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HOME >> MIXING SOLAR PANELS –

DOS AND DON’TS

Mixing solar
panels – Dos and
Don’ts
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The Secrets to
Connecting Different
Solar panels in Series
or Parallel- The
Definitive Guide
In this article we show you:

The best practices for

mixing different solar
panels
How to squeeze more
solar power by using
different solar panels and
“breaking” the best
practices at the same
time

Let’s get straight to the point.

The basics of
connecting different
photovoltaic panels in
series or parallel
Mixing solar panels of various
voltage or wattage, or
produced by different
manufacturers, is a frequently
asked question by most
DIYers.

Though mixing different solar

panels is not recommended,
it’s not forbidden and things
would be ok as long as each
panel’s electrical parameters
(voltage, wattage, amps) are
carefully considered.

When you intend to wire two

panels produced by different
vendors, the vendors are not
the problem.

The problem is in different

electrical characteristics of
the panels, together with
different performance
degradation.

We put solar panels together

to increase the solar
generated power.

Connecting more than one

solar panel in series, in parallel
or in a mixed mode is an
effective and easy way not
only to build a cost-effective
solar panel system but also
helps us add more solar panels
in the future to meet our
increasing daily needs for
electricity.

How to connect your solar

panels depends on:

The type of your solar

panels system,
The solar power you
want to generate,
The other system
components, such as a
charge controller,
battery, and inverter.

There are two main types of

connecting solar panels – in
series or in parallel. You
connect solar panels in series
when you want to get a higher
voltage.

If you, however, need to get

higher current, you should
connect your panels in
parallel.

Should you need both a higher

voltage and a higher current,
you have to apply both
connection modes, which
means that a part of your solar
panels should be wired in
series, while the remaining
ones are to be wired in
parallel.

The most important to

remember is that both
connection modes provide you
with a higher wattage.

Therefore, if the power output

of a solar panel cannot alone
meet your daily electricity
needs, you should think of
adding more such panels to it,
whether in series or in
parallel.

To get the maximum efficient

solar panel system, however,
you should keep some basic
principles related to
connecting solar panels.

Wiring solar photovoltaic

panels in series

As we said above, when

connecting solar panels in
series, we get an increased
wattage in combination with a
higher voltage.

Such ‘higher voltage’ means

that series connection is more
often applied in grid-tied solar
systems where:

1) the system voltage is often

at least 24 volts, and

2) the solar array output

voltage is fed to an inverter or
charge controller of a typically
higher input voltage
compared to off-grid systems.

Connecting in series means

joining the positive terminal of
a solar panel to the negative
terminal of the next solar
panel until eventually you are
left with one free positive and
one free negative terminal of
the array, which are to be
connected to the input either
of the inverter (in case of a
grid-tied system without a
battery backup) or the charge
controller (in case of a grid-
tied system with a battery
backup or off-grid solar panel
system).

When you connect solar

panels in series, the total
output current of the solar
array is the same as the
current passing through a
single panel, while the total
output voltage is a sum of the
voltage drops on each solar
panel.

The latter is only valid

provided that the panels
connected are of the same
type and power rating.

Let’s consider the depicted

below solar panels designated
for a 12V solar panel system,
operating at their Maximum
Power Point, while delivering
the depicted voltage and
current that correspond to
this power tracking point.

Scheme of solar panels connected in

series

Wiring solar panels of

different ratings in series

Here is a series connection of

solar panels of different
voltage ratings and the same
current rating:

Picture of wiring solar panels of

different ratings in series

You can see that if one of the

solar panels has a lower
voltage rating (and the same
current rating) compared to
the remaining panels, the
output power is lower than in
the previous example but the
loss is not significant. Things,
however, are entirely different
if you connect in series panels
of different current ratings.

You should, however, have in

mind that the current
produced from а solar panel
depends on the ambient
temperature, solar cells
temperature, and solar
irradiance.

If the lower wattage solar

panel is from different series
or a different brand, it might
behave differently under the
same ambient conditions.

For example, if under the same

environmental conditions the
solar panel of the different
wattage (i.e., 136W) has a
lower current (for example,
7.5A), it would drag the
performance of the whole
solar array down, because it
would limit the solar array’s
current to 7.5A.

The performance of the solar

array is as strong as the
performance of the weakest
element.

In a series connection, such a

weak element is the solar
panel with the lowest current.

The following example reveals

this in more details.

This time we have a series

connection of solar panels of
different voltage ratings and
different current ratings:

Picture of a series connection of solar

panels of different voltage ratings and
different current ratings

In this picture, you can see

that a total of three different
types of solar panels are used.

Each panel type has its own

voltage, current, and power
rating.

The total current here is

determined by the panel of
the lowest current rating and,
as a result, the total wattage is
severely reduced (by 40%)
compared to the previous
example where the loss of
output power is not so
significant.

Furthermore, if you take a

look in the first panel in the
row, and assume that you have
wired four such panels in
parallel, then the total output
power would be: 4 x 85W =
340W.

Just compare this to the

dramatically reduced wattage
of 365W, and you’ll find out
that if you connect in series
solar panels with different
voltage and current ratings,
the total output power is
determined mostly by the
solar panel of the lowest
rating!

What is more, let’s imagine an

ideal fictitious situation where
the current does not influence
the performance of the solar
array – the total harvested
solar power would be 515W
(85W+126W+152W+152W)!

Wiring solar pv panels in

parallel

The next basic type of

connecting solar panels is in
parallel.

Connecting solar panels in

parallel is just the opposite of
series connection and is used
to increase the total output
current of the array, and hence
the total output power while
keeping the same voltage.

‘The same voltage’ is the

system voltage which for off-
grid solar panels systems is
usually as low as either 6V or
12V.

For this reason, parallel

connection is more typical for
off-grid systems.

In the parallel connection, all

the positive terminals of the
panels are joined together,
and all the negative terminals
are also joined together.

Eventually, you have one

common positive and one
common negative terminal of
the solar array which are to be
connected to input either of
the inverter (in case of a grid-
tied system without a battery
backup) or the charge
controller (in case of a grid-
tied system with a battery
backup or off-grid system).

When you connect solar

panels in parallel, the total
output voltage of the solar
array is the same as the
voltage of a single panel, while
the total output current is a
sum of the currents passing
through each panel.

The latter is only valid

provided that the panels
connected are of the same
type and power rating.

Picture of wiring similar solar panels in

parallel

Wiring solar panels of

different ratings in parallel

Here is a parallel connection

of solar panels of different
voltage ratings and the same
current rating:

Picture of a parallel connection of solar

panels of different voltage ratings and
the same current rating

As you can see, things are

getting worse, since the total
voltage of the array is
determined by the solar panel
of the lowest voltage rating:
we received 11% loss of
installed solar power.

Let’s see what happens when

we bring even more diversity
and connect in parallel solar
panels of different voltage and
current ratings:

Picture of connected in parallel solar

panels of different voltage and current
ratings

Things are steadily getting

worse, but it’s evident that
what you lose here as wattage
is much lower compared to
connecting different solar
panels in series.

Important to summarize:

Both in series and parallel

connection, plugging a panel
of a lower power rating to the
array drags the whole output
power down.

The lower the rating, the

higher the loss of solar
generated power.

This, however, is much more

crucial for panels connected in
parallel.

Therefore, if you want to get

the maximum power from
your solar array, you should
only connect similar panels.

Mixing different panels,

whether connected in series
or in parallel, ALWAYS
reduces the installed wattage.

Furthermore, if you don’t have

any other option than wiring
dissimilar panels, you should
know that:

1) For series connection – the

same current rating of the
panels is more important.

2) For parallel connection –

the same voltage rating of the
panels is more important.

Mixed wiring of solar

panels
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A combination of series and

parallel connection is also
possible.