Questions/Clarifications about SmartSolar MPPT RS and solar array
Hello,
I am looking at using 24 of these panels (secondhand, never used) for a solar array. My array is quite far from the house, so I am using twelve of these panels in series (times 2) to get an output voltage of about 440 volts at the coldest and 380 volts at average peak sun. (I may be wrong on these figures, please correct me if wrong).
I am planning on using a SmartSolar MPPT RS, my question is if my input voltage per line of 12 panels is 3720W, which goes to 7440W, if I used the 450/100 model, which says here that its max DC output charging power is 5760 W total, my understanding is that it can only charge/discharge 5760W from the batteries, but if I need, let's say 1000W, and the array is putting out 8000 Watts (to two trackers), it can send the thousand watts to the inverter and will use 5760 of the 6000 Watts left over to charge the batteries. Am I correct?
A couple questions,
- If the voltage spikes to over 450 Volts, what happens? I assume fried charge controller.
- If the amperage spikes and goes to above 7200W per tracker, what happens? is the power wasted? does it hurt the inverter? If I put more than 9000 Watts on one tracker does it fry the inverter or does it get converted safely to heat?
- How many batteries (or Ah of batteries) do I need in a 48W system to support this voltage?
- If I run each line at 10 amps and 380-440 volts with a 150 ft12AWG wire, is this sufficient? Should I instead run both lines with 10AWG lines at 20 amps?
- Is it worth the money to go with the 450/200 over the 450/100?
Thank you.
Posted Oct 22, 2025, 5:15 PM UTC