Has anyone wired a solar panel to a CBE DS-330uk & PC200?

[RustyRuss]

I have trawled the internet for hours and I'm having no success with trying to find a simple wiring diagram for how to connect up the solar panel to the controller. I cannot believe that no body has done this before!! There are millions of CBE DS-300uk's out there fitted to CBE PC200's and thousands with a solar panel connected to them, can someone please show me the connections and cut all the waffle and BS??!! I made the mistake of fitting a solar panel to our Autotrail with Sargent electricals, it was a cinch, now a friend has asked me to help them with their MH. I have used all sorts of combo's in google and keep coming up with schematic diagrams, I want something that shows actual terminals, a proper blooming wiring diagram!!

Sorry to rant! Thanks in advance!

Russ

 

[RioRob]

I have that configuration. The output from the solar panel controller is just connected directly to the leisure battery terminals via fuses, simple.

 

[RustyRuss]

I want the solar panel to charge the vehicle battery after it's fully charged the leisure battery. I'm sure I'm not expecting too much...... am I?

Thanks for the prompt reply by the way!

Russ

 

[funflair]

I also connected the solar controller directly to the Leisure batteries, when the batteries are full the CBE system will charge the engine battery as long as your CBE system has the CSB2 relay, you should be able to tell if you have this fitted as when you are on EHU the panel should show a symbol of two batteries connected together.

Martin

 

[Jake Royd]

Different CBE control gear but this might help.
Dual controller charging both cab and leisure batteries.
I have the wiring diagram for the vehicle as well if that helps.

Just finished an installation

I thought I would post my experience Follows on from this comment https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/which-type-of-screw-bolt-for-solar-panel-installation.211441/#post-3722322 I bought a 200w mono panel , which is big for my roof. I bought 'traditional' corner brackets but added 2...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

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[RustyRuss]

Please post the wiring diagram.What a great emoji! where do people dream these up from??

Thanks in advance.

Russ

 

[Jake Royd]

 

[RustyRuss]

Thanks Jake, so just to check.... I’m planning to connect the output +ve/-ve from the solar panel to the +ve/-ve on the mppt controller, then the B1+ B2+ & B- terminals from the mppt controller to the B1+ B2+ & B- terminals in the CBE panel, this will allow the solar PV to charge the leisure battery as priority then switch to charging vehicle battery when leisure is full, and because of diodes in the mppt the solar PV won’t be “back fed” from the vehicle alternator when the engine is running, or from the mains voltage when the EHU is being used.

Thanks for posting the wiring diagram man! And thanks for posting the link to your original thread!

Note to moderator.... Is it possible to include in the search facility items like “CBE DS-300uk” & “CP200” within the thread to make things like Jake’s thread easier to find? I’ve found that the majority of people when posting about solar PV stuff don’t tend to include the names and models of the kit they’ve used, meaning you have to trawl trough lots of irrelevant stuff before you yo get to the interesting tech bits!!


Thanks all for replying and offering your thoughts! Jake/ others can you confirm my wiring logic above please? Thanks!


Russ

 

[Jake Royd]

Give me some time , I want to understand what you are proposing before I comment.

 

[Jake Royd]

Yes, I think you are correct or at least that's pretty much what I did.
On my system, as far as I understand, when the voltage seen by the controller rises due to either the engine/alternator or via the CBE charger when connected via EHU , the controller assumes the batteries are charged and limits current from the solar panel. I must admit I can't be certain but that's my assumption.
On my system all seems to work fine.
there may well be diodes in my controller and in the CBE kit but I am not certain.

I started out looking to wire the controller directly to the cab battery and the leisure battery, with new wiring all the way. On my motorhome this is simple with the leisure battery (supply from panel comes down to underneath the foot of the bed which is where the leisure battery is and where the major electrical control gear is as well.

Bear in mind it's a dual output controller and its a PWM controller.

Then I considered how to wire directly to the cab battery which as you will be aware is under the passengers footboard in the cab in a Ducato. Possible, yes, but painful.

So I though where in the circuit is the equivalent of the cab battery +ve, well thats +B1 on my circuit.
I then realised the earth is there too (-B2) and the leisure battery +ve (+B2)

So,taking a deep breath I connected tails with inline fuses to these 3 terminals and put everything back in place. On mine it was neccessary to remove the main wiring harness from the distribution board etc. to get easily to these terminals.

I wired the whole thing up with out the fuses in place, then put one fuse at a time in and hoped for the best.


You can also validate which terminal is which by measuring the voltage of the two batteries and then ensuring you see the same voltage on both the positives.

With yours it maybe be a good idea to ask somebody who knows MPPT controllers better than I do.

As I understand it:-
With a PWM controller, the voltage stays constant (within that particular charge phase) and the 'pulse width' of current delivered is varied from virtually constant if the battery needs charge to a very short interval if it is fully charged.

With a MPPT controller the system has the ability to change the voltage delivered to maximise the power transferred to the battery.

Could this cause a problem? I'm not sure.

I comforted myself by understanding that all I am doing really is using some existing wiring to produce the same effect of wiring direct to the battery.

What could possibly go wrong

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[Jake Royd]

It might be worth checking that there is no fundamental difference between your CBE kit and mine in terms of what I did.?

 

[cunning]

I have just come across this post as I am plucking up the courage to install solar on my van. The van is fitted with "solar pre-cabling" with labelled cables (ring connectors) sitting next to the CBE 330. I was guessing that the cables should be attached to -B2 and +B2. (there is no pre-fit cable for B1). This discussion has reassured me. This afternoon, I removed a cupboard and found the other end of the cabling which could be fed into the cupboard to attach to an MPPT controller close to the roof. This forum discussion is very reassuring and thank you! Now I just need to pluck up courage to drill a hole in the roof and trust in adhesive to hold the panel on the roof!!!

Thanks, James.