Solar Battery Charging

Step 9 I want more current!

More current would allow you to charge your batteries faster. To double the current output you need to connect the solar panels in parallel. Connect the positive terminal of one panel to the positive terminal of the other panel and also connect the negative of one to the negative of the other. This will give you a max rating of 3V at 300ma. The circuit diagram below shows the solar cells connected in parallel. You can see that the voltage is the same at 3V but now the current will be doubled.

Comments

[rcisneros]

Question. What happens if the solar cells aren't the same? Or one solar cell goes into shade before the other? So you could end up with a cell pumping out let's say 2v @ 20mA and the other 5v @ 100mA. Would they just add up to a 120mA output ? Wouldn't the flow change direction and head into the 2v 20mA cell?

[mdelzo]

what happens if i get a solar panel of 4V and I have 4 AA batteries in series. would it charge?or go the opposite way? tks :)

[ebendersun]

No, you need a higher voltage panel to charge 4 AA's in series. Here at Sundancesolar.com we recommend at least 6V to charge 4 batteries.

[carlose]

What if you use both connections, parallel and then in series? would that improve charging times? or charge more batteries? or both? or none in the worst case escenario

[Joenavy85]

yes you can wire 4 cells in a series/parallel layout. wire them in pairs first (in series) then wire the 2 sets in parallel.