture or copy it and type it in)

[lisam50]

Hi: Sticker on back reads Nominal volts 67.0 Nominal amps 0.90

[Mike90250]

Hi: Sticker on back reads Nominal volts 67.0 Nominal amps 0.90

Cool This is a high voltage panel for grid tie applications. You can use a MPPT charge controller to down convert the 67V to 12V for your battery.

http://store.solar-electric.com/mosumpsochco.html

"This will handle up to 200 watts for 12 volt systems, or 400 watts for 24 volt systems. This controller is ideal for those of you that got those high voltage panels at a great price and then found out it was not a 12-volt panel..."

It's max input voltage is 75 volts, so this panel will JUST squeak by the specs for the controller.
There are other charge controllers, but you will find they can't handle 67V , most go up to about 45 or 50V.

Then you can charge your battery. You can either use 12V lights off your battery, or use a small inverter to power a small radio or TV or laptop. With only a 60W panel, you don't have a lot of power to use, but it will get you by with a radio and light for a few hours each evening in an emergency.