Battery located far from solar panel and load

[putrar]

Hi all,
I have a question here. if the battery is far away from the load, solar charger and the solar panel, let's say 20 meters away. Can I drive the load directly from the solar charger's BAT terminals (top setup) or I need another set of wires connecting the batteries to the load (bottom setup)?There shouldn't any significant difference but I never see this kind of setup on the internet.Thanks.





                         

[System Error Message]

distance doesnt matter, the resistance matters. Get the cable you want to use and measure the resistance. Cable thickness matters for amps and distance and for that you may need to look up a chart.

[Ian.M]

The only other issue would be loop inductance - minimise the loop area!.  If either the load or the solar controller uses PWM, a big, high ripple current electrolytic cap where the wires join may help - the controller *should* have enough bulk output decoupling not to need it, but caps cost money so cheaper designs may have cut corners here.

[madalf71]

Hi Putrar

It's not good to use the regulator terminals as the current draw from your loads may exceed the terminal design, in most setups it does.
So best to run to a separate terminal block, then divide from there to your load and battery bank
Note, some regulators have a load terminal that you can use for this very reason.

Other considerations on long cable length, volts drop under load can give incorrect readings to the regulator from the battery bank.
So look for a regulator with voltage sense terminals. In this case there are separate wires just to monitor the voltage. As they only measure voltage their volts drop is minimal. As an example, If you have at look at the link for this Morningstar you'll see the inner two terminals say "sense".
http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/prostar/

Hope this helps, good luck with your system.