I don't have a regulator connected as they are a little expensive for a pensioner, If I join the panels into line to the battery bank from the roof should that be OK.?
I am pretty darn sure you need the regulator because all the advertising says that you must have one if you have more than one small solar panel. I think you can overcharge your batteries otherwise. Solar power is still not cost effective, so most people have solar power because they care about the environment more than they care about expenses. If you are poor, it is better to skip solar power, unless you are in an area where there isn't access to electricity. For example, we have a cabin without electricity. I am a strong environmentalist, too. Solar power is too expensive still, for low income people. It is better to focus on energy conservation, imo. such as change your roof to white, to save on A/C, as the head of the US energy dept. says (he is a nobel prize winning physicist). PS Dave might be right on that stuff, i don't know. but all the ads say you need a regulator if you are going to have more than one solar panel so I assumed this was due to risk of overcharging.
Two things on a regulator: a) It will optimize the charge to the batteries - and thereby distribute the most possible power to your active circuits during the day. b) It will prevent the power from the panels from boiling (no kidding) the batteries - no small thing as they are the second largest investment you have after the panels themselves. This is much more critical if you have sealed or Zero-Maintenance batteries. I strongly suggest that you get a regulator as it will significantly lengthen battery life. Follow the directions on the regulator for optimum input voltage and it will let you know whether all the panels should be in series, parallel or series/parallel. But cutting to the chase, you can certainly gang up panels as needed.
You can do this, but it isn't the best way to go. There is no problem with joining the solar panels. There are two ways to do this, in series and in parallel. A series combination will add the voltages that each panel is producing together, but not the amperages. For example, if five panels are producing 6V at 300mA each, the end result will be 30V at 300mA for a series array. A parallel combination combines the amperages of all the panels, but not the voltages. So, in our earlier example, five panels at 6V and 300mA would provide 6V and 500mA (.5A) if wired in parallel. Series-parallel combinations are also possible, giving some of the benefits of each method. This would probably better understood by doing a quick search on Google Images for series, parallel, and series-parallel. You CAN connect the solar panels directly to your battery bank with no regulator. Unfortunately, without a regulator, the connection is two-way. When the sun is out and the solar panels are producing more voltage than the batteries, the batteries will charge. However, when the panels are producing less voltage than the batteries, the batteries will instead send power into the solar panels, which will be dissipated and wasted. The panels may charge your batteries during the day, but they will discharge them at night.
