Portable Power Station reduces Portable Solar Panel to 12.2V and 6.6-7.2W

[paullester]

I'm new to Solar and I can't seem to find any information on this issue across the internet.

I have purchased:
Enginstar Portable Power Station with Wireless Charger, 350W/296Wh
and
Topsolar 60W Portable Solar Panel

They both work perfectly individually,

• Power Station charges at 65W using the AC adaptor
• Solar Panel generates about 40W in Full sun (18.5 Volts & 2.2 Amps)

When I connect them together, the Power Station reduces the voltage to 12.2V and about 0.72 Amps charging the Powerstation at about 6.6 - 7.2 Watts.

I've connected the Power Station to a static Solar panel and it charged at 55W.
I've connect the Solar Panel to a car battery and it charged it at about 30W.

So neither are broke, they just don't like each other.

Can anyone explain it?

I purchased a DC-DC Boost Buck Converter to see if it required consistant voltage and it was here that I could see the voltage drop from 18.5V to 12.2V just by plugging it into the Power Station.

Thanks in advance.

​

 

[DThames]

What is the watt rating of your "static solar panel" that you tested with?
Is the 12.2v you see the input drop to, is that the current battery voltage?

 

[paullester]

Hi DThames,

My "static solar panel" is a Renology 120W.

 

[Jordi]

Maybe you can make tests at lower battery levels? Specially when the battery is low. Perhaps then you get better results?

 

[MisterSandals]

It appears as though the Topsolar "panel" actually has a charge controller built into its battery output.

>>
The build-in smart IC chip intelligently identifies your device, and maximizes its charging speed while protects your devices from over charging and overloading.
>>

So you have connected a charge controller (Topsolar) to another charge controller (in the power station) and they are confusing each other.

When I connect them together, the Power Station reduces the voltage

This is all assuming that you connected using the Topsolar "battery" output. If you used the Topsolar 19V DC output, its likely (more likely?) that the MPPT in the power station, would work with its constant output (as opposed to an IC controlled output).

 

[paullester]

Hi MisterSandals,
Thanks for the response, this does make sense, I thought I was going mad and couldn't understand why the wattage was being reduced.

I connected using the Topsolar 19V DC output.
>>
The 19V DC port is designed for charging portable power stations
>>

Would you have any suggestions to get around this?

 

[MisterSandals]

I connected using the Topsolar 19V DC output.

What happened when you tried this? It sounds right (like it’s a power source, not a charger). From what I have read (my only exposure to any of these so consider that), the MPOT wants such a power source that it can convert to the charging voltage (hopefully around 14V).

>>
The 19V DC port is designed for charging portable power stations
>>

Isn’t this exactly your use? (Not sure where this statement is from, presumably the Topsolar web info).

 

[paullester]

I used the 19V DC connector when I first encountered this problem.
If I plug the DC cable into the solar panel it shows at 19.2V and depending on the time of day/weather (upto) 2.3 Amps,
It was full sun on Tuesday and it was 2.2 Amps, Which should give 40 Watts of charge,

As soon as I plug the other end of the DC cable into the power station, it drops to 12.2V and 0.5Amp. giving about 6.6W.
As you say, we think that the MPPT wants a power source similar to the charging voltage.

 

[paullester]

FIXED (or maybe a workaround)
I purchased some adaptors / cables so that I could connect to the 14.4V DC on the solar panel. This seems to be giving a true refection of the power being generated.
The only downside is that the 14.4V DC doesn't kick in like the 19V DC, there has to be load at the other end. In my case, with the Enginstar Power station, I have to plug in the 19V DC to get the Input turned on, then quickly transfer to the 14.4V DC with all the adaptors etc.
Once going it's fine, I suppose if the power generated became 0W, the powerstation would go off and it wouldn't charge automatically.... we'll see how that goes.

thanks for everyone's help!