diy solar

diy solar

DIY 600 watts in partial shaded RV roof top

FieldPivot

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On my RV roof I have 600 watts of solar made by Rich Solar.
Like this 3 in series x 2 parallel together which is producing 64volts to the Epever Tracer-AN4210 40amp model.

I have shaded area on the roof throughout the day on this RV which is why I am running 6 panels.

My question is, would full sunlight to all panels damage this controller? Should I configure it differently?

Also, my battery bank is 2x12v 200ah Renogy AMG batteries.
 
You have a Max of 36 amps going to the batteris from the charge controller. Should not hurt it unless the unlikely case voltage is a factor.
 
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My question is, would full sunlight to all panels damage this controller? Should I configure it differently?
Your configuration is fine. No, full sunlight to all panels won't damage the controller. The Rich Solar 100W panels (depending on model) typically have a voltage open circuit (Voc) of 22.6V to 22.8V. Your three panels in series would result in a Voc of under 70V. The max PV Voc for your controller is 100V, so even in cold weather you have plenty of headroom.

What's the max voltage of your charge controller?
For this and future reference, the Tracer AN series max PV voltage open circuit (Voc) can be determined by the last two digits of the model number. The OP has the 4210, which has max Voc of 100V. (A Tracer 2206AN would be Voc of 60V etc.)

Here's an excerpt from the manual:

1628707785773.png
 
I mention this because you said partially shaded. I found my my three 100 watt panels I have in series do not react good to shade.

By just shading 2 cells on one panel, and the other two panels in the sun, wattage was reduced by about one quarter. When I shaded one panel 50% and the other two were in the sun, I had a reduction in wattage by three quarters.

My original plan was all six 100 watt panels in parallel, but the amps would be quite a lot, more than 10 gauge is made for. Because of voltage loss, I decided on 3S2P.

Your roof is what you're dealt and you just have to do the best with it.

 
Your configuration is fine. No, full sunlight to all panels won't damage the controller. The Rich Solar 100W panels (depending on model) typically have a voltage open circuit (Voc) of 22.6V to 22.8V. Your three panels in series would result in a Voc of under 70V. The max PV Voc for your controller is 100V, so even in cold weather you have plenty of headroom.


For this and future reference, the Tracer AN series max PV voltage open circuit (Voc) can be determined by the last two digits of the model number. The OP has the 4210, which has max Voc of 100V. (A Tracer 2206AN would be Voc of 60V etc.)

Here's an excerpt from the manual:

View attachment 59732


Hello Bob, thanks for responing.

I have noticed that my PV (as an example) gives 64 volts @ 3S2P and 1.6 AMP yet shows 8 AMP going to battery. How is this possible that more amps is being given to the battery than coming into the controller?
 
When I bought my panels I notice the voltage was the same facing the wall or facing the sun. 64v x 1.6a= 12v x8.5a
 
Because your mppt solar charge controller is reducing the voltage to 13 or 14 volts per your charge parameters and increasing the amps.
 
Putting panels on the roof of an RV requires a champion Tetris player. The four panels on the front of your trailer look fine. I would have found something bigger for the area towards the rear and used a separate solar charge controller. Maybe. Kind of hard to armchair QB it from here. It looks like you have room for expansion.

How many Z brackets did you use on each panel. I think I see one on each end. I would have used two on each of the long sides for a total of four brackets on each panel.
 
Because your mppt solar charge controller is reducing the voltage to 13 or 14 volts per your charge parameters and increasing the amps.
Where it
Putting panels on the roof of an RV requires a champion Tetris player. The four panels on the front of your trailer look fine. I would have found something bigger for the area towards the rear and used a separate solar charge controller. Maybe. Kind of hard to armchair QB it from here. It looks like you have room for expansion.

How many Z brackets did you use on each panel. I think I see one on each end. I would have used two on each of the long sides for a total of four brackets on each Z bra
 
Putting panels on the roof of an RV requires a champion Tetris player. The four panels on the front of your trailer look fine. I would have found something bigger for the area towards the rear and used a separate solar charge controller. Maybe. Kind of hard to armchair QB it from here. It looks like you have room for expansion.

How many Z brackets did you use on each panel. I think I see one on each end. I would have used two on each of the long sides for a total of four brackets on each panel.
Seems more like chess.. My RV sits here year round for now, which has a tree covering most of the rear area of roof. In fact it is those two which gets shaded shortly after noon. For this reason, my 3s2p configuration has one of the rear panels on each series run. I also don't want more holes on my roof than needed until I figure out a better method, holes now = 18 (overlapped 3 mounts) rather than 48 holes 4 brackets on each panel (32 holes if 6 mounts were overlapped). Surprisingly it is rather rigid as it is, even with butyl tape between mounts and rubber roof. Temporary for now. As for 2 controllers, there again means 4 more holes and another box on my limited wall space. Thanks for responding!20210814_092302.jpg20210814_092610.jpg
 
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