harbor frieght panels

[bajacrazy]

I have a midnight classic 200.I would like to start using this controller now,but my problem is I have some cheap harbor frieght panels for now 4 kits a total of 12 panels, is a total of 180 watts.I know this is over kill for these little panels but I need to run my pond on the side of my house.I see in the wizard set up on the classic 200 that it only goes down to a 60 watt.and not sure what to do or if it is possible to make it work.I will be adding different panels this summer,but would really like to start playing with this new contoller a bit.Again these arethe 45 watt kits 3 panels per kit 15 watts per panel and a total of 12 panels  Rated output 14.v-15w  open circuit voltage 23.5ocv. Any help with this would greatly be appreciated. Unsure about what setting to use on the wizard set up.Please don't beet me up about the panels I know I know,but I was learning. 

[boB]

The wizard is more to tell if you are going to be over voltage at low temperatures and such.
If the Classic came with the setup screen asking for nominal battery voltage and type
of install, Solar, Wind, Hydro, then that's enough to get you going, setup wise.
Otherwise you can just run through the Wizard and answer the questions to get your
battery voltage set up and the mode set to Solar.

OR, you can manually set that up with the MODE menu and go to the Charge menu to set up the voltages.
The 2 finger Vulcan mind meld on power up is the quickest way to go, which has been shipped standard
with the latest software since the beginning of the year.

Your panels will be like one large panel and you can arrange it at about any voltage you want to, which is great.

So, is this a 12V battery then ?

You could arrange your 12 panels in 2 strings of 6 in series for approximately 140 Voc
Or, how about 4 strings of 3 in series for about 70 Voc which would bring the efficiency of
the Classic up a bit which would be good for a lower power application for now.

Either one of those configurations would be great for partial shading tolerance.

boB

[bajacrazy]

Thank you Bob for your reply.Yes this is a 12 volt battery set up,4 deep cycles in total for now.I was thinking of going 6 panels in series and another six in series,then tie the two sets in paralell.I could then just add 90 watt panels to my array and all would be matched fairly close.Again thanks for your patience and help I am still learning and your feedback is greatly appreciated. Darren