diy solar

diy solar

few questions about solar power....

The PWM scc should have a battery type setting. That should be set to B02.

There should be a fuse in the battery compartment for the 10a position for the probe. If you were doing it wrong then just let me know what you come up withwhen doing it right
 
time 1130
solar panel 1 ... -1 amp(overload??) amp
solar panel 2... just 1 no minus
solar panel 3.... -1... but i think i saw 10.44 for a moment....

not sure but i think all 3 solar panels produce over 10 amps each.. is that a good thing ?
 
Last edited:
corporal_Canada said:
Unplugged the ups from the inverter and within 1 hour the battery has climbed to 14.4volts...i hope that is a good thing
Click to expand...

Ok, I watched your video.

Wiring the 400w panel to the pwm then to the new battery is ok. The PWM you have is good for 20amps. The 400w panel has 22amps available. So that is good.

DO NOT CONNECT ANY MORE PANELS.

You need to go into the menu of the PWM And set the battery type to AGM or B02. This will use the proper charge and float voltages.

Once that is done disconnect all loads and let the battery charge from the sun for a day to get it fully charged.

After a day plug just the laptop and monitor into your inverter. The rest of the things you have plugged in draw to much current from the battery. The fridge especially.

You may have already done it, but please post still pictures of the inverterer. Looking to see if the rated watts is listed and seems reasonable. Make sure they are in focus. And the link where you got it. And with just the computer and monitor connected see if the inverter is hot to touch.

Only plug the UPS into the wall at this point, not the inverter.

Also, take a picture of your connections to the new battery. In focus and post.
 
robbob2112 said:
Ok, I watched your video.

Wiring the 400w panel to the pwm then to the new battery is ok. The PWM you have is good for 20amps. The 400w panel has 22amps available. So that is good.

DO NOT CONNECT ANY MORE PANELS.

You need to go into the menu of the PWM And set the battery type to AGM or B02. This will use the proper charge and float voltages.

Once that is done disconnect all loads and let the battery charge from the sun for a day to get it fully charged.

After a day plug just the laptop and monitor into your inverter. The rest of the things you have plugged in draw to much current from the battery. The fridge especially.

You may have already done it, but please post still pictures of the inverterer. Looking to see if the rated watts is listed and seems reasonable. Make sure they are in focus. And the link where you got it. And with just the computer and monitor connected see if the inverter is hot to touch.

Only plug the UPS into the wall at this point, not the inverter.

Also, take a picture of your connections to the new battery. In focus and post.
Click to expand...
i have not added any other solar panels, i am however tempted to... i looked into the umm "menu" of the charge controller and i have not seen agm or b02 anywhere.... and you assume i can navigate the menu... lets assume that at least 1 solar panel produces 100 watts MINIMUM... i need all; 3 to pump 100 watts and balance out how much i am pulling out.. .. which is exactly 300 ;) as for the fridge... i tested it and the wattmeter indicated 65 watts.. not surge nothing like that...just 65 watts...

and yes the inverter was hot to touch....

will take photos once my coffee kicks in...
 
corporal_Canada said:
i have not added any other solar panels, i am however tempted to... i looked into the umm "menu" of the charge controller and i have not seen agm or b02 anywhere.... and you assume i can navigate the menu... lets assume that at least 1 solar panel produces 100 watts MINIMUM... i need all; 3 to pump 100 watts and balance out how much i am pulling out.. .. which is exactly 300 ;) as for the fridge... i tested it and the wattmeter indicated 65 watts.. not surge nothing like that...just 65 watts...

and yes the inverter was hot to touch....

will take photos once my coffee kicks in...
Click to expand...
Your PWM has a max current of 20amps, your single 400watt panel provides that. To use more you need another PWM or MPPT. But your battery can only charge at around that.

If you try adding more panels it won't be useful because the PWM can't pass it.

If you can't find settings in the PWM to stop charging the battery when full you will kaput it.
 
turns out that my fujitsu laptop commited seppuku and wont boot so i just connected my fridge which only pulls 65 watts.. an old laptop only uses 47-55 watts so.. im in the same ballpark...
 
robbob2112 said:
Your PWM has a max current of 20amps, your single 400watt panel provides that. To use more you need another PWM or MPPT. But your battery can only charge at around that.

If you try adding more panels it won't be useful because the PWM can't pass it.

If you can't find settings in the PWM to stop charging the battery when full you will kaput it.
Click to expand...
oh okay so you do not believe the full power of 3 solar panel can go to the 50ah battery even if i order 2 separate charge controllers ? (for the remaining 2 solar panels that remain unconnected...
 
What were the dimensions of this "400 watt" panel?

How much charge current was being delivered in full sun (with battery not full, or load on battery)?

I thought you had an assortment of panels that all told wouldn't exceed 20A x 12V = 240V

Great, with fridge pulling watts, SCC can take all the PV panel puts out, to measure actual wattage.
 
Added a 1.5 inch styrofoam wedge to every major solar panel
. Hope that helps in some way
 

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Sorry, but despite what all of you believe, I love life and have not exactly revisited the rooftop to measure any solar panel ...is it not possible to guestimate from that image right there ??? Yes it's likely that they are not the actual 300watts as written on the box

But if I even get 100 watts of each I estimate that I will be golden.
Or am I wrong again? I will take all photo of the wiring and underneath the inverter tomorrow... sorry, I'm doing so so many things here and I'm just 1 man, it is a miracle I haven't overloaded a fuse in my little brain...
 
I expect a good wind to send all of them flying.

Based on the photo, the whole batch of them may not even total 300W. You can measure actual output current of each through PWM SCC, then decide how many it can handle in parallel.
 
Hedges said:
I expect a good wind to send all of them flying.

Based on the photo, the whole batch of them may not even total 300W. You can measure actual output current of each through PWM SCC, then decide how many it can handle in parallel.
Click to expand...
i can only figure out how to link 2 solar panels by series, couldnt begin to understand how by parallel....

and im not too embarrased to admit that i dont know what SCC means either
 
corporal_Canada said:
i can only figure out how to link 2 solar panels by series, couldnt begin to understand how by parallel....

and im not too embarrased to admit that i dont know what SCC means either
Click to expand...

The PWM is the SCC (solar charge controller).

LABEL EACH WIRE.
one at a time connect the wires to the PWM
Look at the PWM display to see how many amps it reads
WRITE THIS ON THE LABEL.

Report back all the results.

Between this and the voltage it will tell us the watts of each panel.


Parallel means to put multiple positive together and multiple negatives together.

Series means to connect positive from one to negative of another. DOING THIS WILL BURN OUT THE PWM...KAUPUT!!!
 
For PWM, with a 12V battery you want PV panels with Vmp around 16V to 19V.
If you had two "6V" panels with 8V to 10V Vmp, those two you might connect in series.
Otherwise, series connection of PV panels doesn't deliver any more power through PWM SCC, because amps are not increased. But it would kill the SCC with over-voltage or overheating.

If PV panels have MC4 connectors you could get "Y" cables.
Or, cut an MC4 extension cord in half to make pigtails and connect several together by stripping ends and twisting together.

I'm guessing that all your 12V panels wired in parallel might add up to 20A. And you can tilt some toward morning sun, some towards afternoon, for more hours and lower peak current.
 
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