Understanding your energy needs
Before you can make a choice, you need to go over the energy needs of your home. Greater needs mean choosing a larger solar system, and different voltages correspond to different usage needs. Because higher voltages tend to come with higher costs, you need to fully consider your needs, otherwise too much voltage will damage your equipment as well as too little voltage to get your equipment started.
What is the difference between 12V, 24V and 48V solar Power systems?
In discussing this we need to understand the relationship between voltage, current and power. According to the formula P (power) = I (current) x U (voltage) you can clearly understand the relationship between the three.
If we need 4800W of power, we need 400A of current for a 12V solar Power system, 200A for a 24V Power system, and only 100A for a 48V PV system. The higher the current, the higher the losses through the circuit and the less efficient the system will be. Obviously, using a 48V PV system will allow the losses in the circuit to be reduced to a much lower level and will be utilized more efficiently.
In addition, solar systems with different voltages will have different energy storage capacities. If each system has an amp-hour capacity of 100Ah, but they have different voltages, then a 12V solar Power system can store 1200Wh of energy, a 24V solar Power system can store 2400Wh of energy, and a 48V solar Power system can store 4800Wh of energy. This means that a higher voltage solar PV system can provide longer usage.
Characteristics of the 3 types of solar Power systems
12V Solar Power System
As a low-voltage system, it is safer because the voltage is lower, which will not cause harm to the human body. Meanwhile, due to the lower voltage, the current of 12V solar power system tends to be smaller than that of other voltage systems, and the smaller current output means that there is lower circuit loss, which makes the whole solar PV system more stable. In addition, low-voltage systems require smaller cables, which can reduce material costs and installation difficulties. However, due to the lower voltage, more solar panels need to be connected in series to reach the required voltage, and the footprint is larger. Therefore, 12V solar PV systems are generally used in scenarios that require low power, such as street lights, camping RVs, or portable solar panels.
24V Solar Power Systems
Like 12V solar power system, it is one of the low-voltage systems, and it won’t cause any harm to human body, but compared to 12V PV system, the voltage is larger, the current is also larger, and the route loss is larger, so you have to use thinner wires to reduce the circuit loss, and compared to 12V PV system, it can carry more high-power equipment, and when you install a 24V solar PV system for your camping RV, it will last longer. , it will last longer.12V PV system is suitable for users with small energy requirements, while 24V PV system is suitable for users with medium energy requirements to use.
48V Solar Power System
Because of his larger voltage, 48V solar Power systems can operate high-power appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators and provide them with a longer duration, so they are often used in off-grid homes or factories. In addition, when you use small voltage panels, you often need to connect the solar panels in series to increase the voltage of the whole system to reach the size you need, however, the smaller the voltage of the panels, the more panels you need to connect, taking up a lot of open space, as well as creating a lot of connection and installation problems. However, with a 48v solar PV system, a lot of space and complicated wiring issues can be eliminated. However, due to the high voltage, there are more safety hazards and higher costs.
Conclusion
For those small 300w,600w or 800w portable solar power devices or solar lights, you can use 12v solar Power system. For those caravan owners considering 1KW, 1.5KW, 2KW, 3KW, you can use 24V solar PV system. And for those off-grid homes and small factories with large energy requirements of 5KW, 10KW, 20Kw, you can use 48V solar Power systems. In short, you must determine what kind of solar Power system to choose according to the daily use and demand, the proper choice will reduce your cost, but also improve the use of solar Power system value, to bring more benefits for themselves.
