I think that this set up well work for higher voltage application to get that extra juice of power from the system, the problem with most PWM controller is that they only step down the voltage to the battery voltage for safe charging and the current remains the same(I mean that is how they work) but with mppt, you get that extra juice by converting that higher voltage to the charging voltage but also increasing the available current, this is why it is more efficient than pwms, in this set up the problem is that the panel produces different voltage as the sun shades changes as to the weather, so you have to constantly change the output voltage of the controller to the working voltage, my suggestion is to choose a step down converter with a constant 12v output, like those from the market with 6v-70v in to stable 12v out, with this the voltage is constant to 12v, and in series with the pwm, the pwm will do the rest providing, LVD and HVD for the battery and load control. This set up also poses an amount of loses, but most converter have 96%+ efficiency so for bigger system, I think its worth try .
On the roof of my van I have a single 320w 40v solar panel. I want to install a dual input DC-DC Alternator and PV charge controller, but none of them take more than 32v max. Is this it a safe solution to install a 48v to 24 step down? Efficiency losses? Will i have losses when I'm not getting much solar in partial shade or cloud cover?
You can install a buck converter in this situation but if you want to maximize efficiency then you will be better off with getting an MPPT scc insted. The buck converter itself has an efficiency of around 90% and it wont function as effectively as an MPPT. So you will be looking at getting only around 70% from your panel. With an MPPT it will be more close to 100%.
Unfortunately, my dear friend. The inverter does a reboot with a low voltage whistle, even without loads, and I tried it myself today With a strong sun on the panel.my panel is 250watt 36v 8ah .the inverter 1k modified sign wave.what is your advice ?
Check out this video where I show how to run a fridge with and without batteries. ruclips.net/video/yyEPNL7Va9o/видео.html Also the modified sinewave inverter will struggle with heavy induction loads as induction loads will work better on puresinewave.
Buck converter voltage was set at 14.2v because I had lithium batteries also in that setup. The trimpot for the amps was left fully open to get the most amount of amps through the setup.
Im not sure about what setup you are talking about but you should be able to run the fridge with one of those panels. Please note to run a fridge directly using solarpanels you can only do it when the sun is shining. Even if a cloud comes over it can shut down the whole system.
Please ask the questions in english. By using google translate I think the answer to this question is... the buck converter connects in series before the pwm scc. This is ideal if you have a lithium ion battery setup as it needs a particular voltage. As for the fridge either you need to use a fridge which runs on DC power or you have to have an inverter to run an AC fridge.
Bro ,i have smu 1230 model purchased 2450rs 😑 it can't push more than 12amps in sunny day of 325watts it mean 160watts pushing to load or battery, what can i do to increase amps 😢 now i cannot afford mppt , shall i add another pwm controller in parallel connection 😑 please bro help with your reply
I think you are talking about smu 1230 solar charge controller by Microtek is a pwm solar charge controller. What is the voltage of your solar panel? If the difference is significantly more than 12V you can try the buck converter and see. But remember, buck converters arent as efficient as MPPT scc. Just see how much it will cost to buy a new panel which can provide the additional amps you require and go for the most cost effective option.
I'm wondering if you don't have enough voltage on the input side. Would it be functional if you use a step up converter to meet the needed voltage. Thanks
That is a good question. I never got to try it. The issue is in theory every additionl step you add you loose around 10% of the energy as these gadgets are only 90% efficient. But the MPPT is rated for around 100%. It will be a good idea to experiment.
You have a 500w solar panel. The 400w and 300w buck converters clearly wont be able to handle it. It would be a good idea to get a proper MPPT charge controller to maximize your power production.
I have a different problem. Using 640wp solar panel. VOC is 25 and, 30amp in total. Also using hybrid PWM inverter with 12v battery. Currently I am getting 18-24amp from solar. Can I use 3 x20amp buck converter parallelly to improve the solar current as input of the hybrid inverter?
What is the VMP?... This is exactly the place where the buck converter will be useful due to the voltage difference, however Im not sure about placing multiple buck converters in parallel. In theory it should work. Please make sure the output voltage of all are equal so that they balance each other.
@@diysustainableliving2774 The VMP is 21v (all 3) and VOC is 25v. If I reduce the voltage I have to make it 15v approx (by buck converter), so my inverter can charge the battery upto 14.6v (the inverter app displaying that). So 21v will be reduced to 15v. Do you think buck converter may increase the current?
I dont think you will get much of a gain here. Please note... buck converters are not as efficient as a true MPPT. Going down from 25 to 12v you should see an increase in amperage but from 21 to 15v the gain most likely will be negligible.
@@diysustainableliving2774 thanks for the reply. I will not invest my time there. But still I will buy a buck converter to run my computer UPS directly from solar. The battery supports 12v 7amp. What voltage and ampere should I set for this?
The additional amps is for the buck converter consumption. It does not enhance the efficiency of the system, it just an additional load for the panel. Better to use two scc in parallel.
no, this is not what is happening. LCD display only consumes about 20 mA, not 250mA . The thing is that his solar charge controller is even worse than the step down module he has bought. I have tested this module , it gives me 92% efficiency on a drop from 43V to 29V . These buck converters are pretty good at AliExpress, Another converter I tested gave me 94%.
@@diysustainableliving2774 there is a very good module you can try, it's code is ZK-SJ20 for 300W and ZK-SJ30 for 700W , uses 8705 IC from Analog Devices , very advanced chip. Costs 18USD for the lowest model. it is not MPPT but they sell it like it wouldbe
@@absolute___zero stupid question :) . This converter has 40v input limit , can i put it to my 2 100w solar panels in series, 19v-5.3a each , but with voc-max voltage of 22v ? I want to lower the voltage to under 30v to ... if this wont work , can tell me the specs of the one you used for this test ? thanks
Yes.... These buck converters can adjust the voltage and amperage. There are two trimpots for that. I have adujuted the voltage side but have always kept the current side at the maximum setting.
@@diysustainableliving2774 ❤️ thank you for the reply brother , I have two inverter which is out of use , I want them to use for my pc with small batteries attached like 7ah or 14ah . With a 12 volt or 24 volt inverter I have .
hi hello,i was watching the way you were connecting the wires ,you connected the output of buck con to the solar panel input of pwm chrge con,and the wires you had in your hand we were unable to determine if this was from your solar panels or was it from the load you had on, because then those same wires you connected to the pwm chrge con Battery output, which will not give you any comparison of with or without the buck con unit, i think you need to revise your method here sorry mate.
Hi.. Thanks for the critical insight... The reason I did the video was to make a point that the buck converter dosnt work like a MPPT charge controller. Thats the point I wanted to make.
I played with a thought, if my solar panel is very far away, I could use a buck converter to boost the voltage to 100v then use another buck converter to lower the voltage back down. But if my charge controller already use a MPPT the MPPT function wouldn't work?
Dont do long distance wiring. Remember... every time the power goes through a device (other than an MPPT) there is a loss of around 10%... So keep it simple.
As long as your buck converters output voltage is set to more than the battery voltage you can make it charge the battery. But please note!!!... what Im showing in this video is that for solar applications it is not going to be helpful if your solar panel voltage is not significantly more than your charging voltage. In that situation an MPPT will be more beneficial.
If you are charging lithium batteries and conscious of over charging, go for buck converter. Your BMS won't be able to charge the battery above buck converter set output voltage. I've not use my 18650 lithium 4S setup for 3 days, just to be sure it won't charge above 16.3V. that is 4V each cells. With the buck converter, all you need is a BMS to support the batteries.
With this setup, I presume you have a diode on the output side of the buck converter to prevent current going back into the buck converter when the panels voltage is lower then the batteries?
Also, wouldn't it be a good idea to add a voltage regulator in between the buck and the battery, to prevent the bms working hard/continuously unnecessarily after reaching 16.8V?
It is not as efficient as an MPPT!... It can give a marginal increase in the voltage if the voltage difference is large. It would more cost effective to just add another panel considering the cost of MPPTs.
@@marine1718 Well according to your panels if you have three of those in parallel you should get 6.6A even on pwm. I think you need to check your wires and connections first. In theory an MPPT should be able to get 10A from those 3 panels at 12v. But just look at the cost. If you are able to get a panel with a higher amp rating for the same cost as the MPPT you will be better off. Remember all electronic components can fail at any time. A solar panel will last much longer than an MPPT! Im just trying to point the cost benefit here.
Hello guys! I have an inverter with capacity (4.3/5Kw, 18A and 25.6V) , 6 solar panels with capacity (460w, 10.70A and 42.8V). I need to step down (downgrade) my Voltage from 42.8 to 25.6 of my inverter to make my solar system work. This is something I can achieve with a Dc to dc Stepdown Converter? If yes, I can use this Dc to dc Stepdown Converter to make solar panels voltages compatible within a parallel configuration of my panel when they have different voltages (e.g. 4 panels at 42.8V and 2 panels at 24V)
The best Dc to Dc step down converter you can get is a good MPPT solar charge controller which can handle a good load of amps. Parallel the 4 panels with the voltage of 42.8v as there is where you need to efficiently bring down the voltage. The more the difference in the voltage the bigger the loss of energy as heat during conversion. For the two 24v panels a simple PWM scc should be enough.
I am showing that. In most situations the buck converter is not as good as an MPPT. If you want to get the maximum out of your panel you will be better off just getting an MPPT charge controller.
Can I trick the solar charge controller by feeding it with DC power adapter (19V 3A laptop charger) through the buck converter so that solar charge controller think it is a solar panel and charge the battery. Because, connecting DC adapter directly to the PWM solar charge controller does not charge the battery. I've tried that...
No I dont think that will solve your problem. I think the most likely reason is the output of the dc power adapter. What is the size of your battery? If the output is 19v it can definetly charge a 12v battery but the amps should be adequet for the size of the battery. You dont need a buck converter if you are using a dc power adapter. Just make sure the power output is adequet or let it charge for a longer time.
@@diysustainableliving2774 I have a 12V 7.2Ah VRLA battery. I bought a PWM solar charge controller, because it has battery charging and battery protection features. But since I don't have a solar panel (yet), I was thinking of changing the battery through the PWM solar charge controller by using the laptop charger. Since the SMPS have self regulations of voltage and current, PWM controller cannot recognize the SMPS. That buck converter has CC/CV, and you already connected that to your solar charge controller. I was hoping that same way instead of connecting a solar panel, what if I connect the DC charger to the buck converter? Have you tried that (as an experiment)?...
Im not sure how the laptop charger works. The panel produces a pure dc output. It is at the PWM charge controller that the dc is converted to a high frequency on and off state. If the laptop charger also produces such frequency on the output then the solar charge controller cant adapt accordingly. Before trying the buck converter why dont you add a large capacitor at the dc power adapter output to stabilize any high frequency fluctuations.
It is possible. I connected a laptop adapter (19v 3.6a) to a buck converter and reduced the voltage to 14.4. Then I used this setup to charge a lifepo4 battery (50a). It worked.
Question for you...does it matter if you exceed the watts on a [cc] buck with solar panel? , of course not exceeding the v imput. If I parallel 3 200w panels than my current increases for my buck output... it is a 300W/20A Peak, 15A Sustained. Will use it for a 12v inverter. .or just 12v for small heating element ( to run while there's sunshine. These are extra panels outside of my existing system.. I could buy a cheap pwm but they have there limits and this way I don't have to invest in a battery.
If the output exceeds 20A. It has a high chance of burning out. I guess you can add one for each panel and parallel the output. But best will be to get a good MPPT SCC
Nice video. My question to this is that, does the dc buck converter don't suffer from converter collapse, in which when the batterys caoacity is large and the converter will draw more power than the solar panel produces? Does the PWM prevent converter collapse by regulating the charging voltage and current? That's the only question I had by the way this set up seems to be more efficient than using only PWM alone, cause pwm in their nature only steps down the voltage to the battery s charging voltage without converting that excess voltage to usable current, If the panels are producing 18v at 5amps, it will only step down the voltage to lets say 13v for charging a battery, and the current remains the same which is 5 amps, this set up enhances efficiency by the bucks converter converting the excess voltage (14vto 18v) to usable current, adding some usable current to charge the battery, in this demonstration your meter shows a current increse of .2amps, about 3watts of incresed power, not bad at all, and it will increase voltage increases. Good work, my only question to this, is that does the buck converter didn't suffer from converter collapse?
Hi!… Im not sure what you mean by buck converter collapse. But what happens when I connect a large load directly to the buck converter is that it draws the input side voltage ( the panel voltage) down drastically below the maximum power point. This reduces the efficiency. Thats why buck converters are not a replacement for MPPT charge controllers. However lets say you have a panel which produces 30V and you want to use it in a 12v system then you may see a benefit but as seen in the video when I am using a 18v panel the improvement is almost negligible.
@@diysustainableliving2774 yup, that moment when you directly connect the load to the buck converter and it drops the input voltage down is what I am referring to as converter collapse, and when the load connected to the buck demands more power than the solar panel is producing the whole system collapse and shuts down. You have my point, my question is when you connect that same load through the PWM NOT Directly to the bucks ouput, does the input voltage still go down or it still remains the same and only draw the available current that the buck can present to the PWM? Coz if that's true, the pwm solves the issue converters drawing more power than the panels can produce by directly charging the battery with buck converters from solar panels. Please verify my point thanks
Nope... The PWM will not help you in this situation. The PWM works like a high frequency switch. When the battery/load side voltage is low it just keeps the circuit open. However when it exceeds the fully charged voltage eg 14.4v then the frequency of how long it keeps the circuit open goes down untill it fully closes the circuit. There is no way that this will prevent converter collapse.
@@diysustainableliving2774 but how will you able to charge your battery without that converter collapsing? Does the charging current of your battery do not exceed the solar panel is providing so it doesn't collapse, have you tried charging a much greater capacity battery to see if the converter collapse will still occur? Thanks for your response.
Its like this. The battery voltage in the discharged state is 12.0v. In the fully charged state it is 12.8v and the voltage used to charge the battery is 14.4v. So all I have to do is adjust the buck converter output voltage to 14.4v to act like a charger.
i have a question. regarding the comparison, why is it that the comparison is between the output efficiency of using a step down converter and the direct output of the solar panel into the output side of the pwm? isn't it more comparable if both setup is wired on the input of the pwm, and not directly to the output of the pwm (first setup)? note: the wire on first setup is on the output or battery side of the pwm, direct from solar panel the wire on the second setup is on the input of the buck converter, then from buck converter into the input of the pwm
You have a good eye!.... The reason is that I need to compare immediate results to make the test more accurate. Even if a tiny cloud crossed the suns path the values tend to vary a lot. If I got a significant difference like an MPPT I could have easily taken my time. But it is not working like that. Because of this I had to keep the buck converter connected at all times. I only have one buck converter with me and I dont know what will happen if I connect the solar panel directly to the output side of the buck converter. I dont want to destroy it. And besides the pwm charge controller dose nothing but act like an on off switch. So connecting to the input or battery out side is the same!
@@diysustainableliving2774 thank you for the explanation sir. I'm currently building my powerbank as of the moment. Hopefully I can also conduct the same experiment next time, I have a theory that the efficiency of the buck converter and the pwm charger will vary more noticeable if both are done with pwm inputs.. I'll share my results also to you sir as this is very interesting topic for me. Thank you again
Good luck with your experiments. The only place where I assume the buck converter will work by increasing the amps is when you use a higher voltage eg: 40V panel for a 12v system. Otherwise its not worth it. You would be better off with an MPPT charge controller.
Asked about: XL4016 How to connect 2 pv panels in parallel (170Wp 30-35V) under the XL4016 and connect the XL pump to the pond 12V 19W ... without a battery, will it work on a sunny day?
If you have one 170w panel it will certainly run a 19w pump without a battery! And yes the XL4016 module which is capable of handeling 8A should easily work with the 19w pump.
@@diysustainableliving2774 because I want to use them for other tests by the way. I have a UPS + 75Ah battery. It is powered by the gate drive. I want to be able to power it off grid. These panels are used and I can buy them very cheaply. In addition, with large oversizing, the pump would work on a less sunny day.
Great... Make sure the output load is within your step down converters rating. Those panels can produce a large ammount of power at the output that it might overload the buck converter. Eg: If you connect it to a battery 2 panels will definetly fry the 8A buck converter. Connecting to a small load such as a 19w pump wont harm it.
@@diysustainableliving2774 yes, but can I adjust the output current to a minimum? Is there a risk that the voltage or current at the output may ripple if the voltage or current at the input fluctuates?
From solar panel power goes to the Buck converter and from there to the battery. If there is not a significant difference from the panel voltage to the battery you are not going to see any significant improvements. This is not going to acheive the values you wll find on an MPPT.
Thank you for your vid. My Solar panel outputs 22 volts. I am using the same charger controller as you. But 17 volts breaks through the charge controller .. it may ruin the 12 volt battery .. Would this Buck Converter help bring the voltage down, to protect teh battery. Thank you for your help Namaste
These pwm solar charge controllers do a pretty good job of limiting the charge to 14.4v. But when you check it may go up to around 14.6v on the multimeter. Lead acid batteries can tolerate this for a short period. But in the long run it can lead to excess gassing and can cause reduced fluid levels that can, if not corrected early, damage your battery. So in such a situation if your battery frequently reaches full charge you can use this to limit the voltage to 14.4v or 14.3v to reduce fluid losses. I use this in my Lithium - Lead hybrid battery setup. Here I limit the voltage at 14.2v
I bought a 12 to 24 volt to 12 volt 100 watt buck converter for my 100 watt solar panels. I think I can use it to directly power a 12 volt 100 watt rice cooker. My rice cooker says it can be powered by 12 volts to 24 volts though so maybe it can be used directly with a 100 watt panel without the converter. It contains a fuse though so I`m not sure if that would overload it and blow the fuse.
A 100w panel should have a voltage rating of 18.5v. So this should be well within the rice cookers voltage requirement. BTW what is the rice cookers power rating? 100W is a bit too small! And how many 100w panels do you have?
@@diysustainableliving2774 I have three 100 watt glass panels and seven of the folding portable panels between 20 and 60 watts for USB devices. I`ve been buying one 100 watt panel each month because in the future I`ll be living in a large camper trailer and if the Sun is good there I plan to buy LiFePo4 batteries and build a system to power a small air conditioner. Right now I`m using two 700 watt Bluetti EB70 power stations to run a small AC refrigerator and a small freezer during power outages. I also have a Rockpals and a Golabs that are both 300 watts and they all work as a team to keep lights, fans, and radios going too. We have bad hurricanes and other storms here. I was very skeptical about the rice cooker but they work incredibly well. Mine can cook rice in about 35 minutes with my portable power stations and can boil eggs too. The display on the power stations shows the devices use about 95 watts. I bought two of them. This is the name on Amazon: Electric Rice Cooker 12V 100W 1.3 L Electric Portable Multifunctional Rice Cooker Food Steamer Food Steamer for Car for Cooking Soup Rice Stews(green)
Wow great!.... I think in your case you since you will be needing a lot of power it will be good if you could get a powerful MPPT charge controller. The buck converter can be useful in certain situations but I think in your case you will be better off with an MPPT controller. Im sure you can still find plenty of uses for the one you have already got!
It wont improve efficiency... As I showed in this video it dosnt provide a significant boost in power. For that you will need an MPPT charge controller. But for a 30w panel Ill suggest you buy a nother panel to increase the power as the cost of the panel is cheaper than an mppt scc.
This buck converter is rated upto 40v but should be able to handle the 44v panel. Although it might work better than a PWM charge controller alone the efficiencies are not comparable to an MPPT charge controller. If you can afford an MPPT then go for it. If not then this buck converter should be enough to serve the purpose in your situation.
The buck converter efficiently reduces the voltage, at the same time if the power input is high it will increase the amperage on the output side. 375w panel theortically can cause the amps on the output side to go above 20A. If this happens the 20A buck converter will get destroyed. In that situation you could try with a larger buck converter or two 20A buck converters in parallel.
Hello, Thank for the tutorials you give us. Please can you work it out for me, what buck converter will I need to use with an PMPP 250Wp, UMPP 30.70v, UDC 37.80v, IMPP 8.18A, ISC 8.71A Solar panel? I want to use them to run a 125w freezer in case of emergency with inverter.
The buck converter I show in my video is 20A one. So if you are going for a 12v setup you will be maxing out this one. (Theorotical maximum power 250w÷12v= 20A. You wont get this amount of power in real life but you might get more than 15A since the voltage of your panel is 30V!) So make sure you use a cooling fan in this case. If you are using it to drop the voltage to 24v then there wont be an issue. You can use this buck converter without the fan.
Yikes!... first is it solar power 450v or from a battery? If it is solar you will need an MPPT that can handle that voltage. BTW.. why would you want to reduct voltage from 450 to 24v? It might be easier to come down from 450v DC to 220v AC.
Yes you can use the buck converter in such a situation but keep in mind, the power output will vary through the day and if a cloud passes over it can lower the panel output as well. Thats why a battery or supercapacitor will help bridge these gaps.
Yes.. That is one of the best uses for the buck converter. It will stabilize the voltage but it wont give a significat increase in power. If you want to get the maximum out of your panel then use a MPPT charge controller.
@@diysustainableliving2774 trying to set mine up for a step-down from a 24v panel to 24v batteries then to 12v bank...hopefully it will work when finished...if not I'll probably go with the lm317 approach...
Lm317 can only handle 1.5A. It will be better if you go with one of those high power buck converters instead of using batteries in the middle. The one I am demonstrating is 20A. If you have a 24v panel the buck converter should be able to give more amps at 12V than what the panel outputs.
pretty sure the charge controllers already have this incorporated.. well the not super cheap eBay ones do. the charge goes into the charge controller and you can set the voltage that comes out the other end .. l
Well as you said... It is the MPPT charge controllers that have this function. PWMs can adjust the voltage by increasing or decresing the frequency it switches on and off.
Hello, would the 12 v coming from converter still give the charge controller enough voltage to charge a battery? Does need around 14 volts to charge correctly?
To charge a 12v battery in bulk phase you need 14.4v. You cannot charge at 12v. My buck converter is set just above 14V. The point of this video is to show that the buck converter is not going to work as an MPPT controller in most cases.
Just to clear up a few things per the comments. An MPPT controller does use Buck conversion, But that's only a piece of the entire MPPT controller. Only using a Buck converter is like having computerized fuel injection on a car, except you only have the injectors and no real control over them. It's rather pointless. I have a Drok buck converter connected to a small panel. To get anything meaningful out of it you have to constantly BabySit the potentiometers. If the solar exposure drops, the voltage will collapse to the battery level. You can dial it back to the MPPT voltage of the panel but it is Tricky to do. As the Solar exposure increases, now you have to change things again. As your load demand changes the voltage can collapse (perhaps you decided to charge your phone also). Now you are babysitting the potentiometers again. As the charged battery voltage rises, this will effect the input voltage of the panel also- sending it too high based on low amps being drawn. This requires more adjusting. A real MPPT controller automatically makes changes based on what is happening at Both Ends. Just because it uses Buck Conversion to do so, doesn't mean it's just a cheap adjustable Buck Converter! In short, these buck converters do not work well in the least as Solar Charge Controllers. I would bet most people would be better off just using a PWM controller, which is what these buck converters amount to (now with increased self load due to adding things into the chain) unless you constantly babysit them. If you have enough solar, you probably would not have to babysit one as much because you would have more power leeway. But, in that case you would then have to worry about blowing up a cheaply made buck converter with too many top input watts. In short, I'll stick to my real MPPT controller. Where these adjustable Buck Converters Shine is when you connect one to your battery and use it to change the voltage to what is required by your device to charge. They work well this way because they are then receiving Constant Voltage Constant Amps. I use one of these Buck Converters to change 12.6 volts to 3 volts for use with a AA battery charger off my solar bank. But, the bank is being charged with a real MPPT controller.
@@diysustainableliving2774 The better cheap solution would be one of those modules that attempt to keep the panels voltage at around 17-18 volts. It's not really MPPT and the gains are still questionable vs PWM, especially on lower wattage panels. Like on the panel I have the Drok Buck on, I calculated the difference at like 10% IF I constantly babysat the controls and IF the solar exposure is great enough to even provide enough power to ride it back to 17.5 volts panel side (definitely not when shady). That 10% would make a bigger difference on a giant array, but one of these cheap Adjustable Buck Converters would likely overheat and explode if you put that amount of watts through it. If you had a lot more panel voltage -36, 48 it would be easier to control which is exactly the same thing manufacturers of MPPT controllers will tell you, "don't expect much gain if you don't have high panel volts."
Ya.... One cheap way is to add another panel but especially in places like the UK it would be best to get a good MPPT to get the maximum power out of your existing panel set up.
In the description, I see this "buck converters can't hold the panel voltage at its maximum powerpoint". Could you please explain what you mean by that sentence
To extract the maximum power from your panel the panel side voltage has to be held at its maximum power point to give you the maximum power at the output. MPPTs are capable of doing that thereby giving you higher amps than a pwm controller. But buck converters depending on the energy available pull down the voltage. Thus you are not able to get the best output like an MPPT. It might be helpful if there is a big difference in voltage eg. 40v to 12v.
You mean instead of a battery? Certainly... but when a cloud covers your panel whatever you are running will shutdown. It is always better to add at least a small battery to your setup to ensure there is enough predictable power when you need it.
Hello Sir. It's an amazing video. I have some doubts can you please clear that for me? Q.1 - which buck converter is appropriate for 330W solar panel? Q.2 - Is it safe to connect the output of buck converter directly in inverter for direct use?
Sorry for the late reply. Your comment was held up in the review section. Answer to q1- you will need a buck converter that can handle 330w eg. either 2 x 20A buck converters in parallel or one that is rated above 30A. q2- please check out the video where I run my fridge with batteries and without batteries!
Your buck shouldn't drop in voltage to battery voltage when charging. I charge my batteries when it's not sunny with the buck and not the pwm charger. There is always a fair increase in current. But I'm using 24v (37v) panels. As we know the difference in voltage makes for amps, so you'd never get much for the 2 volts or so from a 18v (16v) panel.
@@diysustainableliving2774 don't forget depending on the battery type and SOC the current can be very different. - ohm's law will give the voltage to amp conversion. Basically if I have 20v 5 amps and I want 10v I could get 10v 10amp. Realistically probably about 8.7 amp. Or worst case 6.25amps. The other factor is battery state, after 80% charge, you can drop to around 2 or less amps, and it get slower the more the battery is charged. Regardless of the amps on the input or gained in conversion.
Yes you are correct. The point of this video is to show that buck converters are not equevalent to MPPTs. And it might not be worth it at all depending on the system.
@@diysustainableliving2774 they can be if you pull down the voltage to the vmp. I find they don't, there a little over and require 'tuning' which is what the mppt does. Mppt are not a magical fix all. There just a buck with variable resistors that micro controlled to do the math.
@@diysustainableliving2774 you were not comparing the buck converter with an mppt though, you was using a pwm controller, I have one of them and they are crap, the only disadvantage of using the buck converter on its own is if the transistor was to blow it would send the full panel voltage to the battery, the way you wired it up with the pwm after the buck is the safest way to do it since it will go into pwm mode if there is high voltage on the input
First I didnt want to connect my panels output to the buck converter output side. Second is that I didnt want the solar charge controller further downgrading my solar panel output for the test as this is a test comparing direct solar panel output vs buck converter output. I wanted to see whether there is a very significane improvement in the buck converter. The solar charge controller function is to block direct solar panel power to the buck converter output.
@@diysustainableliving2774 not good practice if you connect the solar panel directly to the battery. the comparison must be with or without buck converter but both with the presence of the scc.
As I mentioned I didnt want to put the direct solar power to the output side of the buck converter. I know that I could have just removed the buck converter and done it as how you said. But if I were to remove the buck converter and put it back the results cannot be comparable as the solar power varies with the clouds. And even in this case the difference is so minute that in this setup with a panel producing 18.8v at maximum pp the buck converter is not as good as an MPPT scc!
The issue is, as long as the voltage difference is not very significant you wont get a significant improvement in amps, like an MPPT. MPPT sccs are better in the case of solar panels.
Yes I also realized it only after I bought and tested it. But it has one benefit that might be of use. By having control of the output voltage you can use this as a charge controller for lithium cells. Im currently testing this and the voltage regulation is good.
@@diysustainableliving2774 please sir at what output voltage is good to charge a 2pcs of 12v 100ah lithium battery pack that is using for 24v inverter system? (Please am confused since each battery is using 12v bms system)
Check out this video on How to make a solar generator for your house! ruclips.net/video/MatDLcJ1Eio/видео.html
I think that this set up well work for higher voltage application to get that extra juice of power from the system, the problem with most PWM controller is that they only step down the voltage to the battery voltage for safe charging and the current remains the same(I mean that is how they work) but with mppt, you get that extra juice by converting that higher voltage to the charging voltage but also increasing the available current, this is why it is more efficient than pwms, in this set up the problem is that the panel produces different voltage as the sun shades changes as to the weather, so you have to constantly change the output voltage of the controller to the working voltage, my suggestion is to choose a step down converter with a constant 12v output, like those from the market with 6v-70v in to stable 12v out, with this the voltage is constant to 12v, and in series with the pwm, the pwm will do the rest providing, LVD and HVD for the battery and load control. This set up also poses an amount of loses, but most converter have 96%+ efficiency so for bigger system, I think its worth try .
Yep true.... the ones with higher voltage panels.
On the roof of my van I have a single 320w 40v solar panel. I want to install a dual input DC-DC Alternator and PV charge controller, but none of them take more than 32v max. Is this it a safe solution to install a 48v to 24 step down? Efficiency losses? Will i have losses when I'm not getting much solar in partial shade or cloud cover?
You can install a buck converter in this situation but if you want to maximize efficiency then you will be better off with getting an MPPT scc insted. The buck converter itself has an efficiency of around 90% and it wont function as effectively as an MPPT. So you will be looking at getting only around 70% from your panel. With an MPPT it will be more close to 100%.
Thank you!
Can step down buck converter power on the inverter without battery ..direct from solar cell?
Yes that can be done. But the power won't be stable like for example when you are running a load and a cloud comes over!... Everything will stop.
Unfortunately, my dear friend. The inverter does a reboot with a low voltage whistle, even without loads, and I tried it myself today With a strong sun on the panel.my panel is 250watt 36v 8ah .the inverter 1k modified sign wave.what is your advice ?
Check out this video where I show how to run a fridge with and without batteries.
ruclips.net/video/yyEPNL7Va9o/видео.html
Also the modified sinewave inverter will struggle with heavy induction loads as induction loads will work better on puresinewave.
Sir if you adjust your buck converter... What is the exact volts ? And exact Amp adjustment
Buck converter voltage was set at 14.2v because I had lithium batteries also in that setup. The trimpot for the amps was left fully open to get the most amount of amps through the setup.
Hello can I use a 1800watts 10V/60V to 12V/90 step up converter to run a fridge without batteries?
I have 2x550 watts JA solar panels
Im not sure about what setup you are talking about but you should be able to run the fridge with one of those panels. Please note to run a fridge directly using solarpanels you can only do it when the sun is shining. Even if a cloud comes over it can shut down the whole system.
Agr pwm cntroler se buck convrter ko connection krle tw kya fridge chalega inverter fridge....without batter
Please ask the questions in english. By using google translate I think the answer to this question is... the buck converter connects in series before the pwm scc. This is ideal if you have a lithium ion battery setup as it needs a particular voltage. As for the fridge either you need to use a fridge which runs on DC power or you have to have an inverter to run an AC fridge.
I want to run an inverter off panel and Buck converter during day and charged battery bank at night. Possible??
Solar cell as transfer switch??
Please watch my video on how to run a fridge with and without batteries. There I am showing how to run a fridge with direct solar power.
Bro ,i have smu 1230 model purchased 2450rs 😑 it can't push more than 12amps in sunny day of 325watts it mean 160watts pushing to load or battery, what can i do to increase amps 😢 now i cannot afford mppt , shall i add another pwm controller in parallel connection 😑 please bro help with your reply
I think you are talking about smu 1230 solar charge controller by Microtek is a pwm solar charge controller. What is the voltage of your solar panel? If the difference is significantly more than 12V you can try the buck converter and see. But remember, buck converters arent as efficient as MPPT scc. Just see how much it will cost to buy a new panel which can provide the additional amps you require and go for the most cost effective option.
I'm wondering if you don't have enough voltage on the input side. Would it be functional if you use a step up converter to meet the needed voltage. Thanks
That is a good question. I never got to try it. The issue is in theory every additionl step you add you loose around 10% of the energy as these gadgets are only 90% efficient. But the MPPT is rated for around 100%. It will be a good idea to experiment.
My solar panel is 500watts... What should i use buck converter sir
There is 400W 15A and 300W 20A
You have a 500w solar panel. The 400w and 300w buck converters clearly wont be able to handle it. It would be a good idea to get a proper MPPT charge controller to maximize your power production.
Thanks@@diysustainableliving2774
I have a different problem. Using 640wp solar panel. VOC is 25 and, 30amp in total. Also using hybrid PWM inverter with 12v battery.
Currently I am getting 18-24amp from solar.
Can I use 3 x20amp buck converter parallelly to improve the solar current as input of the hybrid inverter?
What is the VMP?... This is exactly the place where the buck converter will be useful due to the voltage difference, however Im not sure about placing multiple buck converters in parallel. In theory it should work. Please make sure the output voltage of all are equal so that they balance each other.
@@diysustainableliving2774 The VMP is 21v (all 3) and VOC is 25v. If I reduce the voltage I have to make it 15v approx (by buck converter), so my inverter can charge the battery upto 14.6v (the inverter app displaying that). So 21v will be reduced to 15v. Do you think buck converter may increase the current?
I dont think you will get much of a gain here. Please note... buck converters are not as efficient as a true MPPT. Going down from 25 to 12v you should see an increase in amperage but from 21 to 15v the gain most likely will be negligible.
@@diysustainableliving2774 thanks for the reply. I will not invest my time there. But still I will buy a buck converter to run my computer UPS directly from solar. The battery supports 12v 7amp. What voltage and ampere should I set for this?
Usually lead acid batteries need a charging voltage of 14.4v. Just make sure this dosent affect the UPS inverters voltage limits.
The additional amps is for the buck converter consumption. It does not enhance the efficiency of the system, it just an additional load for the panel. Better to use two scc in parallel.
Better to use an MPPT scc as it will keep the panel side voltage at its maximum pp when converting the power.
no, this is not what is happening. LCD display only consumes about 20 mA, not 250mA . The thing is that his solar charge controller is even worse than the step down module he has bought. I have tested this module , it gives me 92% efficiency on a drop from 43V to 29V . These buck converters are pretty good at AliExpress, Another converter I tested gave me 94%.
@@diysustainableliving2774 there is a very good module you can try, it's code is ZK-SJ20 for 300W and ZK-SJ30 for 700W , uses 8705 IC from Analog Devices , very advanced chip. Costs 18USD for the lowest model. it is not MPPT but they sell it like it wouldbe
@@absolute___zero stupid question :) . This converter has 40v input limit , can i put it to my 2 100w solar panels in series, 19v-5.3a each , but with voc-max voltage of 22v ?
I want to lower the voltage to under 30v to ... if this wont work , can tell me the specs of the one you used for this test ? thanks
not working for pwm scc, working only for MPPT
Brother can we use this buck converter with an inverter to charge a 7ah battery by lowering down the amphere to 1amp?
Yes.... These buck converters can adjust the voltage and amperage. There are two trimpots for that. I have adujuted the voltage side but have always kept the current side at the maximum setting.
@@diysustainableliving2774 ❤️ thank you for the reply brother , I have two inverter which is out of use , I want them to use for my pc with small batteries attached like 7ah or 14ah . With a 12 volt or 24 volt inverter I have .
hi hello,i was watching the way you were connecting the wires ,you connected the output of buck con to the solar panel input of pwm chrge con,and the wires you had in your hand we were unable to determine if this was from your solar panels or was it from the load you had on, because then those same wires you connected to the pwm chrge con Battery output, which will not give you any comparison of with or without the buck con unit, i think you need to revise your method here sorry mate.
Hi.. Thanks for the critical insight... The reason I did the video was to make a point that the buck converter dosnt work like a MPPT charge controller. Thats the point I wanted to make.
I played with a thought, if my solar panel is very far away, I could use a buck converter to boost the voltage to 100v then use another buck converter to lower the voltage back down.
But if my charge controller already use a MPPT the MPPT function wouldn't work?
Dont do long distance wiring. Remember... every time the power goes through a device (other than an MPPT) there is a loss of around 10%... So keep it simple.
Hello, i want to use this buck converter to my 60 aH spesification battery, is buck converter still compatible with that ampere?
As long as your buck converters output voltage is set to more than the battery voltage you can make it charge the battery. But please note!!!... what Im showing in this video is that for solar applications it is not going to be helpful if your solar panel voltage is not significantly more than your charging voltage. In that situation an MPPT will be more beneficial.
If you are charging lithium batteries and conscious of over charging, go for buck converter. Your BMS won't be able to charge the battery above buck converter set output voltage. I've not use my 18650 lithium 4S setup for 3 days, just to be sure it won't charge above 16.3V. that is 4V each cells. With the buck converter, all you need is a BMS to support the batteries.
Yes thats exactly what the buck converter is best for.
At what amp ... Did you set the buck converter please?
Thanks your comment save my time
With this setup, I presume you have a diode on the output side of the buck converter to prevent current going back into the buck converter when the panels voltage is lower then the batteries?
Also, wouldn't it be a good idea to add a voltage regulator in between the buck and the battery, to prevent the bms working hard/continuously unnecessarily after reaching 16.8V?
I have imars panels sp 50w have 3 of this have 2.2a at 23.8v only getting 3.7a on pwm controller can I use this dc to DC instead of a mppt controller?
It is not as efficient as an MPPT!... It can give a marginal increase in the voltage if the voltage difference is large. It would more cost effective to just add another panel considering the cost of MPPTs.
@@diysustainableliving2774 is not wort it I nedd mppt
@@marine1718 for the cost of an MPPT you can add another panel!... It will be more benificial for you in the long run.
@@diysustainableliving2774 I'm only getting like 3.5a in pwm controller if I change o mptt I will double that
@@marine1718 Well according to your panels if you have three of those in parallel you should get 6.6A even on pwm. I think you need to check your wires and connections first. In theory an MPPT should be able to get 10A from those 3 panels at 12v. But just look at the cost. If you are able to get a panel with a higher amp rating for the same cost as the MPPT you will be better off. Remember all electronic components can fail at any time. A solar panel will last much longer than an MPPT! Im just trying to point the cost benefit here.
Hello guys! I have an inverter with capacity (4.3/5Kw, 18A and 25.6V) , 6 solar panels with capacity (460w, 10.70A and 42.8V). I need to step down (downgrade) my Voltage from 42.8 to 25.6 of my inverter to make my solar system work. This is something I can achieve with a Dc to dc Stepdown Converter? If yes, I can use this Dc to dc Stepdown Converter to make solar panels voltages compatible within a parallel configuration of my panel when they have different voltages (e.g. 4 panels at 42.8V and 2 panels at 24V)
The best Dc to Dc step down converter you can get is a good MPPT solar charge controller which can handle a good load of amps. Parallel the 4 panels with the voltage of 42.8v as there is where you need to efficiently bring down the voltage. The more the difference in the voltage the bigger the loss of energy as heat during conversion. For the two 24v panels a simple PWM scc should be enough.
What type buck converter to use i have a 270watt solar panel
I am showing that. In most situations the buck converter is not as good as an MPPT. If you want to get the maximum out of your panel you will be better off just getting an MPPT charge controller.
you can put eg 2x 4016 in parallel
Can I trick the solar charge controller by feeding it with DC power adapter (19V 3A laptop charger) through the buck converter so that solar charge controller think it is a solar panel and charge the battery.
Because, connecting DC adapter directly to the PWM solar charge controller does not charge the battery. I've tried that...
No I dont think that will solve your problem. I think the most likely reason is the output of the dc power adapter. What is the size of your battery? If the output is 19v it can definetly charge a 12v battery but the amps should be adequet for the size of the battery. You dont need a buck converter if you are using a dc power adapter. Just make sure the power output is adequet or let it charge for a longer time.
@@diysustainableliving2774 I have a 12V 7.2Ah VRLA battery. I bought a PWM solar charge controller, because it has battery charging and battery protection features. But since I don't have a solar panel (yet), I was thinking of changing the battery through the PWM solar charge controller by using the laptop charger. Since the SMPS have self regulations of voltage and current, PWM controller cannot recognize the SMPS.
That buck converter has CC/CV, and you already connected that to your solar charge controller. I was hoping that same way instead of connecting a solar panel, what if I connect the DC charger to the buck converter? Have you tried that (as an experiment)?...
Im not sure how the laptop charger works. The panel produces a pure dc output. It is at the PWM charge controller that the dc is converted to a high frequency on and off state. If the laptop charger also produces such frequency on the output then the solar charge controller cant adapt accordingly. Before trying the buck converter why dont you add a large capacitor at the dc power adapter output to stabilize any high frequency fluctuations.
@@diysustainableliving2774 thanks!... I'll do some experiments and if I succeed, I'll update you.
It is possible. I connected a laptop adapter (19v 3.6a) to a buck converter and reduced the voltage to 14.4. Then I used this setup to charge a lifepo4 battery (50a). It worked.
Question for you...does it matter if you exceed the watts on a [cc] buck with solar panel? , of course not exceeding the v imput. If I parallel 3 200w panels than my current increases for my buck output... it is a 300W/20A Peak, 15A Sustained. Will use it for a 12v inverter. .or just 12v for small heating element ( to run while there's sunshine. These are extra panels outside of my existing system.. I could buy a cheap pwm but they have there limits and this way I don't have to invest in a battery.
If the output exceeds 20A. It has a high chance of burning out. I guess you can add one for each panel and parallel the output. But best will be to get a good MPPT SCC
Nice video. My question to this is that, does the dc buck converter don't suffer from converter collapse, in which when the batterys caoacity is large and the converter will draw more power than the solar panel produces? Does the PWM prevent converter collapse by regulating the charging voltage and current? That's the only question I had by the way this set up seems to be more efficient than using only PWM alone, cause pwm in their nature only steps down the voltage to the battery s charging voltage without converting that excess voltage to usable current, If the panels are producing 18v at 5amps, it will only step down the voltage to lets say 13v for charging a battery, and the current remains the same which is 5 amps, this set up enhances efficiency by the bucks converter converting the excess voltage (14vto 18v) to usable current, adding some usable current to charge the battery, in this demonstration your meter shows a current increse of .2amps, about 3watts of incresed power, not bad at all, and it will increase voltage increases. Good work, my only question to this, is that does the buck converter didn't suffer from converter collapse?
Hi!… Im not sure what you mean by buck converter collapse. But what happens when I connect a large load directly to the buck converter is that it draws the input side voltage ( the panel voltage) down drastically below the maximum power point. This reduces the efficiency. Thats why buck converters are not a replacement for MPPT charge controllers. However lets say you have a panel which produces 30V and you want to use it in a 12v system then you may see a benefit but as seen in the video when I am using a 18v panel the improvement is almost negligible.
@@diysustainableliving2774 yup, that moment when you directly connect the load to the buck converter and it drops the input voltage down is what I am referring to as converter collapse, and when the load connected to the buck demands more power than the solar panel is producing the whole system collapse and shuts down. You have my point, my question is when you connect that same load through the PWM NOT Directly to the bucks ouput, does the input voltage still go down or it still remains the same and only draw the available current that the buck can present to the PWM? Coz if that's true, the pwm solves the issue converters drawing more power than the panels can produce by directly charging the battery with buck converters from solar panels. Please verify my point thanks
Nope... The PWM will not help you in this situation. The PWM works like a high frequency switch. When the battery/load side voltage is low it just keeps the circuit open. However when it exceeds the fully charged voltage eg 14.4v then the frequency of how long it keeps the circuit open goes down untill it fully closes the circuit. There is no way that this will prevent converter collapse.
@@diysustainableliving2774 but how will you able to charge your battery without that converter collapsing? Does the charging current of your battery do not exceed the solar panel is providing so it doesn't collapse, have you tried charging a much greater capacity battery to see if the converter collapse will still occur? Thanks for your response.
Its like this. The battery voltage in the discharged state is 12.0v. In the fully charged state it is 12.8v and the voltage used to charge the battery is 14.4v. So all I have to do is adjust the buck converter output voltage to 14.4v to act like a charger.
Sen panelden gelen kabloyu pwm girişine bağlasaydın farkı gösterebilirdin.
Thats what I did. I alternated between PWM and through the buck converter and I did it fast to show you the difference which was only 0.2V.
i have a question. regarding the comparison, why is it that the comparison is between the output efficiency of using a step down converter and the direct output of the solar panel into the output side of the pwm? isn't it more comparable if both setup is wired on the input of the pwm, and not directly to the output of the pwm (first setup)?
note:
the wire on first setup is on the output or battery side of the pwm, direct from solar panel
the wire on the second setup is on the input of the buck converter, then from buck converter into the input of the pwm
You have a good eye!.... The reason is that I need to compare immediate results to make the test more accurate. Even if a tiny cloud crossed the suns path the values tend to vary a lot. If I got a significant difference like an MPPT I could have easily taken my time. But it is not working like that. Because of this I had to keep the buck converter connected at all times. I only have one buck converter with me and I dont know what will happen if I connect the solar panel directly to the output side of the buck converter. I dont want to destroy it. And besides the pwm charge controller dose nothing but act like an on off switch. So connecting to the input or battery out side is the same!
@@diysustainableliving2774 thank you for the explanation sir. I'm currently building my powerbank as of the moment. Hopefully I can also conduct the same experiment next time, I have a theory that the efficiency of the buck converter and the pwm charger will vary more noticeable if both are done with pwm inputs.. I'll share my results also to you sir as this is very interesting topic for me. Thank you again
Good luck with your experiments. The only place where I assume the buck converter will work by increasing the amps is when you use a higher voltage eg: 40V panel for a 12v system. Otherwise its not worth it. You would be better off with an MPPT charge controller.
@@manayagabhartwenversonm.7811😂
Asked about:
XL4016
How to connect 2 pv panels in parallel (170Wp 30-35V) under the XL4016 and connect the XL pump to the pond 12V 19W ... without a battery, will it work on a sunny day?
If you have one 170w panel it will certainly run a 19w pump without a battery! And yes the XL4016 module which is capable of handeling 8A should easily work with the 19w pump.
Is the pump 19w or 190w? Why do you plan to connect 2 large panels for a small 19w pump?
@@diysustainableliving2774 because I want to use them for other tests by the way. I have a UPS + 75Ah battery. It is powered by the gate drive. I want to be able to power it off grid. These panels are used and I can buy them very cheaply. In addition, with large oversizing, the pump would work on a less sunny day.
Great... Make sure the output load is within your step down converters rating. Those panels can produce a large ammount of power at the output that it might overload the buck converter. Eg: If you connect it to a battery 2 panels will definetly fry the 8A buck converter. Connecting to a small load such as a 19w pump wont harm it.
@@diysustainableliving2774 yes, but can I adjust the output current to a minimum? Is there a risk that the voltage or current at the output may ripple if the voltage or current at the input fluctuates?
Please share connection diagram...
From solar panel power goes to the Buck converter and from there to the battery. If there is not a significant difference from the panel voltage to the battery you are not going to see any significant improvements. This is not going to acheive the values you wll find on an MPPT.
Can I use 575w panel direct with 24v to 12v Buck converter?@@diysustainableliving2774
You will need a powerful one for that. It depends on the rated power of the buck converter. You cant use a 300w buck converter for a 575w panel.
Thank you for your vid. My Solar panel outputs 22 volts. I am using the same charger controller as you. But 17 volts breaks through the charge controller .. it may ruin the 12 volt battery .. Would this Buck Converter help bring the voltage down, to protect teh battery. Thank you for your help Namaste
These pwm solar charge controllers do a pretty good job of limiting the charge to 14.4v. But when you check it may go up to around 14.6v on the multimeter. Lead acid batteries can tolerate this for a short period. But in the long run it can lead to excess gassing and can cause reduced fluid levels that can, if not corrected early, damage your battery. So in such a situation if your battery frequently reaches full charge you can use this to limit the voltage to 14.4v or 14.3v to reduce fluid losses. I use this in my Lithium - Lead hybrid battery setup. Here I limit the voltage at 14.2v
I bought a 12 to 24 volt to 12 volt 100 watt buck converter for my 100 watt solar panels. I think I can use it to directly power a 12 volt 100 watt rice cooker. My rice cooker says it can be powered by 12 volts to 24 volts though so maybe it can be used directly with a 100 watt panel without the converter. It contains a fuse though so I`m not sure if that would overload it and blow the fuse.
A 100w panel should have a voltage rating of 18.5v. So this should be well within the rice cookers voltage requirement. BTW what is the rice cookers power rating? 100W is a bit too small! And how many 100w panels do you have?
@@diysustainableliving2774 I have three 100 watt glass panels and seven of the folding portable panels between 20 and 60 watts for USB devices. I`ve been buying one 100 watt panel each month because in the future I`ll be living in a large camper trailer and if the Sun is good there I plan to buy LiFePo4 batteries and build a system to power a small air conditioner. Right now I`m using two 700 watt Bluetti EB70 power stations to run a small AC refrigerator and a small freezer during power outages. I also have a Rockpals and a Golabs that are both 300 watts and they all work as a team to keep lights, fans, and radios going too. We have bad hurricanes and other storms here.
I was very skeptical about the rice cooker but they work incredibly well. Mine can cook rice in about 35 minutes with my portable power stations and can boil eggs too.
The display on the power stations shows the devices use about 95 watts. I bought two of them. This is the name on Amazon: Electric Rice Cooker 12V 100W 1.3 L Electric Portable Multifunctional Rice Cooker Food Steamer Food Steamer for Car for Cooking Soup Rice Stews(green)
Wow great!.... I think in your case you since you will be needing a lot of power it will be good if you could get a powerful MPPT charge controller. The buck converter can be useful in certain situations but I think in your case you will be better off with an MPPT controller. Im sure you can still find plenty of uses for the one you have already got!
Nice video, and thanks for the information.
I have three 30watts panels, pls how can I connect the dc converter to improve their efficiency.
Regards
It wont improve efficiency... As I showed in this video it dosnt provide a significant boost in power. For that you will need an MPPT charge controller. But for a 30w panel Ill suggest you buy a nother panel to increase the power as the cost of the panel is cheaper than an mppt scc.
i have 375 watt 44 Volts solar panel...can i charge my 12 volt tubular battery with this buck converter??
This buck converter is rated upto 40v but should be able to handle the 44v panel. Although it might work better than a PWM charge controller alone the efficiencies are not comparable to an MPPT charge controller. If you can afford an MPPT then go for it. If not then this buck converter should be enough to serve the purpose in your situation.
@@diysustainableliving2774 thank you so much for the information
Just make sure the amps are within the rated value. 375÷14=26amps which might burn a 20A buck converter.
@@diysustainableliving2774 i don't know much about it. but the panel gives 9 ampere at it's peak. i've measured
The buck converter efficiently reduces the voltage, at the same time if the power input is high it will increase the amperage on the output side. 375w panel theortically can cause the amps on the output side to go above 20A. If this happens the 20A buck converter will get destroyed. In that situation you could try with a larger buck converter or two 20A buck converters in parallel.
Hello, Thank for the tutorials you give us. Please can you work it out for me, what buck converter will I need to use with an PMPP 250Wp, UMPP 30.70v, UDC 37.80v, IMPP 8.18A, ISC 8.71A Solar panel? I want to use them to run a 125w freezer in case of emergency with inverter.
The buck converter I show in my video is 20A one. So if you are going for a 12v setup you will be maxing out this one. (Theorotical maximum power 250w÷12v= 20A. You wont get this amount of power in real life but you might get more than 15A since the voltage of your panel is 30V!) So make sure you use a cooling fan in this case. If you are using it to drop the voltage to 24v then there wont be an issue. You can use this buck converter without the fan.
So thanks
How to step down dc to dc?
input 450 DC Voltage to output 24 voltage
Yikes!... first is it solar power 450v or from a battery? If it is solar you will need an MPPT that can handle that voltage. BTW.. why would you want to reduct voltage from 450 to 24v? It might be easier to come down from 450v DC to 220v AC.
I use this stepper to operate the inverter without a battery only
Yes you can use the buck converter in such a situation but keep in mind, the power output will vary through the day and if a cloud passes over it can lower the panel output as well. Thats why a battery or supercapacitor will help bridge these gaps.
Can I use 24 Volt Solar Panel with 12 volt Inverter & 12 volt Battery
Yes.. That is one of the best uses for the buck converter. It will stabilize the voltage but it wont give a significat increase in power. If you want to get the maximum out of your panel then use a MPPT charge controller.
Put the buck converter after the solar charger to regulate voltage output
It will produce the same results.
@@diysustainableliving2774 I would think it would be more stable...did you try a capacitor on the input of the buck...
Yes infact I did! :) ... with a 26v 1F size capacitor bank. There was no significant boost when the load is connected.
@@diysustainableliving2774 trying to set mine up for a step-down from a 24v panel to 24v batteries then to 12v bank...hopefully it will work when finished...if not I'll probably go with the lm317 approach...
Lm317 can only handle 1.5A. It will be better if you go with one of those high power buck converters instead of using batteries in the middle. The one I am demonstrating is 20A. If you have a 24v panel the buck converter should be able to give more amps at 12V than what the panel outputs.
pretty sure the charge controllers already have this incorporated.. well the not super cheap eBay ones do. the charge goes into the charge controller and you can set the voltage that comes out the other end .. l
Well as you said... It is the MPPT charge controllers that have this function. PWMs can adjust the voltage by increasing or decresing the frequency it switches on and off.
Hello, would the 12 v coming from converter still give the charge controller enough voltage to charge a battery? Does need around 14 volts to charge correctly?
To charge a 12v battery in bulk phase you need 14.4v. You cannot charge at 12v. My buck converter is set just above 14V. The point of this video is to show that the buck converter is not going to work as an MPPT controller in most cases.
Nice information solar energy
Thanks!
Just to clear up a few things per the comments. An MPPT controller does use Buck conversion, But that's only a piece of the entire MPPT controller. Only using a Buck converter is like having computerized fuel injection on a car, except you only have the injectors and no real control over them. It's rather pointless.
I have a Drok buck converter connected to a small panel. To get anything meaningful out of it you have to constantly BabySit the potentiometers. If the solar exposure drops, the voltage will collapse to the battery level. You can dial it back to the MPPT voltage of the panel but it is Tricky to do. As the Solar exposure increases, now you have to change things again. As your load demand changes the voltage can collapse (perhaps you decided to charge your phone also). Now you are babysitting the potentiometers again. As the charged battery voltage rises, this will effect the input voltage of the panel also- sending it too high based on low amps being drawn. This requires more adjusting.
A real MPPT controller automatically makes changes based on what is happening at Both Ends. Just because it uses Buck Conversion to do so, doesn't mean it's just a cheap adjustable Buck Converter!
In short, these buck converters do not work well in the least as Solar Charge Controllers. I would bet most people would be better off just using a PWM controller, which is what these buck converters amount to (now with increased self load due to adding things into the chain) unless you constantly babysit them. If you have enough solar, you probably would not have to babysit one as much because you would have more power leeway. But, in that case you would then have to worry about blowing up a cheaply made buck converter with too many top input watts.
In short, I'll stick to my real MPPT controller.
Where these adjustable Buck Converters Shine is when you connect one to your battery and use it to change the voltage to what is required by your device to charge. They work well this way because they are then receiving Constant Voltage Constant Amps. I use one of these Buck Converters to change 12.6 volts to 3 volts for use with a AA battery charger off my solar bank. But, the bank is being charged with a real MPPT controller.
Yes... This is exactly what I found out the hard way :)
@@diysustainableliving2774 The better cheap solution would be one of those modules that attempt to keep the panels voltage at around 17-18 volts. It's not really MPPT and the gains are still questionable vs PWM, especially on lower wattage panels. Like on the panel I have the Drok Buck on, I calculated the difference at like 10% IF I constantly babysat the controls and IF the solar exposure is great enough to even provide enough power to ride it back to 17.5 volts panel side (definitely not when shady). That 10% would make a bigger difference on a giant array, but one of these cheap Adjustable Buck Converters would likely overheat and explode if you put that amount of watts through it. If you had a lot more panel voltage -36, 48 it would be easier to control which is exactly the same thing manufacturers of MPPT controllers will tell you, "don't expect much gain if you don't have high panel volts."
Ya.... One cheap way is to add another panel but especially in places like the UK it would be best to get a good MPPT to get the maximum power out of your existing panel set up.
In the description, I see this "buck converters can't hold the panel voltage at its maximum powerpoint". Could you please explain what you mean by that sentence
To extract the maximum power from your panel the panel side voltage has to be held at its maximum power point to give you the maximum power at the output. MPPTs are capable of doing that thereby giving you higher amps than a pwm controller. But buck converters depending on the energy available pull down the voltage. Thus you are not able to get the best output like an MPPT.
It might be helpful if there is a big difference in voltage eg. 40v to 12v.
Thank you
@@diysustainableliving2774 considering an mppt works off a buck converter how can you say the buck converter isnt as good as the mppt?
Thank you for doing this test
Your welcome!
Nice video😍😍🤨👍
Thanks!
sir ask lang pede ba ih direct ang solar dc step down sa ups power supply??
Can you please say that in english. I cant understand the language!
sir can i use dc step down to direct in ups power supply ?
You mean instead of a battery? Certainly... but when a cloud covers your panel whatever you are running will shutdown. It is always better to add at least a small battery to your setup to ensure there is enough predictable power when you need it.
okay thank you sir i subscribe you thank you so much for the information
Hello Sir. It's an amazing video. I have some doubts can you please clear that for me?
Q.1 - which buck converter is appropriate for 330W solar panel?
Q.2 - Is it safe to connect the output of buck converter directly in inverter for direct use?
Sorry for the late reply. Your comment was held up in the review section.
Answer to q1- you will need a buck converter that can handle 330w eg. either 2 x 20A buck converters in parallel or one that is rated above 30A.
q2- please check out the video where I run my fridge with batteries and without batteries!
Your buck shouldn't drop in voltage to battery voltage when charging.
I charge my batteries when it's not sunny with the buck and not the pwm charger.
There is always a fair increase in current. But I'm using 24v (37v) panels.
As we know the difference in voltage makes for amps, so you'd never get much for the 2 volts or so from a 18v (16v) panel.
Yes exactly!... It works well only if there is a large difference in voltage.
@@diysustainableliving2774 don't forget depending on the battery type and SOC the current can be very different.
- ohm's law will give the voltage to amp conversion.
Basically if I have 20v 5 amps and I want 10v I could get 10v 10amp.
Realistically probably about 8.7 amp. Or worst case 6.25amps.
The other factor is battery state, after 80% charge, you can drop to around 2 or less amps, and it get slower the more the battery is charged. Regardless of the amps on the input or gained in conversion.
Yes you are correct. The point of this video is to show that buck converters are not equevalent to MPPTs. And it might not be worth it at all depending on the system.
@@diysustainableliving2774 they can be if you pull down the voltage to the vmp.
I find they don't, there a little over and require 'tuning' which is what the mppt does.
Mppt are not a magical fix all. There just a buck with variable resistors that micro controlled to do the math.
@@diysustainableliving2774 you were not comparing the buck converter with an mppt though, you was using a pwm controller, I have one of them and they are crap, the only disadvantage of using the buck converter on its own is if the transistor was to blow it would send the full panel voltage to the battery, the way you wired it up with the pwm after the buck is the safest way to do it since it will go into pwm mode if there is high voltage on the input
please share schematics...
wrong testing. must be before and after buck converter, not before converter and battery port.
First I didnt want to connect my panels output to the buck converter output side. Second is that I didnt want the solar charge controller further downgrading my solar panel output for the test as this is a test comparing direct solar panel output vs buck converter output. I wanted to see whether there is a very significane improvement in the buck converter. The solar charge controller function is to block direct solar panel power to the buck converter output.
@@diysustainableliving2774 not good practice if you connect the solar panel directly to the battery. the comparison must be with or without buck converter but both with the presence of the scc.
As I mentioned I didnt want to put the direct solar power to the output side of the buck converter. I know that I could have just removed the buck converter and done it as how you said. But if I were to remove the buck converter and put it back the results cannot be comparable as the solar power varies with the clouds. And even in this case the difference is so minute that in this setup with a panel producing 18.8v at maximum pp the buck converter is not as good as an MPPT scc!
@@diysustainableliving2774 use switch
The issue is, as long as the voltage difference is not very significant you wont get a significant improvement in amps, like an MPPT. MPPT sccs are better in the case of solar panels.
👍👍👍👍👍👍
Dont buy this product for.
Solar charge controller, i already checker it.
Its just money wasted...
And thanks for making this video
Yes I also realized it only after I bought and tested it. But it has one benefit that might be of use. By having control of the output voltage you can use this as a charge controller for lithium cells. Im currently testing this and the voltage regulation is good.
@@diysustainableliving2774 am also enjoying it on my lithium batteries, no more over charging
@@Kogi-pastor can it be used in place of bms?
@@emenikeifeanyi3388 no...a bms regulates each bank of cells...this will only regulate total voltage and could lead to runaway...
@@diysustainableliving2774 please sir at what output voltage is good to charge a 2pcs of 12v 100ah lithium battery pack that is using for 24v inverter system? (Please am confused since each battery is using 12v bms system)
Dude trying to turn a pwm into an mppt with a dc to dc LOL Save and buy more panels or batteries dude!
Exactly.... I think adding a panel will be better than buying an MPPT because any electronic component can fail at any time!
@@diysustainableliving2774 Right but what he has there is nowhere near mppt. I went with mppt because i have limited space for battery or panel.
@@diysustainableliving2774 Unless its my mppt then it will never fail. Never be afraid to spend some money if you want something good.
no it wont increase the amps.. should have done this test seems your all set up
That is exactly what I am showing. There is no significant increase in amperage. Only minimal increase if any.
Hi sir your wtsapp numbr
Hi... please ask your questions here. Thanks.