Professional Producer for Battery Charger

Your solar power system operates at the highest efficiency when it matches up with the levels of your batteries. If the power input goes too high, you lose most of that energy. If it goes too low, though, you won’t get the benefit of storing enough energy to make it work. You need the right balance for your system at any time.

The right combination of amps and volts is necessary to get the maximum wattage from your solar system. Wattage is the product of amps times volts. If your battery can only hold 12 volts, the amperage must be high enough to reach the total wattage your panel should produce.

Manually figuring this out can be complicated. The panel needs to put out more than the battery voltage to balance, so the numbers are not one-to-one. The maximum power point represents the correct balance of voltage and amperage to generate the most power from your solar panel — the point at which your system loses the least solar energy while converting and transferring it through your system.

Beyond that, the optimal system amperage and voltage levels fluctuate throughout the day. The angle of the sun hitting your panels plays a role here. Cloud cover, precipitation, and temperatures also affect the levels you need, and thus the ideal combination of voltage and amperage for your system. A person can’t just run a calculation to navigate all of that.

This is where an MPPT is critical. The charge controller monitors all of these inputs digitally and constantly tracks the optimal levels. It then regulates the current from the panel and the voltage into the battery. It continually adjusts those levels to move you as close as possible to the maximum power point in each given moment for your system to operate most efficiently.

Many customers wonder if they need to purchase a special lithium-ion battery charger specific to lithium batteries. The short answer is that there are options to accommodate your charging needs. By opting for the right lithium-ion battery charger, you can ensure that your lithium batteries receive the appropriate charging, voltage, and current, optimizing their performance and longevity.

The MPPT solar charge controller is one of two primary kinds of charge controllers on the market. The alternative is a pulse width modulation or PWM charge controller. A PWM functions with a transistor that rapidly opens and closes to modulate the panels’ current.

The primary difference between the two kinds of solar charge controllers is that while the MPPT controller modulates both the voltage and the current, the PWM controller only affects the current. Since it reduces amperage without being able to affect voltage, it can’t impact the overall wattage other than to decrease from the highest output rating for your panels.

In other words, while an MPPT controller regulates optimal power output, the PWM controller only allows you to reduce the current going into the battery. Every solar panel comes with a standard rating for the wattage it can deliver. A PWM controller reduces the performance of each panel you have without the adjustments an MPPT controller can make to rebalance and make up the difference.

No solar system is 100 percent efficient. Depending on how the panel is set up and aligned, it usually converts only 15-20% of the sunlight it absorbs into electricity. EcoFlow’s rigid solar panels yield 23% conversion rate efficiency — amongst the best on the market. A PWM controller loses more energy as heat than an MPPT controller and fails to help you get the most from your system by only impacting half of the power equation

Depends on your battery type and the voltage of that battery

Because of their advanced electrochemistry, lithium batteries can charge much faster than lead acid. For example, a 100Ah lithium-ion battery like our Battle Born line can be charged at 50 amps (50% capacity) all the way to full. Meanwhile, a 100Ah lead-acid battery is usually specified to be charged at around 25 amps (25% battery capacity) for the first 70% of the current needs to be dropped and voltage needs to be held constant for the rest of the charge.

If you attempt to charge too fast all the way to full lead acid, batteries will get damaged. This is why you see “smart” chargers that make this change and watch the battery voltages carefully.

If you’re searching for the best battery charger for your golf cart, we highly recommend a charger that is programmable to work with many different battery types. These chargers usually have Bluetooth or a cable that lets you change the charge profile. The reason for this is that most golf carts have lead-acid batteries, but many choose to upgrade them to lithium. If you choose a charger that can change profiles it’s possible to keep the same charger and get the benefits of lithium easily.

Another type of charger we recommend is an On-Board Charger (OBC). These chargers are usually built into your golf cart and stay securely in place as you ride around. On-board chargers are convenient because they can convert any source of AC electricity into usable DC electricity

If you have the correct battery charger for your batteries, leaving your golf cart plugged in shouldn’t cause any issues. You need a charger that is “smart” and will stop charging when the batteries are full. These smart chargers also go into a trickle charge mode that charges very slowly to prevent drain.

Again, the appropriate battery charger should shut off before it overcharges the battery. However, if you have the wrong charger, you could risk overcharging and thus overheating your batteries. This will most certainly damage lead acid batteries, but it could also be extremely hazardous and cause a chemical fire.