Any knowledgeable people with Solar Panels and systems here?

[TommyHolly]

Hello,
I’m not sure my Solar Panels are operating correctly? I could use some advice please. Even with one of the three solar controllers not working, shouldn’t I still be getting decent power to charge my batteries?

This is the last system I need help with on my boat. I really appreciate all the amazing advice I’ve gotten so far regarding my batteries and wiring issues. Ok here goes:

Ive noticed my batteries aren’t charging up that much, even on sunny days. Here is my system:
- Total of 2,060w of solar panels
- Two 260w panels connected to an Outback Flexmax 60A controller on the flybridge
- Three 260w panels on the back of the boat on the inside row.
- Three 260w panels on the back of the boat on the outside row. (*Note: the previous owner replaced one of them with a 240w panel)
- There is a Outback Mate 3 monitoring system for all the panels that’s a little hard for me to figure out even after reading the manual and spending hours on the phone with the company.

I spent some time with Outback Systems on the phone. We discovered the Flexmax 80A Solar controller which controls the three 260w panels on the inside row is bad. It was flashing “OvrCurrent - Sleeping - Wakeup” over and over… Outback is sending me a new one. However, shouldn’t the other two solar controllers still work and charge the batteries?

I tried some troubleshooting and took a series of pictures and wrote the results down on the pics themselves-
- The solar controller which went bad is turned off. The panels it controls on the back of the boat is the inside row of three 260w panels. When I unplugged them around noon, I used a voltmeter and found they are putting out about 33-34v. However since the controller is dead, there is not much Amps going through them. (I found 0.5A, 0.14A and 0.21A… see picture)

- The 80A Controller which controls the back row of 260w, 240w, 260w panels works great. However, when I tested the panels with a DC Amp meter, the middle 240w panel has no amps coming out of it?? (See picture)

- On the working 80A Solar Controller (with the potentially non-working 240A panel) the readings I’m getting from the Controller are:
*In: 23.7v 17.8A
*Out: 13.3v 30.4A
0.400kw 0.8kw
Aux: Off MPPT BULK
(See picture)

- On the working 60A Solar Controller which has the two 260w panels above the flybridge, I get these readings:
*In: 24.5v 10.0A
*Out: 13.3v 17.9A
0.240kw 0.7kw
Aux: Off MPPT BULK
(See picture)
This one 60A controller with those two panels should at the very least be charging my batteries??

Further investigating, I followed all the wires from the Solar Panels into the White Box which connects them and runs the wires directly to the controllers. However, I got some readings I didn’t expect??
- All the panels, including ones controlled by the non-working controller, produce around 33-34v directly testing with a multi meter.
- The Bar Bar which connects the outer row of 260w-240w-260w shows only 32.6v going back to the solar controller.
- The Bus Bar for the inner three 260w panels (controlled by the broken 80A Controller) surprisingly shows 25.6v? Even though the panels themselves are putting out 33-34v, the Bus Bar voltage is much lower?
(See pic)

My main questions are:
1. Is that 240w panel in the middle back not working? It’s producing good voltage but I don’t see any Amps going through it like the other larger 260w panels all over the boat.
2. Should my system still charge the batteries slightly with only 2 of 3 solar controllers working?
3. Do any of you notice something wrong which I can fix?

 

[740GLE]

From the rats nest of cabling you posted in the other thread I think you need to sort one issue at a time.

 

[anadiner]

Hello,
I’m not sure my Solar Panels are operating correctly? I could use some advice please. Even with one of the three solar controllers not working, shouldn’t I still be getting decent power to charge my batteries?

This is the last system I need help with on my boat. I really appreciate all the amazing advice I’ve gotten so far regarding my batteries and wiring issues. Ok here goes:

Ive noticed my batteries aren’t charging up that much, even on sunny days. Here is my system:
- Total of 2,060w of solar panels
- Two 260w panels connected to an Outback Flexmax 60A controller on the flybridge
- Three 260w panels on the back of the boat on the inside row.
- Three 260w panels on the back of the boat on the outside row. (*Note: the previous owner replaced one of them with a 240w panel)
- There is a Outback Mate 3 monitoring system for all the panels that’s a little hard for me to figure out even after reading the manual and spending hours on the phone with the company.

I spent some time with Outback Systems on the phone. We discovered the Flexmax 80A Solar controller which controls the three 260w panels on the inside row is bad. It was flashing “OvrCurrent - Sleeping - Wakeup” over and over… Outback is sending me a new one. However, shouldn’t the other two solar controllers still work and charge the batteries?

I tried some troubleshooting and took a series of pictures and wrote the results down on the pics themselves-
- The solar controller which went bad is turned off. The panels it controls on the back of the boat is the inside row of three 260w panels. When I unplugged them around noon, I used a voltmeter and found they are putting out about 33-34v. However since the controller is dead, there is not much Amps going through them. (I found 0.5A, 0.14A and 0.21A… see picture)

- The 80A Controller which controls the back row of 260w, 240w, 260w panels works great. However, when I tested the panels with a DC Amp meter, the middle 240w panel has no amps coming out of it?? (See picture)

- On the working 80A Solar Controller (with the potentially non-working 240A panel) the readings I’m getting from the Controller are:
*In: 23.7v 17.8A
*Out: 13.3v 30.4A
0.400kw 0.8kw
Aux: Off MPPT BULK
(See picture)

- On the working 60A Solar Controller which has the two 260w panels above the flybridge, I get these readings:
*In: 24.5v 10.0A
*Out: 13.3v 17.9A
0.240kw 0.7kw
Aux: Off MPPT BULK
(See picture)
This one 60A controller with those two panels should at the very least be charging my batteries??

Further investigating, I followed all the wires from the Solar Panels into the White Box which connects them and runs the wires directly to the controllers. However, I got some readings I didn’t expect??
- All the panels, including ones controlled by the non-working controller, produce around 33-34v directly testing with a multi meter.
- The Bar Bar which connects the outer row of 260w-240w-260w shows only 32.6v going back to the solar controller.
- The Bus Bar for the inner three 260w panels (controlled by the broken 80A Controller) surprisingly shows 25.6v? Even though the panels themselves are putting out 33-34v, the Bus Bar voltage is much lower?
(See pic)

My main questions are:
1. Is that 240w panel in the middle back not working? It’s producing good voltage but I don’t see any Amps going through it like the other larger 260w panels all over the boat.
2. Should my system still charge the batteries slightly with only 2 of 3 solar controllers working?
3. Do any of you notice something wrong which I can fix?

Panel total voltage going into controller must be greater than battery bank total voltage. If it isnt, batteries will not charge.

That came to mind because you've tested everything above battery bank. MPPT gives more voltage leeway whereas with PWMs panel voltage had to match battery voltage.

All of this is why I tend to series then parallel but these new high wattage panels have insane VOC.

I mean like why even advertise bypass diode for series when now we gotta parallel. Note: Im assuming u understand when components r ran in series, 1 bad element breaks down entire line... hence bypass diodes that prevent that.

U've tested individually and mentioned amps a lot... so must be running parallel hence check:
- enough voltage to charge batteries. Test whats going into batteries
- high amps is gonna need heavy awg or either cant carry total current or will for awhile until it just cant anymore (fire hazard)

U mentioned a line... series? Careful cuz remember a bad component will drag down or block output. Its the xmas tree light concept when 1 bulb goes bad.

 

[anadiner]

Btw, u lost me on no controller... U can charge batteries directly from panels BUT vollts will be irregular.

 

[TommyHolly]

Panel total voltage going into controller must be greater than battery bank total voltage. If it isnt, batteries will not charge.

From my pics of the Solar Controllers it seems that the output is 13.3v at around 17A. That means they should be charging the main bank.

That came to mind because you've tested everything above battery bank. MPPT gives more voltage leeway whereas with PWMs panel voltage had to match battery voltage.

All of this is why I tend to series then parallel but these new high wattage panels have insane VOC.

I mean like why even advertise bypass diode for series when now we gotta parallel. Note: Im assuming u understand when components r ran in series, 1 bad element breaks down entire line... hence bypass diodes that prevent that.

U've tested individually and mentioned amps a lot... so must be running parallel hence check:
- enough voltage to charge batteries. Test whats going into batteries
- high amps is gonna need heavy awg or either cant carry total current or will for awhile until it just cant anymore (fire hazard)

Yes, the panels are wired parallel into that white box picture I posted. In the white box are 3 bus bars. Two positive bus bars and one negative. Each positive bus bar handles 3 solar panels in parallel. (The back 3 and the front 3 panels.) That’s why I thought it was strange that the voltage on the bus bars was different from each other??? (See pic above)

The solar controller batteries are 1 or 2 AWG I think? They are pretty thick but not as much as the battery wires. About half the diameter of my finger. They have never gotten hot or even warm.

U mentioned a line... series? Careful cuz remember a bad component will drag down or block output. Its the xmas tree light concept when 1 bulb goes bad.
Nothing is in series as far as I know. All of it is in Parallel.

 

[TommyHolly]

Btw, u lost me on no controller... U can charge batteries directly from panels BUT vollts will be irregular.

I’m not sure what you are referring to?

I have 3 controllers. All panels are run through them.

 

[TommyHolly]

SOLVED!!
I decided to track down each wire individually all the way back to the solar controller. When I got to the 4th wire, I found that it wasn’t even ran into the junction box!! The Electrican I hired to re-wire my system never put all the wires back in. That’s why every time I opened the box, everything looked and tested fine. But that one single middle panel didn’t have any Amps. (See pic)