Total electrical/solar newbie here. I just bought a mini system on Lazada, pic below, hoping to get a feel for solar basics.

There are 3 components as you see:

1. Solar panel

2. Controller

3. Inverter

The lead from the solar panel goes nicely into the controller. Now, the way they want it, as far as I understand from the instructions, is to have two output wires from the controller go to a 12v storage battery (neither wires nor battery provided), then the inverter alligator clips grip the battery, and then there's a socket on the right side of the inverter (can't see it in the pic) where a standard 2-pin plug goes in.

Now, I don't want a battery but rather (as proof of concept) run a small 220 fan directly off the system when there's sun. So do I do the following?

Cut off the alligator clips, connect the exposed wires from the inverter to the sockets on the right side of the controller, and of course plug the fan into the inverter. If this is correct, what to attach to the wires so they plug into the controller holes (sockets? not sure what the tech term is). If not, what should I do in order to not use a battery? Thank you.

Nah, that controller needs a battery to work properly ☹️

It doesn't need to be much, a plain vanilla (cheap) 12V motorcycle battery should do the trick.

And make sure you connect the battery before you connect the solar panel, cheap controllers tend to let out the Magic Smoke if you connect the panel first.

Sadly, that panel is unlikely to generate enough even in bright sunlight (how many watts does it say on the sticker?) to run a fan without discharging the battery.

EDIT You MUST connect the inverter to the battery itself, the "load" terminals on the controller are meant for small loads like a 12V LED light.

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Nah, that controller needs a battery to work properly ☹️

I am trying to understand this. The controller puts out (steady) 12v DC, right? So if I connect it to a 12DC -> 220AC inverter shouldn't I get the power to operate a fun? Why do I need an intermediate storage battery.

Obviously, I am missing something here.

The goal in life of a Solar Charge Controller (SCC) is to control and protect the battery which is being charged. Hence its name.

SCCs fall into two main categories, PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) and MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking). At this price point your controller is almost certainly a PWM type so we will concentrate on that type.

In simple terms it works by connecting your panel to your battery via a FET (think of it as an on-off switch) which then turns on and off rapidly to regulate how much energy goes from your panel into the battery, it will turn off when the battery is full.

It is the battery itself which integrates these rapid pulses into a continuous DC voltage.

The battery also provides an energy source to bridge over reductions in available solar (when one of those annoying clouds goes in front of the sun) so that your load gets a nice, constant supply which isn't constantly being interupted by clouds.

There ARE controllers which work like you are thinking, but these are usually associated with solar powered water pumps and serve mainly to protect the pump from under and over voltage from the panels as the available power varies throughout the day.

If you let us know how many watts your panel is rated for (post a photo of the label) we can give you an idea what sort of energy level you can expect. If there's no label tell us how big the panel is and we can guesstimate its power.

54 minutes ago, Crossy said:

If there's no label tell us how big the panel is and we can guesstimate its power.

Crossy, thanks a lot for the detailed response. There's no sticker on the panel. Its size is 31.5cm x 19cm.

I would appreciate if you could tell me how to set up a battery-less system to run a tiny 9" 20w 220v plug-in fan off the sun. I have nothing against batteries but this is just a first step in a learning project. Battery will come later.

Btw, if my current Lazada product with its components is no good for this battery-less project, no problem. Just tell me what to get (Lazada products would be great) and I'll go get them.

Again, much appreciate your time.

OK your 31.5cm x 19cm panel is going to be around 10W!! That's peak output at mid-day with no clouds.

It stands zero chance of running your 20W fan, it may not even have enough oomph to run the inverter with no load.

It would generate about 40Wh per day, at 12V that would happily charge a 7Ah sealed lead acid battery from 50% (recommended minimum) to full in a normal day.

That level of charge would run your 20W fan for, wait for it, 2 hours!

More in a bit, currently I'm in a boring Zoom with the project in Cairo (I'm at home in Thailand).

2 hours ago, Crossy said:

It stands zero chance of running your 20W fan, it may not even have enough oomph to run the inverter with no load.

Ok, so this Lazada set is useless.

I know you are busy guy, but whenever you have a bit of time appreciate if you could tell me a battery-less setup to run the 20W fan when the sun is out. Many thanks.

Edited July 21Jul 21 by Autocan

On 7/20/2026 at 3:51 PM, Autocan said:

what the tech term is). If not, what should I do in order to not use a battery? Thank you.

Buy a battery. You want to learn about Solar you Need a battery.

Why do you want an AC Inverter to power a fan? Buy a DC fan, install a small circuit breaker on the red wire of the additional wire you make to power the fan.

You are making it More complicated with Adding an AC inverter that will lose 15% converting DC to AC probably.

The inverter generates heat, noise.

A DC fan runs cooler, makes less noise, needs Zero inverter just make sure 12 volt fan, 12 volt battery.

Yes a DC fan costs more but more people are buying some DC appliances that run solar.

Additionally that looks like a 20 watt solar panel. Probably harvest 15 watts. That is only enough for a small 6" to 8" fan on lowest setting.

5 hours ago, J Branche said:

Buy a battery. You want to learn about Solar you Need a battery.

I understand. But as I said to Crossy this is a learning project with zero practical application.

In any case, I have ordered a 12V DC fan, 12V 80W solar panel and a 30A PWM 12V/24V solar charge controller. Do I need anything else? What should the setup be in order to run the fan without battery while the sun is out? I am a total electrical klutz so a sketch of the circuit would really help. Thanks.

Maybe someone knows a hack.

The PWM outputs to the 12 volt battery. It is configured to monitor and adjust to the 12 volt battery SOC (state of charge). The PWM may not initialize because it doesn't detect the battery.

So setup would be Solar panel to solar cables to PWM. PWM output to battery properly sized cables depending on battery size and PWM charge output Amps. Battery, electric cables connect an XT60 plug for easy connect/disconnect. Then on DC fan match the polarity and connect the other XT 60 plug connector

32 minutes ago, J Branche said:

The PWM may not initialize because it doesn't detect the battery.

Below is the wiring diagram from the controller's Lazada page.

Looks like the right end two ports will allow a direct connection to a 12V DC device directly without using the battery. Or maybe, as you suggest, the controller won't work at all because it doesn't detect a battery. We'll find out. It's all part of learning.

Edited July 23Jul 23 by Autocan

You know it can be a small 12 volt lead acid battery correct? It doesn't need to be lithium. Understand Lead Acid does Not like to be deeply discharged and you would need to set the low voltage disconnect properly.

Yes. Possible to power the fan in ideal conditions. What real world experience is most likely. The fan will surge when ever the suns intensity increases towards peak irradiance The fan will spin slowly or stop with certain clouds.

Just trying to save you and let you understand Solar power when stored (batteries). How much power it takes to run different items, etc.

OK if you are determined to go no battery.

A cheap PWM will very possibly let out the magic smoke with no battery, always connect the battery first before the solar.

With a 12V fan you are going to need a regulator on a "12V" panel (which is probably going to be about 18V Vmp) rather than a charge controller. No, they are not the same thing.

Use something like this https://www.lazada.co.th/products/pdp-i16192818995-s127315062868.html set the output to 12V with the panel in full sun and see what happens.

The output of your solar panel is going to look something like this, probably nearer the blue line.

The problem is that any available power over what the fan is using is simply thrown away, using a battery will allow you to store that spare energy and get a longer run time.

Since this is a learning situation why not try both and see what appears to be more efficient.

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

Since this is a learning situation why not try both and see what appears to be more efficient.

Exactly what I will do.