How to determine the amount of Charge in a Battery?

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  • Shapath
    Junior Member
    • Oct 2010
    • 22

    How to determine the amount of Charge in a Battery?

    Dear All,

    So far all the batteries i have installed with the solar system, i checked the voltage to get idea about the condition of the battery. But does this voltage on the meter actually represents the amount of charge stored in the battery?

    I am now asking this question cause recently in one of our maintenance free lead acid battery i measured the voltage and it was 12V. then i connected it with the Intelligent charge controller and the charge controller starts displaying LOW Voltage. Hence I think the quantity of charge stored in it (Coulomb) is lower then it should be.

    Therefore I would like to know what should i do if further this problem arises and also how to determine whether the battery is charging properly or not and also the amount of charge in the battery.

    Thank you
    [FONT="Arial Black"][SIZE="5"][COLOR="blue"]Shapath[/COLOR][/SIZE]

    [SIZE="3"][COLOR="lime"][QUOTE]We must be the change we wish to see in the world - Gandhi[/QUOTE][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
  • Perry
    Solar Fanatic
    • Feb 2011
    • 120

    #2
    Originally posted by Shapath
    Dear All,

    So far all the batteries i have installed with the solar system, i checked the voltage to get idea about the condition of the battery. But does this voltage on the meter actually represents the amount of charge stored in the battery?

    I am now asking this question cause recently in one of our maintenance free lead acid battery i measured the voltage and it was 12V. then i connected it with the Intelligent charge controller and the charge controller starts displaying LOW Voltage. Hence I think the quantity of charge stored in it (Coulomb) is lower then it should be.

    Therefore I would like to know what should i do if further this problem arises and also how to determine whether the battery is charging properly or not and also the amount of charge in the battery.

    Thank you
    I'm new here, but I'm guessing that ....

    While the open circuit voltage of the battery reads 12volts, once you put it under load, the voltage could be falling off. I'm guessing you need to use a Load Tester to check the battery under load. Most Auto repair shops should have one.

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    • Mike90250
      Moderator
      • May 2009
      • 16020

      #3
      pure voltage can be used to measure a batterys state of charge, but the loads/charger need to be disconnected for several hours.

      there are special battery meters (totalizators) that measure the amps in / vs out and calculate what is left
      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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