System not charging

[spottiedog]

I have 4 -100 watt panels going into a combiner box with a 50 ft. run to the Equipment. The charge controller is connected to the 2-24 Lifepro volt batteries and a 3000 watt inverter. The charge controller is showing about 21-23 volts going in but the indicator shows it;s not charging it's in stop mode not charge mode. Now my green charging indicator light did come on for a minute and the charge indicator showed fast charge but the went back to stop. My batteries are going down now to about 21 volts.
Also when I turn on the inverter it activates for about 10 seconds but the beeps and shuts down .
Could it be my batteries are too low now ? Or my run from the panels to the equipment is too far/

 

[BentleyJ]

Are the 4-100Watt panels connected in Series or Parallel. I'm assuming parallel since you used a combiner box. If parallel its very possible the charge controller is not getting enough voltage. Could you please post some pics of your set up or a diagram, otherwise is very difficult to help.

 

[mikefitz]

The panel input volts into the controller must be higher than battery volts. If your controller can accept the voltage, connect all panels in series. A 100 watt panel will have a Voc of about 22 volts, so in series will be lower than the 100 volt limit of many MPPT controllers .
If you have a PWM controller, make up two strings of two panels in series, the connect the two strings in parallel.
How cold does it get in your location?

Mike

 

[MichaelK]

Let's do a bit of guestemation here. Let's assume the Vmp of your 100W panels in somewhere between 18V and 20V. If all four panels are in parallel, as suggested above, the system CANNOT work at 24V. The incoming solar voltage must be >30% higher then the CHARGING voltage for the MPPT controller to work, which must be ~28V or so.

If you re-wired your panels into two panels in series, you'd have two parallel strings of two panels in series. Write that as "2S2P". The Vmp would then be between 36V and 40V, depending on the brand. 30V is just 29% higher than 28V charging, so most likely it would squeek by.

The Voc most likely would not exceed 44V, which any real MPPT controller would be able to handle. Most likely, even a PWM controller would handle that voltage just fine.

Please research into the voltage limits of your controller. Most likely 2S2P will work, or maybe even 4S1P, though as MF mentions, 4S would be close to the maximum for some cheaper controllers, and might get boosted past 100V in cold winter weather.

 

[Zapper77]

charge controller is showing about 21-23 volts going in but the indicator shows it;s not charging it's in stop mode not charge mode.

SCC needs higher voltage. Assuming you need 5v above your desired charge voltage. So maybe 33v minimum under load from the panels 2S2P. All assuming you are using a MPPT and not a PWM.

 

[TomC4306]

Electricity, like water, flows downhill.
From higher to lower.