2000k system only puts out 500 watt why?

[almac]

runaway heat up sounds like fun something I should do outdoors would want to burn down the shed or my home. Do you know any good links to video?

there is nothing to it. forget about "smart chargers" because they are not smarter than you are. smart chargers wont restore a sulfate caked battery. get a cheap old dumb charger or dc power supply , set the voltage under 15v. even 14v will work if you leave it on long enough. same goes for CCs the solar hours are not long enough for "smart" charging the 3 stage bulk float absorb. set the voltage on a 24v system by checking your batteries SG weekly. if they are not 100% SOC at days end then up the voltage . i set my 24v CCs at about 29v this time of year. (spring in australia)

[charles2,david000k]

when they are caked up with lead sulfate crystals the resistance is high so they wont draw much current. yes 15v is fine but the current will be a trickle. can take several days. better to use no more than 15v. at 15.5v if you dont watch it all the time and the current starts to increase you can get a runaway heating up of the battery. so even 14.7v will do the job. some cells might take up to a week

runaway heat up sounds like fun something I should do outdoors would want to burn down the shed or my home. Do you know any good links to video?

[charles2,david000k]

Sorry , I am just trying to make sure we have not overlooked any of the basics that could affect Voc, is the front glass of the panels as clean and clear as possible? If so is there any possibility of a film of some sort left over on them from some kind of cleaner(s) or protective coatings?

It's ok I sound frustrated when I'm not I have three kids and my parents talk me into building my home next to them so ya lol. But yes I mop my panels down once every two weeks sometimes once a month depending on weather I even went out and got me a new mop just for the panels. I still have a gut feeling though the voltage drop has something to do with the solder strip peeling up off the cell inside the panel or poor quality silicon if that is possible. I say poor quality silicon only because the cells themselves changed color from a really nice dark dark blue to a white blue almost white in three months of exposure to the sun. some of the panels changed color not all of them.

[almac]

Equalizing charge?
Would the de sulphation cycle setting work from my inverter 15.5 volts for 12v and up to I think 85 amps of current the cycle runs for 4 hours.

when they are caked up with lead sulfate crystals the resistance is high so they wont draw much current. yes 15v is fine but the current will be a trickle. can take several days. better to use no more than 15v. at 15.5v if you dont watch it all the time and the current starts to increase you can get a runaway heating up of the battery. so even 14.7v will do the job. some cells might take up to a week

[LETitROLL]

So basicly just wait until the same time of year I got and set up the panels and everything should just return to normal?

Sorry , I am just trying to make sure we have not overlooked any of the basics that could affect Voc, is the front glass of the panels as clean and clear as possible? If so is there any possibility of a film of some sort left over on them from some kind of cleaner(s) or protective coatings?

[charles2,david000k]

get flooded lead acid, not sealed lead acid. you need access to the electrolyte to know the SOC. iv saved alot of $$$ buying scrap FLA batteries. 50% of them are ok the rest i get my $$$ back since i only pay scrap value. the plates on scrap batteries are either caked in lead sulfate crystals or the plates are totally corroded and gone. if they are gone the electrolyte is black. the ones with clear electrolyte can be salvaged. apply an equalizing charge for a few days and they will come back to 100% SOC.

also never overload your inverter. i was using a 2000w sine wave inverter sometimes overloaded it, always relied on the overload cutoff until one day it didnt cutoff and the inverter burnt out. so now i use 2 inverters to split the loads. got a 1700w pure sine wave off ebay for $210au free delivery to run the fridge. works fine.
[ATTACH]8003[/ATTACH]

Equalizing charge?
Would the de sulphation cycle setting work from my inverter 15.5 volts for 12v and up to I think 85 amps of current the cycle runs for 4 hours.

[charles2,david000k]

that CC in the link you provided is for 12v batteries only. my 1st CC was a MPPT and it did not charge my 24v batteries . i wasted alot of $$$ and time because of this CC. i suspect your problem is your CC , you alluded to that at the begining of this thread, you suspected the CC was rubbish. you will find that your panels are fine. if the voltage and current on each individual panel checks ok then there is nothing wrong with them

I was looking at the PCM-3024 24 volt model it just shows the 12 volt for sale but what brought me to that one is the reviews and testing of the product plus the wide input range and price. I like reviews when people really get into the product and do a teardown I like to see what is under the hood even if I have no clue of what any one is talking about.

[sensij]

There is some serious debate over PWM and MPPT

Not much debate, really. For you, both are much better than what you have. Unless you go bigger with your battery, pwm would be fine. Power from your array is not the problem.

[charles2,david000k]

There is some serious debate over PWM and MPPT

[charles2,david000k]

Ok, so PID can't be ruled out. It is more likely to be a problem on higher voltage strings. It is mostly reversible by grounding the system, but takes some time.

I'm sorry what is PID?

[almac]

What kind of battery is a AGM glass mat technology battery? 70Ah 48PLT
the book said to multiply you voltage by two the symbol it give is this *2 so your 14.6v would be 29.2v
#1 Gel USA 14.0 13.7
#2 A.G.M. 1 14.1 13.4
#3 A.G.M.2 14.6 13.7
#4 Sealed lead acid 14.4 13.6
#5 Gel European 14.4 13.8
#6 Open lead acid 14.8 13.8
#7 Calcuim (open) 15.1 13.6

these are my options from the battery type selector switch it also has a (charge current control) and goes from 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% setting with a max charging current of 85+/-5A

I tried my best to write it out just as it appears in the book.

get flooded lead acid, not sealed lead acid. you need access to the electrolyte to know the SOC. iv saved alot of $$$ buying scrap FLA batteries. 50% of them are ok the rest i get my $$$ back since i only pay scrap value. the plates on scrap batteries are either caked in lead sulfate crystals or the plates are totally corroded and gone. if they are gone the electrolyte is black. the ones with clear electrolyte can be salvaged. apply an equalizing charge for a few days and they will come back to 100% SOC.

also never overload your inverter. i was using a 2000w sine wave inverter sometimes overloaded it, always relied on the overload cutoff until one day it didnt cutoff and the inverter burnt out. so now i use 2 inverters to split the loads. got a 1700w pure sine wave off ebay for $210au free delivery to run the fridge. works fine.
DSCN0018.JPG

[sensij]

no dc +- to earth ground.

Ok, so PID can't be ruled out. It is more likely to be a problem on higher voltage strings. It is mostly reversible by grounding the system, but takes some time.

[charles2,david000k]

Ok, so the panels are grounded. What about dc+ or dc- (more common)?

no dc +- to earth ground.

[sensij]

That is why I hired a licensed professional to check the system.
I fully understand that! This is my big problem with the merchant. I started off with 8 panels and are now down to 7 with the rest following the same pattern as the first. volts and current drop the first panel dropped to 25 volts before they had me cut into the junction box and voided warranty just to look at some diodes.

Grounding Is a 30ft bare braided 4 awg wire hooked directly to each panel then run to it's own grounding rod. I actually got the wire from the power company during a past ice storm. When the power company comes through during a ice storm they don't do clean up at all most the time they just leave their waste behind and I went out and asked for what they were going to leave so all and all I got a bunch of stuff nothing really cool though like a transformer just wire and a couple of poles and what I think might be a good transformer fuse. But my ground wire is rated for pole to home service drop which here is 220V @200 amp I think. the wire is 7 or 8 aluminum strands of 12 awg wire braided around a peace of 12 awg stainless steel wire. just went and checked to be double sure the ground wire is 1/4inch thick.

Ok, so the panels are grounded. What about dc+ or dc- (more common)?

[charles2,david000k]

What kind of battery is a AGM glass mat technology battery? 70Ah 48PLT
the book said to multiply you voltage by two the symbol it give is this *2 so your 14.6v would be 29.2v
#1 Gel USA 14.0 13.7
#2 A.G.M. 1 14.1 13.4
#3 A.G.M.2 14.6 13.7
#4 Sealed lead acid 14.4 13.6
#5 Gel European 14.4 13.8
#6 Open lead acid 14.8 13.8
#7 Calcuim (open) 15.1 13.6

these are my options from the battery type selector switch it also has a (charge current control) and goes from 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% setting with a max charging current of 85+/-5A

I tried my best to write it out just as it appears in the book.