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Really, I was wandering off into the weeds giving that speculation about PWM power loss. I know practically nothing about either type of controller. But I have heard that PWM lose about 25-30%. I have also heard that they are more weather resistant than MPPTs. This is appealing to me. So...

I have heard that li po4s should not be charged at a rate exceeding .5c. I figured .4 is fast enough for me, but with a bit of safety margin.

Yup! That's it. A 20 Amp controller. Not 20 Watts. Those darned units. You've got to watch them carefully or the wrong one will step up and steal the spotlight.

If I could have my way I would charge a 12 V, 100 Amp hour life po4 battery off of a solar panel at about .4c. In this case that would be 40 Amps. So I'm picturing a 100 Watt panel in strong sunshine. The panel is outputting 100 Watts. So 100 Watts divided by 12 Volts would seem to...

Lemme see here.............If I try to see when dividing is appropriate and when multiplying is appropriate, I guess I'd start by imagining an appliance which consumes....let's say......10 Watts of power. If it were to run for one hour, then I would say that it used 10 W * 1 hour = 10 Watt...

I have a forty eight volt system and I'm considering installing a switch on one of the negative to positive jumpers on one of the batteries. I'll hook up everything else first, then use the switch to energize the entire circuit. But I'm also a newbie who doesn't know very much at all and has...

Very cool: Mysterious equipment behavior with a clear, convincing and quick explanation. Wouldn't it be nice if all of our troubles were dealt with so easily?

I think we said the same thing. Though I didn't know the proper abbreviation for 'kilowatt hour'. But I will keep "kWh" in mind.

Excellent! I will definitely make use of his advice.

Since the main topic here is just about buttoned up and put to bed, lemme go off topic before we call it a day. I really am a newbie. Would you double-check my reasoning and my math? I'm picturing a 100 Watt panel in my mind right now. Conditions are perfect so it is generating 100 Watts as...

Perhaps the way to deal with that would be to look for a recognizable brand.........say "Renogy" for instance..........and then look for plenty of positive reviews. Even that might not weed out all of the substandard components. But I guess it's the strategy that I'll follow.

Yup! The verdict is clear. I had a feeling that it was too good to be true. Those panels are only about the size of many 100 Watt panels, if nothing else. I'll purchase something. But when I do it'll be something with more normal rated performance/price ranges. Thanks.

Considering portable solar panels, my rough estimate has been about $100 for a 100 Watt panel. But I'm looking at some panel kits on Amazon at the moment and the price per Watt seems awfully low. I would link to an example right here and now. But I'm unsure of forum rules on such stuff. I'm...

It looks like I went over the character limit in my post above. So here's the rest of it: And then I also bought another inverter a few weeks back. A 48 V, 2000 Watt model. Pure sine wave. This one is meant to power the microwave oven. The reason I chose a 48 Volt model is that I have on...

I have now built two battery/inverter systems of 2000 Watts each. I'll start buying solar panels next. The purpose of the two power stations is mostly kitchen appliances. Of course they'll also power lights in case of power failure on the grid. That's one of the big reasons I've built them...