PV overvoltage alarm fault question (eco-worthy)

[Fisherguy66]

I have a 24v 3000w eco-worthy hybrid inv/charger and 4 felicity solar - 100watt panels. I had them hooked up in series and a couple days ago the temps got down to -20c on a bright sunny day and I had an 09 pv overvoltage alarm fault go off on charger. I'm not sure why this went off according to the charger/panel specs if someone could help explain.

The panels show 21.6v so x4 would be 86.4v. At -20c I expected the voltage to increase a little bit.


The charge controller shows max ocv at 100v but also shows an MPPT input v range to 85vdc.
When the alarm went off I looked at the voltage on the display and it was showing pv 94v. I'm trying to understand if its faulting because the ocv is over the MPPT input v range. It's def under the max ocv number.

Since this fault I've changed the panel setup to 2s2p to keep it way undervoltage but I am going to be adding 8 more panels for a total of 12 and I would like to keep it as 4s3p.

On really cold days with the 2s2p setup I've seen the panels output as much as 450w which is great but on avg they are only producing 350ish on warmer days. In the summer at 25c I expect it to be less. With a 12 panel setup I hope to get anywhere between 1000-1300w based on temp. which should keep me right within wattage specs. I'm just worried about this overvoltage alarm with 4 in series. Thanks for the lookin.

Here is a pic of the setup.

 

[Rednecktek]

When the alarm went off I looked at the voltage on the display and it was showing pv 94v. I'm trying to understand if its faulting because the ocv is over the MPPT input v range. It's def under the max ocv number.

Yes. It's the warning that it's over its MPPT range but not enough to fry the controller. Once the weather warms up a little that should solve itself. Many AIO's have some wiggle room between where the MPPT likes to play and the max PV input voltage.

 

[Fisherguy66]

Ah, I wish I would have known that when I bought it. I was just learning at the time. It works well for what it is just have to keep things smaller I guess. I think I will be bumping up to a model that handles a little more voltage and wattage in near future. This one is amazing on idle voltage draw though at around 10w.

 

[ryankshaw]

just put your panels 2s2p (as in, 2 sets of 2 panels in series joined with a Y connector). the max current on them of 5.8amps is not that high and as long as you check to make sure the wire size can handle that current, you should be fine.

eg: google "max ampacity <put the size of your wire here>awg"