I have seen two opinions. One of which says you do not need to control the voltage output from the panel. While not directly agreeing with this, Battery University does say that you need to have between 2.3 and 2.45 volts per cell depending on your charging application.
I have also seen others say there is no need to control the voltage. You just need to monitor for overcharging.
So which is it? Do you need to control voltage level? And if so how? I have seen shunt regulators used and linear regulators used in charge controllers. From what little I know about linear regulators, they are very insufficient. What about shunt regulators?
Or would something like this. Be a better way to go?
I have also seen others say there is no need to control the voltage. You just need to monitor for overcharging.
So which is it? Do you need to control voltage level? And if so how? I have seen shunt regulators used and linear regulators used in charge controllers. From what little I know about linear regulators, they are very insufficient. What about shunt regulators?
Or would something like this. Be a better way to go?