Off-grid solar and ham radio noise

[ericfx1984]

So I live off-grid and have a completely off-grid solar setup... 22 kilowatt hours of lithium iron phosphate batteries and several MPPT charge controllers... What I found is the sunnier it gets the more noise I have on all bands

The noise seems to be spaced about every 40 kilohertz

It's kind of a high pitch whining or whirling type sound

I don't notice it when the sun is down and I don't notice it if I shut off my MPPT charge controllers

How can I solve this?

 

[Craig]

Faraday cage around your MPPT controllers?

 

[Johno1066]

You are screwed as long as you have an inverter anywhere near you transciever. Had this problem around 20 years ago when running a 64 ft sailboat in the Carribean. Could not read weak signals but close by strong signals were fine. checked out the Icom over and over again ith all the shipboard electronic shut down but the onboard noise just dials up the AGC and you cannot copy 100 wat signals frommiles away but boats around you can. Finaly figured out the problem when I found that all the shipboard power was 24 volts DC but the radio and some instrumentation was 12 volts and they had a 24 volts to 12 volts converter which was making the noise. I think that the choppers are the culprits and I do not know how you overcome them except by turning them off and operating on your battery while transmitting and receiving. When done turn your inverters back on.

 

[JWLV]

First you should find out if the noise interference is at your transceiver or at the antenna. If it's the transceiver, move it farther from your solar gear. If it's the antenna, either move your solar gear or mount the antenna elsewhere.

 

[Quattrohead]

Yeah it could be coming in via the power lines or the antenna.
Also you say you have multiple mppt controllers, I would shut off one at a time and see if there's any particular one that's causing it.

 

[Johno1066]

If your rig runs off of a battery supply you will have to shut down your inverters and controllers one at a time untill you have nothing but the transciever running and if you still have noise it is external. I still had noise on my 12 volt Icom as it was connected through the power supply to a 24 volt battery so there was nothing I could do about it.

 

[jcc]

You have very limited options. Virtually all MPPTs generate a lot of RFI/EMI. I assume your system is 12v. If that is the case you must bite the bullet and ditch the MPPTs and install (one or several) quality PWM charge controllers (Morningstar TS-45, TS-60 with low Telecom Noise mode {“On-Off” battery charging}). Or use a solid-state relay charge controller (again, “On-Off” battery charging). Because you can’t use MPPT you possibly have to install additional panels (12v).

 

[HarryN]

Supposedly, this company's solar charge controllers are very low EMI.

It would require you to make some significant changes as they are designed for use with one controller per ~ 150 - 200 watt panel.

GV-10 – Sunforge LLC

sunforgellc.com

You can also replace the aims inverter with one that emits less RF noise and of course do the usual wire shielding / twisted cable tricks.

 

[MaineJim1821]

So I live off-grid and have a completely off-grid solar setup... 22 kilowatt hours of lithium iron phosphate batteries and several MPPT charge controllers... What I found is the sunnier it gets the more noise I have on all bands

The noise seems to be spaced about every 40 kilohertz

It's kind of a high pitch whining or whirling type sound

I don't notice it when the sun is down and I don't notice it if I shut off my MPPT charge controllers

How can I solve this?

I have used a Renogy MPPT controller and now using a Victron.Neither has made any noise on any band but my HF inverter (Giandel) blankets the whole HF spectrum.I bought a LF inverter ( Sigineer) and run that when on the radio.No noise whatsoever,running everything at 12 volts btw.Others made some good suggestions,hope you at least find what is making the noise.

 

[JoeHam]

Victron MPPT’s definitely cause noise, see here :

My Schneider LF inverter is far less of a problem than my two Victron MPPT’s.

I’ve used mix 31 and 43 toroids to choke everything I can and remain active from 70cm to 160m.

 

[JoeHam]

Proper station grounding and bonding is extremely important as well.

Here is an incredible reference for that subject :

http://audiosystemsgroup.com/GroundingAndAudio.pdf

 

[GSXR1000]

what if you run your ham on a separate battery pack and you isolate as needed

 

[JoeHam]

what if you run your ham on a separate battery pack and you isolate as needed

Forgot to mention, I run the radios on two solar charged LiFePO4 100 Ah batteries. When one is in use the other gets charged.

The amplifier and shack computer run off AC from the Schneider CSW4048. The inverter and MPPT’s are less than 10 feet from the radios.

 

[ericfx1984]

I should clarify... I know the issue is with the SCCs... If I shut them off the noise goes away... If I turn them on one by one the noise gets louder with each unit added

 

[HarryN]

I should clarify... I know the issue is with the SCCs... If I shut them off the noise goes away... If I turn them on one by one the noise gets louder with each unit added

Easy test them - pick up one of those Genesuns - use it with one of your 200 watt panels and see if the problem goes away.

 

[justinm001]

Cant you just build a metal enclosure around the SCC's to act as a faraday cage? This was a concern of mine but haven't noticed any issues over GMRS or wifi with victron components. But my entire RV bays and frame are stainless steel

 

[GSXR1000]

try

Forgot to mention, I run the radios on two solar charged LiFePO4 100 Ah batteries. When one is in use the other gets charged.

The amplifier and shack computer run off AC from the Schneider CSW4048. The inverter and MPPT’s are less than 10 feet from the radios.

a full isolation on a small inverter

 

[Solar Guppy]

The Schneider XW-MPPT60-150 is FCC Class B compliant, you don't list what your using now, but that's about as good as it gets for minimizing EMI

 

[n2aws]

The Schneider XW-MPPT60-150 is FCC Class B compliant, you don't list what your using now, but that's about as good as it gets for minimizing EMI

This is a large part of the reason I went with schneider. From the research I did (back then) it was supposed to be one of the better CC's across the ham bands.

I have a 60/150, and a 80/600, and eventually will be adding 2 more 80/600s.

 

[Solar Guppy]

It still is to my knowledge the only FCC Class B charge controller sold. The XW system was and still is best in class.