When you think about alternative energy, probably the first thing that comes to mind is solar power. Maybe you’ve even considered building your own solar-panel-powered generator to get electricity when the sun isn’t shining. But what if I told you there was a way to get high-quality, reliable power even when the sun isn’t shining, without the hassles of setting up your own solar-panel system? That’s what this article is about.
Why Use A Voltage Controller?
A voltage controller is an electronic device that helps manage the power that comes from your solar panels. Instead of letting all the power flow directly to your home, with a voltage controller you can channel the energy and save it in smaller amounts where it’s more useful. The great thing about this approach is that it doesn’t require as much solar power as you would need if you were trying to generate your own electricity. So if you’re wanting to power something as large as a home, you might be better off just going solar anyway.
Let’s say you’ve got a 1000-watt solar array that provides enough power to meet your needs. Without a voltage controller you’re looking at around 10 to 15 amps of current flowing into your home, which, depending on the size of your wiring, could cause electrical damage or at the very least make it very difficult to live with. But with a voltage controller installed, you’re only looking at a 4.5-amp maximum current draw, which is a significant decrease and much more manageable. So not only does using a voltage controller help make solar energy more reliable, it can also save you money in the long run because you won’t necessarily need to purchase as much solar power to meet your needs. This is why many people choose to use a solar power system with a voltage controller – the array can provide enough energy to power a majority of the home while not causing as much stress as the regular approach.
What Is The Differential Current?
As I mentioned above, one thing that sets a voltage controller apart from a regular one is the way it handles the current flow. A regular controller will, as the name suggests, regulate the voltage of the incoming power so that you don’t overload the wiring and cause damage, but a differential current controller actually steps up the current limit for your solar array based on how much power is being generated at the time. So if the sun is shining brightly and there’s a lot of power being generated, your differential current controller will allow more power to flow into your home, making more electricity available. But if the sun is not yet risen but there’s already a significant load on the power grid due to it being cloudy or cold out, your differential current controller will limit the amount of power that can flow in order to reduce the stress on the grid.
The advantage of this approach is that when the sun begins to rise (assuming you don’t need more power at that time due to having already met your needs during the day), you can still use the energy that was saved during the day when you had the differential current limit active. So although your solar array only produced a small amount of power during the day, due to having a differential current limit active, you can still use that power when the sun starts to shine. This is called the ‘follow the sun’ approach because the amount of power your solar array produces will follow the Sun around the clock, no matter what. It doesn’t get better than that!
How To Install A Voltage Controller
If you’re wanting to use a voltage control, the best way to ensure that it functions properly is by following the instructions carefully. This way you won’t have any problems later on if you’re not aware that you didn’t do something correctly the first time around. So let’s say you’ve connected all the wiring correctly and your voltage controller is turned on, but nothing is happening. The first thing you should check is the fuses on the circuit breaker panel because it could be that one of them is blown and that’s why the voltage controller isn’t performing as expected. If everything is OK, the next step is to check the voltage at the points mentioned earlier in the article. You should measure it using a cheap voltage meter that you can purchase at any electronic store or online shop. If the voltage is good (around 240 volts) at all of those points, double check the connections on the voltage controller and also the wiring itself, just to be sure.
If you’re still experiencing problems, the only other thing you can do is call in a professional who knows how to troubleshoot electrical systems. Unless you’re absolutely certain that your voltage controllers are operating correctly, it’s often best to avoid them and go with traditional generators that are less intelligent in terms of power management.