System Setup Help!!!

[jfs51765]

I am a newbie at solar system and would like to try to install a solar system on my 36volt Cushman GC400 golfcart. I am from the Philippines and our market is flooded with china made equipment's.

I need help on what can i use for my setup, i can't find a 36 volt charge controller either pwm or mppt and what is available here is only 12, 24 and 48 volts charge controller and my golf cart is powered with a 36 volt dc motor.

Can i use 2 charge controllers a 12 and 24 volt charger controller in parallel to produce 36 volts in separate arrays, i have 3 12volt 100ah deep cycle batteries, how much amperage do i need for the arrays and the charge controller to fully charge my 3 12volt batteries on a 5 hour daily average sunlight and how do i wire them if its not too much to ask for.

Thank you in advance for the assistance.

[Amy@altE]

There are charge controllers made specifically for the golf carts. Genasun and Solar Converters make them. Both of them can use a 12V panel and boost the voltage up to 36V. There are online stores who can ship it to the Philippines. You cannot do what you were proposing.

http://genasun.com/products-store/mppt-solar-charge-controllers/golf-cart-solar-charge-boost-controllers/

http://www.solarconverters.com/index.php/products/81-power-tracker-chargers/cv-charge-controllers/107-cv-12-36-4pv

[Mike90250]

I know the Midnight Classic and Morningstar MPPT 60 can charge 36V battery banks.

But you can not put enough PV panels on a cart to do much more than increase your drive time by about 5 minutes a day. Solar panels do not produce near enough power to recharge a golf cart. You need a 2 car carport covered with 20 panels, to recharge a cart in 1 day, and it might take even 2 days.

Sorry

[Amy@altE]

I know the Midnight Classic and Morningstar MPPT 60 can charge 36V battery banks.

But you can not put enough PV panels on a cart to do much more than increase your drive time by about 5 minutes a day. Solar panels do not produce near enough power to recharge a golf cart. You need a 2 car carport covered with 20 panels, to recharge a cart in 1 day, and it might take even 2 days.

Sorry

But the Midnite requires an equal or higher voltage as the battery bank, so it's hard to fit 2 or 3 panels on the roof. Which is why the boosts are nice, you can just use 1 panel. It is not expected to provide all of the power needed, but can extend the charge during the day.

[SunEagle]

But the Midnite requires an equal or higher voltage as the battery bank, so it's hard to fit 2 or 3 panels on the roof. Which is why the boosts are nice, you can just use 1 panel. It is not expected to provide all of the power needed, but can extend the charge during the day.

Sounds great for duffers like me that has to go look for his ball all the time. I probably put on an extra couple of miles on the cart then a golfer that keeps his ball in the fairway.

[Sunking]

You can find them at GenSun. They are called Boost Controllers. But adding a solar panel to a Golf Cart is not going to gain you any meaningful range. A golf Cart Efficieny using 36 DC motors is in the neighborhood of 200 wh/mile. A 200 watt panel is about all you can put on a golf cart with 0 degree tilt angle means at best 400 to 500 wh a day is in full sun all day or 2 or 3 miles range extension. Problem is if you discharge that much in need of 2 or 3 extra miles means you are destroying your batteries.

[russ]

The only good side to having a solar panel on a golf cart is that you an claim to be green

Best plan is to not even connect the panel and just plug the cart in where no one can see - then you have the best of both worlds.

[Mike90250]

You don't use 12V panels on a golf cart.

You use 2, 200w Grid tie panels in series for 60-90VDC. and a conventional MPPT controller.

[jfs51765]

There are charge controllers made specifically for the golf carts. Genasun and Solar Converters make them. Both of them can use a 12V panel and boost the voltage up to 36V. There are online stores who can ship it to the Philippines. You cannot do what you were proposing.

http://genasun.com/products-store/mppt-solar-charge-controllers/golf-cart-solar-charge-boost-controllers/

http://www.solarconverters.com/index...7-cv-12-36-4pv

Thank you for the reply, can you give me an idea what type/specs of panel i should use and i will be asking a friend of mine to get me one of the charger's you provided with the links.

If i can manage to get the genasun or cv12/36 how do i wire it best if i would mount it on top of my golfcart or in the garage roof?

Thank you again for the assistance.

[Sunking]

Thank you for the reply, can you give me an idea what type/specs of panel i should use and i will be asking a friend of mine to get me one of the charger's you provided with the links.

If i can manage to get the genasun or cv12/36 how do i wire it best if i would mount it on top of my golfcart or in the garage roof?

Thank you again for the assistance.

Any Grid tied panel with as high of voltage as possible that fits your cart. That is going to be a single panel of 200 watts or more.