No power - renogy 40A MPPt

[kate066]

Can anyone help me understand my system. I have 350W of Renogy flexible solar running 2 x 100A of batteries through a 40A Renogy MPPT

These are the readings I got today. Why isn't the MPPT producing any power? Does the battery need to drop below a certain level for the MPPT to kick in? I know the solar need to be 6V more, which it is. I don't understand. Can someone please explain how and when the MPPT should work. The batteries are charging as at 13.2V and dropping to 12.7v when my fridge turns on

Many thanks

Kate

 

[rodrick]

Do you have the ability to turn the pv off and shut the battery down also if so do solar first and then battery and restart your system battery first then pv
It look like the controller is saying 100% on one screen and 75% on another maybe a restart will help

 

[kate066]

Thanks for the response @rodrick. It's two different readings at two different times. The 12.7 was when I managed to get my fridge to charge and lower the voltage. Nevertheless, my concern in both screens is the lack of A and W. With the solar power at 22V surely the MPPT should have kicked in

 

[rodrick]

A bad connection can show voltage but there isn’t any amperage there and when a load is applied it will disappear

do you have a dmm

do you have experience working with electrical equipment

 

[mikefitz]

The SOC reading on the Renogy is based on voltage and so is not a very accurate method, not too bad for lead battery but cannot be relied on.
Are you using the load outputs or are the loads connected to the battery?

The lack of current readings is not good and suggests the panels are not producing current. It's possible for a panel set up to indicate volts, with due to issues, not send current to the load. These issues could be cable connection problems or interconnection faults within the panels.

How to Test Solar Panels Like Pro? - Quick And Easy - Solar Living Savvy

Congratulations! Your journey to clean energy has begun. You're about to install your solar panels. Before you do that, you must be wondering how to test your

www.literoflightusa.org

Volts are easy to test and it seems you have panel volts. To measure current with a multimeter is slightly more complex and the actual process will depend on the meter. You meter may need the probes connected to different sockets on the meter. Remember to change back to voltage mode after measuring current.

Mike

 

[kate066]

A bad connection can show voltage but there isn’t any amperage there and when a load is applied it will disappear

do you have a dmm

do you have experience working with electrical equipment

No idea what a dmm is. I have no experience of electric circuits.

 

[kate066]

The SOC reading on the Renogy is based on voltage and so is not a very accurate method, not too bad for lead battery but cannot be relied on.
Are you using the load outputs or are the loads connected to the battery?

The lack of current readings is not good and suggests the panels are not producing current. It's possible for a panel set up to indicate volts, with due to issues, not send current to the load. These issues could be cable connection problems or interconnection faults within the panels.

How to Test Solar Panels Like Pro? - Quick And Easy - Solar Living Savvy

Congratulations! Your journey to clean energy has begun. You're about to install your solar panels. Before you do that, you must be wondering how to test your

www.literoflightusa.org

Volts are easy to test and it seems you have panel volts. To measure current with a multimeter is slightly more complex and the actual process will depend on the meter. You meter may need the probes connected to different sockets on the meter. Remember to change back to voltage mode after measuring current.

Mike

Thanks @mikefii am aware that the lack of current is a problem!! It has been fine for 2 years. Ill try to test my solar panels directly tomorrow, but am not sure how easy that will be. My question was about how the MPPT works, as I know it only kicks in when the solar is a certain level about the battery

 

[mikefitz]

My question was about how the MPPT works, as I know it only kicks in when the solar is a certain level about the battery

It's a few volts above battery volts to start in the morning , ( Renogy suggest 16 volts in the manual for 13.5 volt lithium, no value given for lead acid), then around 1 volt higher than battery to continue working.
If the panels are a few years old then I am sorry to say that most likely they have failed internally. This is a common age for flexible panels to fail and the symptoms are similar to yours, volts but no current. It's just possible its a poor connection between panels and controller is the issue, perhaps in a MC4 connector. Measuring current is the required test to confirm operational panel.
If poor access to panels disconnect from controller and test those cables. Take care , 22 volts measured suggests the panels are connected in parallel so the current could exceed the common 10 amp meter range. Measuring each panel separately is advised.
Renogy have a 5 year warranty so provided you can show evidence of failure they should replace. Good luck.

Mike

 

[kate066]

It's a few volts above battery volts to start in the morning , ( Renogy suggest 16 volts in the manual for 13.5 volt lithium, no value given for lead acid), then around 1 volt higher than battery to continue working.
If the panels are a few years old then I am sorry to say that most likely they have failed internally. This is a common age for flexible panels to fail and the symptoms are similar to yours, volts but no current. It's just possible its a poor connection between panels and controller is the issue, perhaps in a MC4 connector. Measuring current is the required test to confirm operational panel.
If poor access to panels disconnect from controller and test those cables. Take care , 22 volts measured suggests the panels are connected in parallel so the current could exceed the common 10 amp meter range. Measuring each panel separately is advised.
Renogy have a 5 year warranty so provided you can show evidence of failure they should replace. Good luck.

Mike

Thanks @mikefitz . I'm going to check the fuses and see if thats the issue. The leisure batteries are charging up to 13.4A, so some current is getting through. This is why I thought it might be the MPPT that is the issue. The MPPT is under warranty until Feb- the solar panels for a few more years, so either way the issue is covered.

Edit: the lights on the MPPPt say the PV array indicator is charging the battery bank (which aligns with the voltage of 13.2)

 

[Rednecktek]

Ssssoooooo.... lead acid? Or lithium? Either way the first pic shows charging voltage of 12.6 which is too low for anything out there.

 

[kate066]

Ssssoooooo.... lead acid? Or lithium? Either way the first pic shows charging voltage of 12.6 which is too low for anything out there.

That's the load voltage - ie the voltage of the batteries (which were under load at this time). 2 x 100Ah Sealed batteries

 

[Rednecktek]

Aaahhhh, I thought that was the charging voltage.