Battery bank - Solar charge controller

[veggie]

I am now ready to tie-in my solar panels to the battery bank....

My battery bank can be charged by solar or by an IOTA55 amp charger connected to the Mains(or the generator)
Both the IOTA and the solar controller shift to float mode when the bank is full.

I was wondering if I should isolate these two devises with a DPDT toggle so that they are not connected to the battery bank at the saem time?? Or does it matter ?

Anyone know if the two chargers shown in the sketch below will be in conflict with each other?

thanks,
veggie

[mbryner]

MPPT charge controllers voltage-to-charge-at is determined by the battery bank voltage, available current, and what the bank is accepting, correct?   The IOTA55 should also charge based on the battery voltage.   I've always wondered, say, if my generator is running and charging, does that artificially elevate the voltage so that the other charge controller backs off and doesn't charge as strongly?   In practice, that hasn't been the case when observing my Midnight Solar Classic 200 and Outback MX80.   The charging current of the Outback connected to the solar panels doesn't change when I turn on the generator to supplement via the MS Classic an overcast day.   The battery is acting as a voltage clamp.   Then again I have a substantial battery bank, but it should work the same for you, too.

Also, many off-grid or grid-tie systems are designed for multiple MPPT charge controllers because the solar arrays are too large for just one controller.   Of course, those systems are usually built with multiple of the same controller.

Short version, you should be able to leave both connected simultaneously.

Just my take.

Marcus

[Tom Reed]

In a rare event on the www, I'll second that. As long as all the chargers are voltage regulated they will work together.

[veggie]

Thanks gents 

[squarebob]

Here is a great forum for all things solar. The "solar beginners corner" and the "off grid solar" sections have tons of info and good folks like here to answer questions. I am sure quite a few of us are registered there also.

http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/forum.php

Bob

[mike90045]

I have a Iota and MPPT controller charging the same bank.  The Iota is only used for Bulk, it would take days to finish Absorb.  The morningstar MPPT 60A does most of the charging from solar.  When I finally get the Metro bolted down, it will feed 240VAC into the Xantrex 6048 inverter, and it's charge controller (.9 PF) will Bulk charge the batteries.  Only solar is used to finish Absorb charging.

and I'll plug another good forum I moderate at :
http://www.solarpaneltalk.com