I have noticed on certain days when there is clear blue sky and the temp is around ~33 or so that our solar panels do not input charge even though we may be down to perhaps 70% SOC.
Has anyone else had this problem?
The system is 2 x 150w panels and Enerdrive electrics.
Cheers
RichardK
Whenarewethere said
11:57 PM Dec 12, 2020
Is it the panels or the controller.
How hot is the controller.
I have stuck additional heat sinks on my Victron controller, back & front.
dabbler said
12:58 AM Dec 13, 2020
Do your panels have an air gap for cooling ? Ambient temp of 33c could mean panel temp is far higher and panels are less efficient at higher temps.
Jaahn said
08:29 AM Dec 13, 2020
RichardK wrote:
Hi Everyone,
I have noticed on certain days when there is clear blue sky and the temp is around ~33 or so that our solar panels do not input charge even though we may be down to perhaps 70% SOC.
Has anyone else had this problem?
The system is 2 x 150w panels and Enerdrive electrics.
Cheers RichardK
Hi Richard
Others have given some suggestions to look at. I would say have a look at the panels to see how many cells they have, just by counting them. Normally 36 is the standard for battery charging but some have less 32 or 30 cells. This reduces the voltage available and under very hot conditions there may not be enough to charge ? A definitive answer is to measure the voltage at the input terminals of the controller with a multi meter.
Does the enerdrive controller/regulator have a display that will tell you what it is doing, eg the panel voltage, panel current, battery voltage, battery current etc.
Jaahn
jeepnudger said
08:47 AM Dec 13, 2020
I would measure voltage at each solar panel see what reading is using a volt meter, important to measure each panel individually means isolating each panel wiring wise in case one panel is faulty dragging good one down , unusual to have both panels faulty. Might give you a further clue. goodluck.
RichardK said
12:36 PM Dec 17, 2020
Thanks all for your replies, problem is now sorted, the system needed to be synced reasonably regularly for the BM system to operate correctly, system has been synced and all is now well. Due to no traveling because of CV I had not synced it for over a year.
Hi Everyone,
I have noticed on certain days when there is clear blue sky and the temp is around ~33 or so that our solar panels do not input charge even though we may be down to perhaps 70% SOC.
Has anyone else had this problem?
The system is 2 x 150w panels and Enerdrive electrics.
Cheers
RichardK
Is it the panels or the controller.
How hot is the controller.
I have stuck additional heat sinks on my Victron controller, back & front.
Hi Richard
Others have given some suggestions to look at. I would say have a look at the panels to see how many cells they have, just by counting them. Normally 36 is the standard for battery charging but some have less 32 or 30 cells. This reduces the voltage available and under very hot conditions there may not be enough to charge ? A definitive answer is to measure the voltage at the input terminals of the controller with a multi meter.
Does the enerdrive controller/regulator have a display that will tell you what it is doing, eg the panel voltage, panel current, battery voltage, battery current etc.
Jaahn
I would measure voltage at each solar panel see what reading is using a volt meter, important to measure each panel individually means isolating each panel wiring wise in case one panel is faulty dragging good one down , unusual to have both panels faulty. Might give you a further clue. goodluck.
Cheers
RichardK