Controller vs panel watts

[Pippin]

Hi. I have 200 watts of panels up. A renogy mppt 40 amp controller and am unsure why under bright sun. My controller shows the panels making 3 watts.
The only explanation I can find is that the battery is at 100%... or I f-ed up... please advise.

 

[clarkpeacock]

My guess is that the batteries are fully charged, or close to it.

Here's the display of my MT50/Epever 30A unit right now in bright sun. A few hours ago in similar sun it was showing 20A+ charge

 

[Forbisher]

Hi. I have 200 watts of panels up. A renogy mppt 40 amp controller and am unsure why under bright sun. My controller shows the panels making 3 watts.
The only explanation I can find is that the battery is at 100%... or I f-ed up... please advise.

Seriously dude.
Your attachment screenshot says 100% battery.
Did you look at it??

 

[Pippin]

Yes MBR seriously. I am new to this, this is a beginners area of the forum. If I am asking this question it may be that others may be helped by reasonable responses like Clarkpeacock.
Seriously... wanna help or bitch? Wtf is wrong with you? Douche.

 

[Brewman]

That battery indicator on the EPever is based on voltage, not capacity.

 

[Bob142]

Seriously dude.
Your attachment screenshot says 100% battery.
Did you look at it??

Yes MBR seriously. I am new to this, this is a beginners area of the forum. Seriously... wanna help or bitch?

OK, let's call that even and get back to helping.

@Pippin first thing you can do to get more info is switch your phone from Dark mode to Light mode and then take a screenshot of the Monitoring page and post it. There's information missing from the Renogy app when you're in Dark mode. Next to the little green battery icon it should tell you what mode the charge controller is in. I just tested it out and you can only see that while in Light mode.

In addition, could you please post some screenshots of the full Settings? I've found when I use the Renogy app I have to make sure I hit the Read button on the top left of the Settings page, otherwise it doesn't always show me the actual current settings for the controller.

Once you post those screenshots we should be able to determine what's going on and whether you have anything to be concerned about.

 

[Forbisher]

That battery indicator on the EPever is based on voltage, not capacity.

The OP has a Renogy SCC.

 

[Brewman]

The OP has a Renogy SCC.

Still it's based on voltage.

 

[MichaelK]

Put a heavy load on your system. If there's an inverter, run something high powered, such as an electric saw, or toaster. If DC only, use something 12V like an automotive headlight. Once a heavy load starts to drain the battery, the controller will start supplying amps to refill the battery. You'll get a true output value if your load is higher than what your panels can supply.

 

[Pippin]

Thanks all for this info. And who’d have thought that you can see more info in light-mode —I would never have gotten that one...? (Plainly shows “float charge mode” next to the battery icon )
It all makes sense now.
I am planning to put it to the test soon, awaiting some 4/0 gauge wire to hook up 2200 giandel. Which feels substantial and well made.

 

[Pippin]

Found 3 Renogy one hundred watt panels for cheap. With my controller, Rover mppt 40 amp, it is limited 100 v. Each panel shows open circuit voltage of 21.6. And vmp of 17.9.
is there a fudge factor? Can I run five of these panels? If so how so?
thanks

 

[gnubie]

Imp is 5.72. 5 of these panels (as in the panels you have shown the spec label for just now) in parallel yields 28.6 amps. Controller current limit is 40amps. In that regard it can be done.

System nominal voltage, from your earlier posts in this thread, 12V. 500 watts into nominal 12v is 41.6 amps. Controller will limit at 40 amps. Some production will be lost at peak, assuming your array ever actually produces 500 watts, which it probably won't.

Vmp is higher than battery voltage. In that regard it can be done, but it is close to battery.

 

[tljones7879]

I’m brand new to solar! I am doing a van build and the van I bought has installed a 1200 Dimensions pure sine wave inverter. I will use this inverter for a coffee pot and maybe a small microwave. I will be ordering two 250 watt panels from SanTan solar and a kit with charge controller and fuses etc. I’m told two 100ah AGM batteries would take care of the 12v refrigerator, water pump, 5 led lights and feed the inverter enough to operate a coffee pot. Should I have three 100ah batteries rather than two? The extent of my solar experience is that two days ago I spent $3 on a Dollar general solar led light that stakes in the ground and has a little 1inch by 1 inch panel. I HAD to buy this thing just to see if solar power is real, and after spending all day in the sun, when I turned the switch on, it lit up! Is the formula, amps times bolts equals watts? I prefer to not use my van alternator to charge house batteries. Aside from solar, I would like to be able to use shore power to charge batteries if need be. Is there an in-line component I can use to shore power to charge batteries? Thank you for the answers! Terry