Dappled sun issues?

[Sutty]

Damn, I had a long thread here, already to go, and I lost it. Oh well, I'll try again, but much shorter. I'm a complete beginner, and any system I had in place that worked would have been more good luck than good management, as I almost threw my system together at the start.

Two 100W panels in parallel, that were keeping up, for 5 years, are now not, having switched to 24V battery, instead of 12V. Originally 2 x 12V 110Ah SLA batteries in parallel, but now for various reasons, I wanted 24V, so I switched things around, and changed a lot of other things too, and am struggling. I was using a 20A PWM controller, and now have a 20A mppt controller, and 2 new batteries, again 12V, 110Ah, but now AGM, and in series.

Because I went to 24V, I had to put my panels in series too, otherwise I didn't have enough voltage, and now my system is struggling to keep up.

I only have a 4-6W continuous load so I don't have much to make up, but still, right now, even on a full sun day, I only get 25W. Yes, it's a net gain, but it's not enough, because here in the UK we can have many poor days in a row. On physically observing the installation, I see that there is very dappled sunlight on the panels. This is due to it being summer, and the sun tracking across the sky very high, and passing over, rather than in front of the trees that are behind and overhanging my cabin, and I'm wondering if changing to series panels has made my system far less tolerant of shading?

Also, at a full sun moment, my mppt controller is outputting less than the required bulk charge voltage, and I'm wondering if that too is compounding the issue? Maybe it's tracking the maximum power point, in this dappled sun, and that's at a voltage less than that of bulk? Either way, I'm just barely keeping up, though things may improve, ironically, as I move into autumn, as the sun tracks lower. Panels are angled to be optimised for winter, when things would theoretically be at their worst, to try and make up for that, so I wouldn't get perfect results, even if the sun could shine on them directly right now.

6W is all I need, and I could perhaps use a smaller battery, but I also use it with an inverter, for mains power when I'm there, infrequently, so I went with bigish batteries to cope with my inverter needs, and also to make sure I had cover for many days in a row, of rain.

Could it have made such a big change, switching to series panels, and an mppt controller, as a result of my dappled sun, or is it simply that I didn't check last year, when the results might have been the same? Basically, I hadn't noticed that the trees were shading my panels, when it tracks at or close to its highest, so I probably didn't check SOC, etc, thinking, it must be doing well, it's sunny. Embarrassingly, it's only this week, that I've noticed this issue, perplexed as to why I only had 25W in full sun. I can come further forward, on the roof, which brings them more into full sunshine, but perhaps, if I'm going up there to do that, I might be just as well to just replace them with a 500W panel instead.

On a rainy, full cloud day, I see I make just under 3W. Maybe with a 500W panel, fitted lower down the roof, I will make enough to at least keep up with my 6W demand during the day?

Which brings me to another question, there seems to be many types of panel, half cell, etc, etc, and also wildly varying prices. One thought I had was to buy two more identical 100W panels, series those together, and parallel them with the existing series panels, but two of those costs a lot more than I can get a 500W panel for, so what's going on there?

Current equipment:

Epever Tracer2210AN SCC



2 x 12V 110Ah AGM Batteries in series
2 x 100W Panels in series

• Peak power: 100W
• Maximum power voltage: 19.3V
• Maximum power current: 5.18A
• Open circuit voltage: 22.9V
• Short circuit current: 5.56A

Would a 500W panel like the one below, if I also moved it down my roof, away from the tree shade, serve me better, and why is it so cheap, or at least it seems cheap to me?

JA Solar 500W Mono MBB PERC Half-Cell Silver Rigid Solar Panel - JAM66S-30-500-MR-MC4

JA Solar 500W Mono Rigid Solar Panel - JAM66S-30-500-MR-MC4 Harness the sun's limitless energy with the 500W JA Solar Panel - JAM66S-30-500-MR-MC4,…

infinite-solar.co.uk

Sadly, I cannot trim the trees, by the way, but here is a shot of the installation, in which you can see the dappled effect on the panels, whilst it's evident from the rest of the picture that it's pretty sunny.




Thanks for any thoughts.

Cheers

Sutty

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Damn, I had a long thread here, already to go, and I lost it. Oh well, I'll try again, but much shorter. I'm a complete beginner, and any system I had in place that worked would have been more good luck than good management, as I almost threw my system together at the start.

Two 100W panels in parallel, that were keeping up, for 5 years, are now not, having switched to 24V battery, instead of 12V. Originally 2 x 12V 110Ah SLA batteries in parallel, but now for various reasons, I wanted 24V, so I switched things around, and changed a lot of other things too, and am struggling. I was using a 20A PWM controller, and now have a 20A mppt controller, and 2 new batteries, again 12V, 110Ah, but now AGM, and in series.

Are you sure it's a legit controller? Many fakes labeled "MPPT" in some way.

Because I went to 24V, I had to put my panels in series too, otherwise I didn't have enough voltage, and now my system is struggling to keep up.

You haven't upgraded the system in any way. You still have the same battery capacity (2 * 110Ah * 12V = 2.64kWh) and same solar, 200W.

I only have a 4-6W continuous load so I don't have much to make up, but still, right now, even on a full sun day, I only get 25W. Yes, it's a net gain, but it's not enough, because here in the UK we can have many poor days in a row. On physically observing the installation, I see that there is very dappled sunlight on the panels. This is due to it being summer, and the sun tracking across the sky very high, and passing over, rather than in front of the trees that are behind and overhanging my cabin, and I'm wondering if changing to series panels has made my system far less tolerant of shading?

Possibly. If you are subject to partial shading, PV performance can be utterly destroyed. Shade/partial shade is as harmful to PV performance as the guillotine is to necks.

Also, at a full sun moment, my mppt controller is outputting less than the required bulk charge voltage, and I'm wondering if that too is compounding the issue?

Any controller can only output slightly above battery voltage. The battery is a load to the controller, so it pulls the controllers output voltage down to just a hair above battery voltage.

Maybe it's tracking the maximum power point, in this dappled sun, and that's at a voltage less than that of bulk?

No. See above.

Either way, I'm just barely keeping up, though things may improve, ironically, as I move into autumn, as the sun tracks lower. Panels are angled to be optimised for winter, when things would theoretically be at their worst, to try and make up for that, so I wouldn't get perfect results, even if the sun could shine on them directly right now.

Shading trumps all. the panels should be moved to where they are not shaded. Flat on the ground in full sun would be way better.

6W is all I need, and I could perhaps use a smaller battery, but I also use it with an inverter, for mains power when I'm there, infrequently, so I went with bigish batteries to cope with my inverter needs, and also to make sure I had cover for many days in a row, of rain.

Is this a pure DC load, or are you running an inverter? If an inverter, what is the idle power of the inverter?

Could it have made such a big change, switching to series panels, and an mppt controller, as a result of my dappled sun, or is it simply that I didn't check last year, when the results might have been the same?

Hard to say, but you have identified clear and huge issues. Parallel and 12V may have outperformed series especially with a PWM controller. PWM are decidedly unsophisticated... they simply short the panel to the battery and can at times outperform MPPT in highly unfavorable conditions.

Basically, I hadn't noticed that the trees were shading my panels, when it tracks at or close to its highest, so I probably didn't check SOC, etc, thinking, it must be doing well, it's sunny. Embarrassingly, it's only this week, that I've noticed this issue, perplexed as to why I only had 25W in full sun. I can come further forward, on the roof, which brings them more into full sunshine, but perhaps, if I'm going up there to do that, I might be just as well to just replace them with a 500W panel instead.

I'm not seeing a problem here...

On a rainy, full cloud day, I see I make just under 3W. Maybe with a 500W panel, fitted lower down the roof, I will make enough to at least keep up with my 6W demand during the day?

Maybe. That's just 100% shade but to varying degrees. Shade is bad.

Which brings me to another question, there seems to be many types of panel, half cell, etc, etc, and also wildly varying prices. One thought I had was to buy two more identical 100W panels, series those together, and parallel them with the existing series panels, but two of those costs a lot more than I can get a 500W panel for, so what's going on there?

Smaller panels always have higher $/Watt. The non-cell portions (frame, wires, box, diodes) represent a larger % of total materials AND there are major economies of scale on larger panels...

Current equipment:

Epever Tracer2210AN SCC

View attachment 161856

That answers the question. That's a legit controller.

2 x 12V 110Ah AGM Batteries in series
2 x 100W Panels in series

• Peak power: 100W
• Maximum power voltage: 19.3V
• Maximum power current: 5.18A
• Open circuit voltage: 22.9V
• Short circuit current: 5.56A

Would a 500W panel like the one below, if I also moved it down my roof, away from the tree shade, serve me better, and why is it so cheap, or at least it seems cheap to me?

JA Solar 500W Mono MBB PERC Half-Cell Silver Rigid Solar Panel - JAM66S-30-500-MR-MC4

JA Solar 500W Mono Rigid Solar Panel - JAM66S-30-500-MR-MC4 Harness the sun's limitless energy with the 500W JA Solar Panel - JAM66S-30-500-MR-MC4,…

infinite-solar.co.uk

https://infinite-solar.co.uk/media/pdf/cd/da/b0/JA-Solar-JAM66S30-480-505-MR-Solar-Panel-Data-Sheet.pdf

Perfectly acceptable panel that will work with your controllers; however, if in a shaded location, it will suck.

Sadly, I cannot trim the trees, by the way, but here is a shot of the installation, in which you can see the dappled effect on the panels, whilst it's evident from the rest of the picture that it's pretty sunny.

Yeah. Terrible place to put PV.

Load/day:
6W * 24h = 144Wh

PV:
200W = about 800Wh/day, i.e., 3 full days of sunshine from sunrise to sunset should fully charge your battery OR generate enough to run your load for 6+ hours.

Capacity / load:
2640Wh / 144Wh = 18 DAYS

You should be able to power your load for 18 days from a full battery charge.

Fundamentally, you are using more than you are able to produce.

This is clearly due in part to horrible PV conditions and possibly because your loads are actually higher than you expect.

Simply moving your 2X 100W panels into unrestricted sun for just a few hours a day should solve your problem.

If the new location has the potential for shading, find another spot.

 

[Sutty]

Brilliant, thanks for taking the time. I'll try to reply to each individual comment.

Are you sure it's a legit controller? Many fakes labeled "MPPT" in some way.

Yes, EPEVER, as you saw later.

You haven't upgraded the system in any way. You still have the same battery capacity (2 * 110Ah * 12V = 2.64kWh) and same solar, 200W.

That's right, I didn't claim to have, only to have made several changes. The only theoretical upgrade made was to change to an mppt controller.

Possibly. If you are subject to partial shading, PV performance can be utterly destroyed. Shade/partial shade is as harmful to PV performance as the guillotine is to necks.

Partial shading, for sure, at this time of year. Lower down the roof will help, a lot, but also increases the risk of vandalism or theft, but it's something I'll have to do.

Any controller can only output slightly above battery voltage. The battery is a load to the controller, so it pulls the controllers output voltage down to just a hair above battery voltage.

Okay, that explains that then. Thank you.

Shading trumps all. the panels should be moved to where they are not shaded. Flat on the ground in full sun would be way better.

I'll have to go with further down the roof, because on the floor, for sure, they will not be there when I return, despite the camera system.

Is this a pure DC load, or are you running an inverter? If an inverter, what is the idle power of the inverter?

Pure DC load, of 6W for sure, or a bit less. Inverter is nearly always off with an isolator. Soft off uses too much, I measured it. It's only on when I'm there, when it goes dark.

Hard to say, but you have identified clear and huge issues. Parallel and 12V may have outperformed series especially with a PWM controller. PWM are decidedly unsophisticated... they simply short the panel to the battery and can at times outperform MPPT in highly unfavorable conditions.

It's interesting, and I suspected that this might be a possibility, because they really are unfavourable, at least for the moment, and, it used to work, with the pwm controller, but there was also the fact that they were parallel panels, and are now series. I suspect both are playing a part here, especially now you've explained about pwm.

I'm not seeing a problem here...

No, that's good then, I'm likely going to go with the 500W panel, despite you saying later that I may well do well enough from simply moving the existing panels down the roof. If I'm going up there remounting stuff, I may as well do it with a 500W panel, and be sure. I'm sure I can find another use for those 2 x 100W panels, and my now spare pwm controller.

Maybe. That's just 100% shade but to varying degrees. Shade is bad.

Yes, I'm discovering just how bad it is. I know it's obvious, but I hadn't even noticed they were in shade, mid summer, until last week. Really poor of me, but it's true. I'd be curious to see how they'll do in about 6 weeks, but I'll probably have changed things by then.

Smaller panels always have higher $/Watt. The non-cell portions (frame, wires, box, diodes) represent a larger % of total materials AND there are major economies of scale on larger panels...

To me, it's a dramatic difference, but I do take your point. The actual cells themselves must be trivial then. I thought in the UK it was around £1/W, however, this panel is much better than that. No doubt there will be carriage to pay, and other things, but lets see, if it will work, I'm going to get it.

That answers the question. That's a legit controller.

Good to know. I hoped it was.

Yeah. Terrible place to put PV.

It only has the one roof, and the cabin can't be moved either, lol, so I'm tied, but for sure it can be improved, by putting it right at the front, which I'll do, whether it be existing or new.

Perfectly acceptable panel that will work with your controllers; however, if in a shaded location, it will suck.

Good to know. By suck, do you mean it will suck more than others might, if I chose better, or it will suck in just the same way, the way in which shade always makes it suck, as you've just explained? If the latter, I've already seen the result of that, so I would expect it to suck, but be 2.5 times better at sucking, especially near the front of the roof.

Capacity / load:
2640Wh / 144Wh = 18 DAYS

Thanks for the calculation, I came to the same conclusion, but half of that to remain within 50% discharge. Actually, it will be even less than that now, because I have set a super conservative LVC, to protect the batteries, especially whilst having issues.

Fundamentally, you are using more than you are able to produce.

Right now, it's close, maybe a net win, whilst sunny, but for sure, you're right, with a few bad days on top of that, I'm struggling.

This is clearly due in part to horrible PV conditions and possibly because your loads are actually higher than you expect.

Yes, thank you for confirming this. For certain they are coming down the roof, whether it be the old two, or the new one. Load is 6W or less, for certain. It is all via the SCC load output, and can be measured perfectly. Nothing else is connected to the battery, if the inverter is off, which it is.

Simply moving your 2X 100W panels into unrestricted sun for just a few hours a day should solve your problem.

I suspect you're right, with all that has now been explained, but as I said higher up in this reply, if I'm doing that, I may as well get a bigger panel instead, and be certain. Main thing is that you've confirmed that there's nothing wrong with my choice of panel, and the price seems right to me. I'll see what the extras come to and make my final decision, if you could just confirm what you meant by it sucking in shade, as I asked above.

Once again, brilliant of you to address all those points one by one, I can't thank you enough.

Cheers

Sutty

 

[sunshine_eggo]

500W should suck equally as any others, i.e., you'll get about 2.5X what you're getting now

What is your LVC level? MANY set this too high.

 

[Sutty]

Thanks, sucking equally is all I can hope for, perfect. LVC is at 24.2V. It was 22.2V, as the SCC default.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Thanks, sucking equally is all I can hope for, perfect. LVC is at 24.2V. It was 22.2V, as the SCC default.

Under such a low draw, 24.2 is not horrible, but it's conservative. Voltages for 50% are RESTING - typically for 10-24 hours depending on the battery specification.

Deeper discharges are not catastrophic events. Quality AGM should last about 250 Full depth discharges and about 1200 discharges to 50% before they deteriorate to 70-80% of rated. The occasional dip to 20% is unlikely to register on the cycle life scale. I would seriously consider 23.4V (20-25%) for a LVC. The preference is also for regular full charges at least a few times a week, so the two would go hand-in-hand.

 

[Sutty]

Thanks, that's great info again. I was trying to be conservative, especially at the moment, whilst I'm having issues. Once I get things sorted, I'll go for your recommendation. By full charge, do you mean a charge to full, or a drain and refill charge to full, because if I get a set-up that will keep up, I'll have no way to pull them down for a refill charge, they'll just keep dipping overnight, and then be topped off the next day. As you know, my load is just 6W, unless I'm there, when the inverter may go on, and I could take out quite a bit, with the microwave, etc, and if I did, I'd be hoping by the following week, it would be back up.

It's a fishing cabin, and the season is closed over winter, so I won't even be there from November through to March, which is why it's needed that it does its own thing, but I can check in on the app, and on my cameras, any time I want to. As it stands I am going weekly for a day's fishing.

 

[Sutty]

Here's a screenshot right now, at half past midnight, which is a rather typical result. Total energy is low, because I reconnected it on Tuesday, so everything reset. Probably had it reconnected from about 2PM.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Thanks, that's great info again. I was trying to be conservative, especially at the moment, whilst I'm having issues. Once I get things sorted, I'll go for your recommendation. By full charge, do you mean a charge to full,

Simply a charge to full. Lead acid never needs a full discharge.

or a drain and refill charge to full, because if I get a set-up that will keep up, I'll have no way to pull them down for a refill charge, they'll just keep dipping overnight, and then be topped off the next day. As you know, my load is just 6W, unless I'm there, when the inverter may go on, and I could take out quite a bit, with the microwave, etc, and if I did, I'd be hoping by the following week, it would be back up.

It's a fishing cabin, and the season is closed over winter, so I won't even be there from November through to March, which is why it's needed that it does its own thing, but I can check in on the app, and on my cameras, any time I want to. As it stands I am going weekly for a day's fishing.

Gotcha!

Here's a screenshot right now, at half past midnight, which is a rather typical result. Total energy is low, because I reconnected it on Tuesday, so everything reset. Probably had it reconnected from about 2PM.

View attachment 162154

Cool.

6W is the camera? What provides the internet for off-site monitoring?

 

[Sutty]

Simply a charge to full. Lead acid never needs a full discharge.



Gotcha!



Cool.

6W is the camera? What provides the internet for off-site monitoring?

Great, gotcha.

Permanently connected to that load, on the SCC, is the camera hub, a mobile phone, and a MiFi router. The mobile phone itself would have done, for internet, but, I'm so far off the beaten track, that its mobile data connection is too poor. It does serve to manage, slowly, if I turn the load off and hence the MiFi router, but it only gives me access for about 12 hours, before it goes flat. Power on, is set to auto boot, so it comes back up. It needs to, because it's what I control everything with. The MiFi router has better mobile data because it's more sophisticated, and has external moveable antennas, etc. Cameras are battery powered, with batteries that last comfortably 2 years, so nothing to worry me there. 2 years at 10 x 5 second clips per day, and I get one every few months, and the rest of the time they are in uber deep sleep. Super clever stuff. EDIT: (Not by me, I might add, I meant the technology, lol.) The low power demand of the entire system is incredible.

 

[Rednecktek]

I'm sure I can find another use for those 2 x 100W panels, and my now spare pwm controller.

Stick them in series on a ground mount to the PWM and parallel it with the 500w panel for extra production? A solid frame keeps theft down by making it more of a hassle than it's usually worth and you've got the panels anyways.

And yeah, that's not dappled shade, that's just straight up shade.

 

[Sutty]

Stick them in series on a ground mount to the PWM and parallel it with the 500w panel for extra production? A solid frame keeps theft down by making it more of a hassle than it's usually worth and you've got the panels anyways.

Good idea, and funny you should mention this, but thank you for doing so. As I drifted off to sleep, last night, thinking of all things panel, lol, I wondered if I could use more than one SCC and if either of them would be upset by the other. I thought I'd read elsewhere of people doing this?

If they are both okay with it, and I think I read, in their respective manuals, that they are, I could just leave them up there, where they are. I'll double check the manuals, but I think I read, words to this effect, 'You should feel free to connect any other charger to your battery array, without first disconnecting the SCC.' This would make sense, I suppose, as people would want to charge their batteries, periodically, from utility power, if available. On this basis, again I suppose, another SCC is just another charger. So old panels on the PWM, an the new panel on the new mppt, if it checks out that this is allowed?

I could also mount the bigger, new panel, flat to the roof, which would have that one producing well in the height of summer, with the sun overhead, and the back two, remaining where they are now, would come into their own, as winter sun approached, whilst still getting some production from the new 500W panel, albeit with the angle being overly shallow for winter sun.

I'm uncomfortable with "on the ground", for many reasons. Scrotes, that appear there periodically, have variously tried to get in through the roof at the rear, succeeded in getting in through the front door, by destroying the door frame, which is now replaced and shored up with thick metal crow bar resisting plates, and even tried cutting down a tree, before giving up on it, but not before having ringed it, causing its slow death, which annoyed me no end. In addition, I'm on the bank of a river, and the ground is prone to flooding.

True, all these incursions, before I deployed my security cameras, of which there are now a number, which have already put off two would be intruders, but still, because I'm not there, and cannot get there quickly, and can call on no one else to attend, I can't have anything that would be available for people to attempt to mangle, smash, or steal, because sadly, someone, eventually would. Bear in mind, the place is completely unattended, for several months in a row, over winter. People, eh, urgh!

The reason I'm now toying with the idea of 'flat to the roof' for the new panel, after what you've said about being able to utilise both systems in parallel to the batteries, is that I'm uncomfortable with the new panel poking up into the air like that, so near to the front, for people being able to readily bash at it with a stick. Flat, it will be far less obvious, and harder to hit, not to mention being much easier to mount. Yes, I was planning for it to be angled, and at the front, but I was already feeling uncomfortable about it, but thought I'd no choice, and you've now presented another option.

Worst case, I can start with it like that, and if it still doesn't cut the mustard, I can angle it up later, if I have to.

Does this seem like a reasonable plan, given the restrictions I've described? Any and all thoughts would be welcome.

Thanks all.

Sutty

 

[Rednecktek]

Yeah, it's super simple and fairly common. Here's how you would do it:

1: Connect up old panels in series through PWM.
2: Forget that system exists.
3: Install new panel and controller.

Take both sets of power wires from the SCC's to the batteries as if the other set of panels didn't exist.

 

[Sutty]

Fantastic, then this is what I'll do, thank you. Panel to be ordered soon.

And yeah, that's not dappled shade, that's just straight up shade.

Lastly, I forgot to reply to this. Yes, I think you're right, that's perhaps not such a good picture of the dapple, and the sun must have been angled such that I had almost full shade at that moment, but as I studied it last week, in what should have been good sun, it was genuinely dappled, as it came through the leaves, which mystified me momentarily. I then went behind the cabin, to look up, past the panels, from a better angle, and was totally surprised by how high the sun was, through the trees. I mean it put a fair old crick in my neck, and it was just then that I realised what an issue the current location was. I then went back round the front, and noted that the front of the roof was in proper sun.

Cheers

Sutty

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Fantastic, then this is what I'll do, thank you. Panel to be ordered soon.



Lastly, I forgot to reply to this. Yes, I think you're right, that's perhaps not such a good picture of the dapple, and the sun must have been angled such that I had almost full shade at that moment, but as I studied it last week, in what should have been good sun, it was genuinely dappled, as it came through the leaves, which mystified me momentarily. I then went behind the cabin, to look up, past the panels, from a better angle, and was totally surprised by how high the sun was, through the trees. I mean it put a fair old crick in my neck, and it was just then that I realised what an issue the current location was. I then went back round the front, and noted that the front of the roof was in proper sun.

Cheers

Sutty

Charging from multiple sources

One can have as many independent charging sources running concurrently as they like provided they are programmed properly for the voltage of one's battery bank. Examples (some or all at once, even multiples of a single type, different brands, etc.): Solar PV via MPPT Solar PV via PWM AC-DC...

diysolarforum.com

Shading, dappling, etc., is typically devastating to PV production:

Worth a quick read:

The Effect of Shade on Solar Panels. - MCI Solutions

Winter brings many challenges for maintenance and operations personnel as they work to keep the product flowing. Solar power systems are pushed to their maximum. In an effort to maintain a healthy knowledge of the products we implement please read the following information from the Kyocera...

mcisolutions.ca

 

[Sutty]

Excellent, thanks, I shall do just that.

 

[SamDeleted]

it was genuinely dappled, as it came through the leaves, which mystified me momentarily. I then went behind the cabin, to look up, past the panels, from a better angle, and was totally surprised by how high the sun was, through the trees.

Hahahaha , don't worry , we are in the UK , it'll back down low in the sky in no time ?

 

[Sutty]

Lol, yes, I'm hoping so.

I'm still getting the new panel. Just waiting on the supplier getting back to me with regard to bracketry.

 

[Sutty]

Worth a quick read:

Reads almost more devastating than you suggested, although to be fair, your analogy of a guillotine to the neck is fairly devastating.

 

[Sutty]

Got the new 500W panel installed yesterday, and connected to my new mppt controller. Old panels now connected to my old PWM controller, with both connected to my batteries. Seems to be working, but time will tell.

Checked idle power consumption, on the mppt load output, after completion, using a direct connection to the bluetooth comms device, and discovered it to be an average of only about 3W. I had thought it was around 6W, but that was because, when doing it from home, I had to connect to the phone in the cabin, which woke up both the phone and the WiFi router. With those two devices both active, it was/is about 6W, but with them at idle, with me present on site, connecting directly to the controller, I could see it was only about 3W.

Can probably look at the cumulative logs to confirm that, once it's been up and running for a sufficient length of time. Anyway, on the bright side, today is overcast and drizzling, and when I checked just now I was making about 6W just from the new panel, despite its more flat angle, and no doubt a little bit from the old ones, angled, but back in the shade, lol. Sadly, as of now, I can't also check on those, because I only have one comms device, which is in the mppt controller. I've ordered another, so that I can connect to first one then the other, every now and again, to see what's going on.

Pretty sure if the sun ever shines again here in the UK, my batteries will get topped off nicely on a fairly regular basis, and it will all tick along well enough to last for long periods, probably weeks, without any reasonable direct sun, should those circumstances arise.

Here's a picture of me during mounting, taken by a mate of mine, who was helping.



Thanks for all the help, it's been invaluable. Next task would appear to be a paint job, lol.

Cheers

Sutty