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  • eSmart3 MPPT and panels in paralell

    I have 12 battery, 6x100w panels and a Chinese MPPT called eSmart3.
    It has some problems or features and I'm looking into other options of MPPTs.

    1. Panels are 18V. When all in parallel it cannot track power point at all and constantly resets. According to seller it happens because 18v is too low for MPPT mode. I'd assume it should switch into PWM mode but it doesn't. So I connected it in 2s3p.

    2. Every morning it needs a reset by disconnecting a solar wire and connecting it back. Otherwise it will generate only 25w till noon. Some days it generates 25w all day long until a reset. After the reset it immediately starts generating proper wattage (ex. 200w).

    I never had any other MPPTs so I'm not sure are those above bugs or features?
    For example if I get EPever Tracer AN will it solve all those problems?

  • #2
    Tha that I got for very littlet seems a little extreme. One controller I have is a MakeSkyBlue V1.13 They are up to V1.19 which indicates they might have learned something,but it is the same programmers who couldn't figure it out the first time. If it sees a decent size load and a cloud comes over, that 60V panel turns into 17-28V and won't recover. I actually have a microprocessor that monitors the panel voltage and it it drops below 45V for more than a minute it disconnects the panels for 15 seconds. Always goes back to 60V and higher power. It happens that often. No, it is not normal. I suspect you have some shading that causes it. A little unusual with such a small multiple to battery voltage. High currents are forcing sections of panels into bypass. The MPPT algorithm then just looks for a power point in that vicinity. All MPPT algorithms are not the same. Even the good ones have some quirks. That is what you get sometimes going cheap. Others have complained about tracking issues, possibly not as severe. They mentioned using a rely to disconnect the panels similar to what I have done.
    Last edited by PNPmacnab; 10-01-2019, 03:37 PM.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by colonel2 View Post
      I have 12 battery, 6x100w panels and a Chinese MPPT called eSmart3.
      It has some problems or features and I'm looking into other options of MPPTs.

      1. Panels are 18V. When all in parallel it cannot track power point at all and constantly resets. According to seller it happens because 18v is too low for MPPT mode. I'd assume it should switch into PWM mode but it doesn't. So I connected it in 2s3p.

      2. Every morning it needs a reset by disconnecting a solar wire and connecting it back. Otherwise it will generate only 25w till noon. Some days it generates 25w all day long until a reset. After the reset it immediately starts generating proper wattage (ex. 200w).

      I never had any other MPPTs so I'm not sure are those above bugs or features?
      For example if I get EPever Tracer AN will it solve all those problems?
      It may well be that your voltage is too low for MPPT charging a 12 volt battery.

      if you were to connect pairs of panels in series each pair will produce 36volts. Take those three series strings and connect them in parallel. Remember, three or more parallel strings require overcurrent protection on each string.

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      • #4
        The best MPPT controllers need "Peak battery voltage" (15V) * 1.3 = min voltage for MPPT. Generally, I recommend 2x battery voltage for best results, staying within the limits of the controller.

        So that would be wiring your panels for 30V, Vmp. In your case, apparently 2S is not enough voltage, and you have to go to 3S. This is worrisome, as 36V ( which is likely close to 45Voc) should work.
        Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
        || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
        || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

        solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
        gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

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