Victron / solar people (1 Viewer)

[steveswift]

Happy Christmas to you all
I’m down on south coast of Spain atm and first time I’ve had a chance to test the solar part of my recent victron set up , the only thing is , the info makes little sense to me , please see attatched a current screen shot of what it’s doing and kindly offer some explanation of what you see , many thanks in advance

 

[stevewagner]

It’s bulk charging so you must have capacity in your leisure batteries, at 3.4 amps an hour which is not bad in winter. Seems to be working well.

 

[Lenny HB]

Happy Christmas to you all
I’m down on south coast of Spain atm and first time I’ve had a chance to test the solar part of my recent victron set up , the only thing is , the info makes little sense to me , please see attatched a current screen shot of what it’s doing and kindly offer some explanation of what you see , many thanks in advance

The first section shows what is coming from the panels, your panels are wired in series which is why the voltage is so high at 56v and delivering 3.4 amps.

The 2nd section is what is coming out of the solar regulator and going into the batteries.
13.6v at 13.6 amps.

It's in bulk charge mode at the moment when the voltage reaches 14.4v it will change to absorption mode holding the voltage at 14 to 14.4v with a reduced current of around an amp. When the batteries are fully charged the voltage will drop to 13.6 to 13.8 at about 1 amp this is the float/maintenance charge.

Series connected panels is not the best for a motorhome as any shade on one panel you will lose all your output, it's worth considering changing them to parallel wired.

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[mitzimad]

top voltage is the solar into the controller and the 13 is whats being sent to the batteries the amps is the rate at which charge is going in

 

[Lenny HB]

It’s bulk charging so you must have capacity in your leisure batteries, at 3.4 amps an hour which is not bad in winter. Seems to be working well.

No it's not the batteries are charging at 13.6 amps you are reading the solar output.

 

[stevewagner]

No it's not the batteries are charging at 13.6 amps you are reading the solar output.

Oh yes I see now - even better then. I agree they should be in parallel

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[Ditcha]

I have my panels 2 parallel 2 series seems to work well and best of both worlds

 

[Lenny HB]

I have my panels 2 parallel 2 series seems to work well and best of both worlds

Very little gain having them in series, the advantage of them in parallel far outweighs any disadvantages.

 

[Ditcha]

Very little gain having them in series, the advantage of them in parallel far outweighs any disadvantages.

Up the voltage lower the amps= smaller cabling early switch on later switch off due to the higher voltage looks like slightly better gain but time will tell.

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[Ditcha]

Happy Christmas to you all
I’m down on south coast of Spain atm and first time I’ve had a chance to test the solar part of my recent victron set up , the only thing is , the info makes little sense to me , please see attatched a current screen shot of what it’s doing and kindly offer some explanation of what you see , many thanks in advance

How many panels do you have and what size are they?

 

[Lenny HB]

Up the voltage lower the amps= smaller cabling early switch on later switch off due to the higher voltage looks like slightly better gain but time will tell.

But any shade on either of the ones in parallel and you have lost both.

 

[Ditcha]

But any shade on either of the ones in parallel and you have lost both.

Don't plan to park under any trees

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[Ditcha]

But any shade on either of the ones in parallel and you have lost both.

Like this Lenny

 

[Lenny HB]

Like this Lenny

View attachment 699728

I like your phallic symbol on the top of your van.

 

[autorouter]

please see attatched a current screen shot of what it’s doing and kindly offer some explanation of what you see

As has already been said, the first section is the solar panel output, At 56.13V and 3.4A that makes it 56.13 x 3.4 = 190W.

The next section, as has been said, is what the solar controller is outputting to the batteries, 13.67V at 13.6, that makes it 13.67 x 13.6 = 186W. So the controller is losing 4W somewhere, which is about what I would expect.

The 'Bulk' state is the first of the 3-stage charging process (Bulk, Absorption,Float). The voltage should gradually rise from 13.67V to about 14.5V, stay in Absorption mode at 14.5V for a number of hours, then drop into Float mode at about 13.5V. If the sunshine lasts long enough, of course.

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[monzer]

So is there 3.4a going in to the battery or 13.6?

 

[Lenny HB]

So is there 3.4a going in to the battery or 13.6?

13.6, see my earlier post #3

 

[monzer]

So what's the 3.4 all about again?

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[Lenny HB]

So what's the 3.4 all about again?

That is the current from the panels into the regulator.

 

[steveswift]

It’s bulk charging so you must have capacity in your leisure batteries, at 3.4 amps an hour which is not bad in winter. Seems to be working well.

Many thanks

 

[steveswift]

The first section shows what is coming from the panels, your panels are wired in series which is why the voltage is so high at 56v and delivering 3.4 amps.

The 2nd section is what is coming out of the solar regulator and going into the batteries.
13.6v at 13.6 amps.

It's in bulk charge mode at the moment when the voltage reaches 14.4v it will change to absorption mode holding the voltage at 14 to 14.4v with a reduced current of around an amp. When the batteries are fully charged the voltage will drop to 13.6 to 13.8 at about 1 amp this is the float/maintenance charge.

Series connected panels is not the best for a motorhome as any shade on one panel you will lose all your output, it's worth considering changing them to parallel wired.

Many thanks

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[steveswift]

Many thanks

Thankyou everyone for advice

 

[St3v3]

Only had a quick scan through the thread...

Your solar controller is outputting 13.6A. But, that is not necessarily all going into your batteries - you might be using some of it in the van.

 

[steveswift]

Only had a quick scan through the thread...

Your solar controller is outputting 13.6A. But, that is not necessarily all going into your batteries - you might be using some of it in the van.

Hi I appreciate that thanks for your reply

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[Jimbohorlicks]

I like your phallic symbol on the top of your van.

They're antlers , it's Xmas.

 

[cyberyacht]

Very little gain having them in series, the advantage of them in parallel far outweighs any disadvantages.

Charging kicks in in low light that much sooner in series.