24 volt solar regulators

Charge controllers, or regulators, are an important part of a solar panel battery-charging system. Although lead-acid batteries like to be kept fully charged, they don't like being overcharged: feeding excess electricity into them can cause them to overheat and warp the lead plates, and will electrolyse the water in the acid, gradually boiling them dry and producing potentially dangerous hydrogen gas.

So the most important function of a charge controller is to simply sense when the batteries are fully charged (invariably done by measuring the voltage of the batteries), and disconnect the solar panels when the batteries are full.

It sounds simple, but in fact keeping lead-acid batteries operating at their maximum potential is quite a science. They don't like being discharged (sulphate forms on the lead plates); they don't like being overcharged (they warp and lose water). However, because they are made up of six seperate cells per 12V battery, over time some cells begin to lose more charge than others, and so an occasional brief overcharging, an 'equalizing charge', can be used to bring them back in line. So the more sophisticated charge controllers do far more than merely act as a switch.

Morningstar regulators have a well-deserved reputation for being simple to install, yet being reliable and long-lasting. All the models here are suitable for use on 24 volt systems, and from the ProStar models up include an algorithm for equalising the charge across the individual cells.