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Post by deadreckoner on May 13, 2016 10:58:35 GMT -8
Hey all,
I have been loving the 100w solar bundle I got last month, but have been running into troubles with the controller showing the panel is over-voltage. My Vanagon has an aux battery with a relay connecting it to the starter battery when the ignition is on (allowing for alternator charging as well) and I am assuming that the differing voltages of the two batteries is at fault. Is there a way to use both alternator and solar charging at once?
Jackson
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Post by jsb2000 on May 13, 2016 13:01:23 GMT -8
Are you certain that you're wired correctly? A panel over-voltage condition should only occur if, well, the panels are supplying too much voltage to the controller. It should have nothing to do with what batteries you have connected.
You should certainly be able to use both the alternator and the solar at the same time. But the output of the controller and the output of the alternator should both go directly to the batteries. A common mistake is to try and feed the controller with two different sources of power (IE Solar and something else like wind, a battery charger, an alternator, etc.).
Each source of power has to have its own "controller." The controllers work together to avoid overcharging your battery and to "pick up the slack" when the other sources fall short.
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Post by deadreckoner on May 13, 2016 19:36:39 GMT -8
The wiring's been working fine for a week or so, and has only been acting up recently. I unplugged/replugged the panel and the PV indicator went back to flashing slowly. Time will tell if this was just a fluke, I suppose.
The dual battery setup was only my educated guess at the problem, given that the manual states the reason for plugging the controller into the batteries before the panel is to determine the charge state of the batteries. With two batteries, one at a higher voltage than another when connected in parallel, I would assume that would be an issue?
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Post by jsb2000 on May 14, 2016 5:54:28 GMT -8
The dual battery setup was only my educated guess at the problem, given that the manual states the reason for plugging the controller into the batteries before the panel is to determine the charge state of the batteries. With two batteries, one at a higher voltage than another when connected in parallel, I would assume that would be an issue? It shouldn't be an issue at all unless the battery voltages are widely different (IE Connecting a 6V battery to a 12V battery, connecting a dead battery to a fully charged one, etc). If the battery voltages are reasonably close (IE 12.0V and 12.6V), then the voltages try to equalize between the two. The controller sees that "averaged" voltage and acts accordingly. When you first connect the batteries to the controller, it looks at the overall voltage to determine whether it is dealing a 12V or 24V system and whether those batteries are "safe" to charge. As long as the overall combined battery bank voltage presented to the controller isn't radically out of range, there should be no issue. |
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Post by deadreckoner on May 14, 2016 8:31:50 GMT -8
Ah, okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for the help. I guess I'll wait and see if the controller starts complaining again in the future.
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