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Help with Victron Energy 75/15 and Suaoki Flex Panels

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  • Help with Victron Energy 75/15 and Suaoki Flex Panels

    Hi all! I need help figuring out what's going on with my solar setup.

    First my setup:

    12v AGM 100ah battery

    Two Suaoki Flex Panels 100Watt each. Wired in Series. Placed right on the top of the roof of my camper with vhb tape.

    i have about 30 feet of wiring to the controller. 10 gauge wires.

    Controller is Victron Energy 75/15 Mppt.

    Issue I am having is that I am getting intermittent charging from the panels. I can't tell if the issue is with the controller or the panels.

    I have tested the panels and they seem to produce correct voltage and current.

    ​​​​​​When wired together in clear sun they both output roughly 40volts. As soon as I plug them into the controller and backprobe the controller voltage drops to about the voltage of the battery.

    Interestingly when the battery is fully charged via shore power I get really good voltage to the battery at the controller and via the Bluetooth connected app. This lasts only a few days and then I start getting absolutely nothing.

    Right now I am in full sun and the controller is telling me the STATE is "off".

    Sadly both Victron and Suaoki has she worst support. Neither have phone support, Suaoki cacan even write in English well enough for me to understand what they are saying and Victron is telling me to go to the dealer I bought the controller from and that company is out of business.

    Hope you guys can help me.

    I have two thoughts on this.

    1. It could be the algorithm built into the controller called BatteryLife which I do not understand how it works.

    2. Panels are overheating. They seem to work at least a little when sun is lower in the sky and tempreture is lower. I checked the tepreture of the panels and they are at 140 Fahrenheit right now.

    Thank you in advanced for the help.

  • #2
    Originally posted by Rushin View Post
    I have tested the panels and they seem to produce correct voltage and current.

    When wired together in clear sun they both output roughly 40volts. As soon as I plug them into the controller and backprobe the controller voltage drops to about the voltage of the battery.
    How are you measuring current and voltage testing the panels?

    Assuming the panels Voc and Isc test passes, and when you connect panels to controller and panel voltage drops to battery voltage is a controller fault. When the Controller has shut down like when the batteries are charged, panel voltage will go to Voc assuming sun light is present, Under heave charge should only drop to Vmp within a volt or two (16 to 18 volts per panel). So if you wired the panels in series you should see a panel voltage of 32 volts (when on and charging) up to 40 volts as charge decreases to panel controller turning off.

    So you would either have a wiring fault like reverse polarity, poor connections, or faulty controller.

    First make sure the panels are good. Wire them directly to the battery one at a time and measure current. Assuming good strong noon sun and the batteries are in need of a charge, you should see few amps of charge current. Voltage is not that important as the voltage will be whatever the battery voltage is of 12 to 13 volts. What you want to see is current, and if you see a few amps of current, the battery is charging and the panel is good.

    If both panels test OK, and the wiring is correct and not getting any charge current would be the Controller. My bet is you have a wiring problem, or your battery is fully charged and controller is in idle.

    MSEE, PE

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    • #3
      Thank you for the post! I tested the panels again and I am now suspecting it's the panels that are at fault. I ended up ripping one of them off the roof which took some serious work.

      When I tested the panels in open circtuit I was not even getting 1amp of current. I have not tried wiring them directly to the battery tho. I am pretty sure it's not the controller as I have tried a new out of the box controller of the same model and had the same exact issues.

      I ordered a new panel (ALLPOWERS) one.

      Have anybody here mounted their flex panels on flat surface with no air gap? Anybody having overheating issues?

      In open circuit voltage and amp test should I see at least a bit of current?

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      • #4
        I think it has somthing to do with the controller shutting off as the batteries are fully charged.

        Read my post about problem with 2 solar panels. I have the same controller and jsut got things worked out.

        Comment


        • #5
          Regarding Victron support, you may want to look a little deeper into their support offerings.

          I have spoken with Victron support and found them very helpful.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Rushin View Post
            When I tested the panels in open circtuit I was not even getting 1amp of current.
            OK found one of your problems. There is no CURRENT in an Open Circuit. It is impossible for current to flow in an Open Circuit.

            Current = Voltage / Resistance

            In an Open Circuit Resistance = Infinity or ∞

            Voltage / ∞ = 0

            So when you perform a Voc or Voltage Open Circuit test you only measure the open circuit voltage and there will be no current or power, just voltage. You rpanels should be around 22 volts.

            Isc = Current Short Circuit is the only other test you can perform. In a Short Circuit there is no Voltage, all you measure is current. A short circuit has 0 ohms of resistance, and an open circuit has infinite resistance.

            What all this means is your test are invalid because you do not know how to make the test or interpret any results.

            VOC and ISC Test link

            MSEE, PE

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