12v system Horse carriage-mobile home project

[Tony Verbeke]

Hello all,
New member here from Belgium. I'm working on a solar system for a horse carriage/mobile home project, it has all the comfort off a RV, except it's pulled by a horse .
Before i did extensive traveling on a boat with a small plug and play solar system, just running a small fridge in the summer time, but now this project has a bigger scope.
There's a fridge, lights, a radio, some sockets for chargers and such.

I appear to be a bit in over my head: i ran into a problem, hope to find help here.

Here's what i have: two 48-cell panels on top of my carriage running into a regulator and a single 12v solar battery (weight is an issue with the horse...). Attached is a image of the set-up.
I used wires delivered with the panel for connections from the panels and to the battery, and thick wires, the type you would use for a washing machine, for the electrical circuit

The regulator is shunt type and has a 15 ampere push-fuse inside. No other fuses anywhere.

For the moment i have only one 3.5 watt 12v lamp installed.
Once i fire up the lamp, whether i do it with all the wiring attached like in the first image or directly with a short (+/-50cm) wire like in the second image, the lcd on regulator peeks the load bars for a second, then i immediately get an over-current error.
solar setup 1.jpg


solar setup 2.jpg

The regulator manual says this about it:

Overcurrent
Load

load
current is too
high

And it states that as a protective measure the controller disconnects the load, however, after this, in spite of keeping the error message, the lamp stays lit.
I tried to hook up a second lamp, same thing 3.5 watt 12v, and the fuse blew, although that might be unrelated cause it also blew when i attached just that lamp and not the other one.

I also attached the manual for the regulator.

Multimetering around the different wires doesn't show any short circuits.
Also i really paid attention to polarities and stuff, so i don't think the problem is there neither...

Does anyone know what i am doing wrong?

Any other tips on how to make this system as safe and efficient as possible are also welcome.

The fun part of the story is: i'm moving into this thing in about 11 days
Any help is much appreciated.
Best
Tony

[Mike90250]

Get you wallet ready, you are going to be spending a lot of money, both for solar gear and a 2nd horse to help haul it,

If you are only going to use 1 battery, forget the fridge, it's not possible.

Shunt regulators are cheap, and just about useless. You need to get a good quality PWM regulator, Morningstar solar makes some good ones, Steca makes some, But skip the no name junk from ebay, you likely won't be happy.

Your lights will need to be LED type to be most efficient. I like these from a company in Arizona USA:

https://www.wiredco.com/10_LED_SMT_SMD_Warm_White_G4_Disc_LED_Module_12VAC_p/10ledwarmwhiteled.htm

They are bright, efficient, and have internal drivers to work well over 12V system charging voltage.

[Tony Verbeke]

Well, i ran a small fridge off a smaller panel and a single battery on a previous travel on a boat, no big fridge, but a fridge so it is possible... Anyway, it's cold here now, and dark, so my first concern is getting the lights working.
The lamps i have are leds (SMD-type). Bought from a dutch store, since i'm in belgium.
European fabrication, no chinese stuff.
The regulator is german made too.

What could really help me out, is an indication why this is happening.
Does it look like a problem with the regulator?
With the lamps?
With the wiring?

I'm sure that my equipment could be better, but i'm also sure that i'm supposed to be able to run a single 3.5 watt bulb off the installation i have without problem... Right?

[Mike90250]

if the system says you have an overload, you may have a short somewhere. Does the LED light up at all, or glow briefly? Where are your DC safety fuses ?

a 100W panel should harvest about 80watt hours in an hour of full noon sun , If you have less then good alignment, or clouds in the sky you will never see your full harvest

[Tony Verbeke]

The lamp works and actually stays lit in spite of the error message...
As i said in the first message: the bars that indicate load on the regulator lcd peak for a second, then drop.
The lamp still works, but i guess there is a risk of overheating.

There appear to be small modules on the market to protect from overcurrent, could adding one of those to my system help?
thanks for your responses!
best,
tony

[Bala]

If you you are confident that there is plenty of charge in the battery and you followed the manual for correct connection procedure then I would suggest you have a faulty regulator or just a poor quality one.

I would not add anything to that one I would get a good quality one.