I have two Massimo 300-Watt Solar Panels and I want to charge my SOK SK12V206P Marine 12V 206Ah LiFePO4 Battery using my Victron Energy BlueSolar MPPT 100/30 Charge Controller. Will my controller work and if so, should I connect my panels in Series or Parallel?
Here are the Massimo 300-Watt Solar Panels specs that I could find:
Output using DC plug - 300W/24V/16.7A (max)
Output using XT60 - 300W/24V/16.7A (max)
These panels should work in either series or parallel. You need 5V above battery voltage to start charging and then 0.5 or 1.0V higher to maintain charging, I can not remember which.
Due to the higher current, lower voltage of these panels I would lean more towards series connection. However, if the panels face different directions or could see different shading then parallel will be better.
Thank you, I ran the MPPT sizing calculator and it said I needed a MPPT 100/50 Charge Controller.
Running at peak 600W you could get 40A into a 12V battery. However, you will not always get peak solar and it is OK to have 30% more panel power than your controller, the 100/30 controller would just limit the max power to 450W. Your choice if you use the existing controller or buy a new one.