Has my panel had it? (1 Viewer)

[Nixdorfer]

Finally managed a couple of long weekends away , first one on EHU the 2nd wild.

On the first trip we didn't use EHU on the last day and I noticed the panel wasn't showing any charge on the control panel.
The panels only 80-90w so already have a new 150w to add with its own Victron 75/15 Smartsolar, just haven't had time to fit it yet

So as a test I wired the Victron to the old panel instead of the factory one and ran it over the last weekend away to see whats its doing via the app.... nadda
On a sunny day with clear skies the highest voltage it got to was 7.57v ! according to the app it has to be 5v over battery before it will even start charging

So am I safe to assume the panel is dead? the original plan was to add the 150w on its own controller to give us 230w total but if its only putting out the same power as a piece of MDF there doesn't seem much point in keeping it. There are no external cable joints so not a lot to go wrong really and as we have readings its connected.

 

[Off da Grid]

The panel needs to output more than the battery voltage for it to even work.
Could be a diode gone rogue.
If you can take it off or disconnect one of the leads and have a meter see what the voltage is reading.

 

[Nixdorfer]

Thanks, had a multimeter on the leads disconnected at the controller end and got less than 7v, max I've had since was 7.6 in the sun.

Panels bonded on so have to drill the rivets out to check anything else but suspect its probably knackered. Will have a closer look once off.

They aren't expensive to replace but 150w will probably be ok for us anyway as only have 2x 90ah batteries. Will try one for a bit, no point lugging a dead panel about so better I spotted it now. Gonna dig the 150w out today and compare readings and try to get round to fitting it asap.

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