Do Solar Panels Need A Dump Load

When you want to install solar panels it is vital to understand certain features of the roof and the solar panels.

Do solar panels need a dump load.

Wind generators are far different. Solar battery backup means you will have power when the grid is both up and down. When the battery battery bank is full and the water turbine wind turbine solar module is still making power a dump load will give the electricity somewhere to go. A disconnected solar panel won t produce any current regardless of the sun.

As we discussed in the dump load intro a dump load is simply an electrical device load to send electricity to when the batteries are full or the extra power is not required. Knowing that these resistors are 2 9 ohms we need to figure out how much power this resistor will consume. When these panels enter landfills valuable resources go to waste. These resistors have an internal resistance rating of 2 9 ohms.

If your solar panel will not exceed 2 1 2 of amps of current then the 3 amp version is fine. Some ac heating elements make great dump loads. A solar panel roof load calculator helps you to establish the size and the weight of the solar panels that your roof can accommodate. The extra electricity is simply dumped or diverted into the diversion aka dump load.

Click here for examples of affordable dump loads. Solar panels are fairly simple based on the fact that they can easily be shut off. Almost all wind and water turbine installations will require them and most solar installations can benefit from a dump load. All you need to do is create your own energy with the sun and store it in a solar deep cycle battery this can be especially useful if you are in an area that has an unreliable grid or is susceptible to severe weather.

When it s connected to the battery the voltage under charge is something like 14v. Wind turbines need to have a constant load or they will end up spinning freely which can cause damage to the generator. No they do not need a dump load the typical way of operation of solar charge controllers is trickling down the solar current down to almost zero as the battery is fully charged. The 8 amp diode is acceptable for panels up to about 7 1 2 amps.

We need a dump load that can dump at least 754 watts. They do not have the ability to be shut off. Solar panels with more charge current then this would require a larger diode such as our 85 amp diode.