EPEVER MPPT Problem

Hey Guys,

Greetings from Germany, great Forum. I Hope my english is Not to bad and you Unterstand me


I have a problem with my system.

I have an Epever 30Ah Tracer with the matching MT50 controller. Two 100Ah LiFePO4 batteries and two 170W Eco-Worthy panels in parallel. It's a 12V system on my camper

I can monitor it with a battery monitor from Alili.

I was happy when I found the settings for LiFePO4 batteries in Germany. Everything worked fine and the batteries were full.

In Italy, after two days, I suddenly only had 50Ah left, after a day full of sun. Today, I observed it and noticed that it stops charging whenever it goes over 20V. This is obviously suboptimal when the sun is shining brightly.

Does the Tracer have a protection mechanism for when it goes over 20V? That would be strange because it should handle higher voltages. Does anyone have an idea what could be causing this?

I appreciate any help.

Best regards.

Aleander said:

Tracer have a protection mechanism for when it goes over 20V?

Click to expand...

A common issue is the controller entering a PWM mode and not searching for maximum power. This may be your problem.
Try disconnecting and reconnecting the solar input.

Also, instead of running the panels in parallel run them in series so your SCC has some overhead voltage to work with when searching for the MPPT. As is they may drop low enough to keep tripping it into PWM mode like Mike suggests.

So,

batteries in parallel <--- MPPT <--- panels in series

Above all sounds correct as I had exactly the same situation. I built multiple systems a good few years back with the 10a epever variants for my irrigation systems using old solar light panels I had piles off, nothing seemed to work correctly at 2 panels in series (18v) untill I added a 3rd panel bringing it over that 20v mppt cutoff they've worked 2-3 years now flawlessly.

"Thanks for your quick help. Awesome.

The problem is that I'm on vacation and I have spare cables etc. at home. I'll try to connect the solar panels in series if I can somehow get on the roof. Access to the motorhome is via a Y cable. But if you leave one free, it should be lockable.

The batteries are in parallel because of 12V. That's fine.

I probably won't be able to get a third solar panel here, but I will try that when I get home.


First tey today is to disconect the Solarpanel on The epever. Second the idea...
If I understand correctly, it goes into PWM mode at a certain voltage level. Then what I can do is simply disconnect one solar module.

Currently, it switches off for 7 out of 12 hours. "

Aleander said:

"Thanks for your quick help. Awesome.

The problem is that I'm on vacation and I have spare cables etc. at home. I'll try to connect the solar panels in series if I can somehow get on the roof. Access to the motorhome is via a Y cable. But if you leave one free, it should be lockable.

Click to expand...

If you can, remove the Y splitter altogether

Aleander said:

The batteries are in parallel because of 12V. That's fine.

I probably won't be able to get a third solar panel here, but I will try that when I get home.

Click to expand...

You shouldn't need a 3rd panel.

Aleander said:

First tey today is to disconect the Solarpanel on The epever. Second the idea...
If I understand correctly, it goes into PWM mode at a certain voltage level. Then what I can do is simply disconnect one solar module.

Click to expand...

You shouldn't need to, what we're saying is the epever is in pwm mode because it's lower than 20v and cannot switch to mppt once it hits 20v+ if you wire the panels in series and constantly stay above 20v you should have no issues.

Aleander said:

Currently, it switches off for 7 out of 12 hours. "

Click to expand...

Let's try for 12 then.

Rewire the MC4 connectors as shown. The controller should not get confused and remain in PWM, even with parallel panels. Its a Epever design error, and even with series panels, its still possible for this search error to occur.
Many give up and change to a Victron controller.

Aleander said:

try to connect the solar panels in series

Click to expand...

This may be a similar issue to what I am facing, I have an Epever Tracer 4210AN and a single 425W Panel on a 12v 100A LifePo4 system. When the MPPT is showing the PV Voltage at less than 36v it charges well and I've even seen an alleged 431W from it on the PC software, however when it goes over 36v (sometimes it hits 38v) then the wattage goes to zero. Could it be the same issue and would adding another panel help here too?

ThaiTaffy said:

If you can, remove the Y splitter altogether

You shouldn't need a 3rd panel.

You shouldn't need to, what we're saying is the epever is in pwm mode because it's lower than 20v and cannot switch to mppt once it hits 20v+ if you wire the panels in series and constantly stay above 20v you should have no issues.

Let's try for 12 then.

Click to expand...

I cant remove The y Splitter at The Moment. We are on a Holiday Trip.
Thats nice explanation. So its better If i have a high voltage. Got it.
In Germany i didnt read of The problems with epever...

mikefitz said:

Rewire the MC4 connectors as shown. The controller should not get confused and remain in PWM, even with parallel panels. Its a Epever design error, and even with series panels, its still possible for this search error to occur.
Many give up and change to a Victron controller.

View attachment 221256

Click to expand...

Thanks for The Picture. My Problem ist that my Solarpanel are more that 1,5 m away and i cant connect it that way. I searching a solar Shop in italy. Than i try it.
But you both are very Kind. Thanks for helping me