smoking charge controller

[Mike90250]

The Unisolar 64 that I have is about a 20V panel. OK for 12V battery & PWM controller.

[SunEagle]

Unisolar panels degrade over time from sun exposure, so they produce a lot the first year or so, and in 5 years, will still output their nameplate power.

I know they come in different sizes but what is the nameplate info on the average size of one of these panels? I thought they had a very high voltage output but relatively low amp rating.

[Mike90250]

Unisolar panels degrade over time from sun exposure, so they produce a lot the first year or so, and in 5 years, will still output their nameplate power.

[SunEagle]

may i send you pictures. they are too large to post.

You should be able to Private Message me and add your pictures. What in particular are you sending?

[snelbaker]

That Thunderbolt CC only has a maximum input voltage of 25v. if was made for a 12 volt system. If you had wired your panels in parallel it would have been ok. Of course you still need to have gotten the correct wiring polarity.

Whichever CC has let out the smoke is no longer good. Best to give up on it.

may i send you pictures. they are too large to post.

[mega man]

well suneagle that was the very same way i calculated them at first before actually using them, but after getting them and putting them to use i saw different results, kinda wondering why the manufacturer's rated them like that in the first place. using 4 of them give 24amps in good sun, which kinda had me confused at first use, weird part is i have some the same length but those rate 136watts and they give the exact same amp output as the ones rated at 68watts.

20130709_094038.jpg

i use these 4 to charge 4x 6v golf cart batteries that run the fridge and my electric stove

[SunEagle]

those uni-solar panels are very strong in power, they are 24volts, now saying the controller can handle 24v and you have them wired in parallel(all neg together and all pos together) now here's a word of advice, i have several of these so i know when i tell you they are not 4-5 amps, its more like 6-7 in good sunlight, so if you have 5 of them times 6amps your getting 30amps out(which i think you say is your amp max), and they tend to exceed the 6 amps very often, so you have more likely destroyed the pwm controller by sending in higher amp rating than what it can handle, cause 5 x 7amps= 35amps and 5 extra amps is a big difference.

Well we have some discrepancy going on here. If they are 68 watts each, then if they were 24 volts that would make them only 2.8 amps each.

68 w / 24v = 2.83 amps

More than likely they are around 4.5 amps so then at 68 w/ 4.5 amps = 15.1 volts.

Do they have any nameplate info showing the voltage and current ratings under load?

[mega man]

those uni-solar panels are very strong in power, they are 24volts, now saying the controller can handle 24v and you have them wired in parallel(all neg together and all pos together) now here's a word of advice, i have several of these so i know when i tell you they are not 4-5 amps, its more like 6-7 in good sunlight, so if you have 5 of them times 6amps your getting 30amps out(which i think you say is your amp max), and they tend to exceed the 6 amps very often, so you have more likely destroyed the pwm controller by sending in higher amp rating than what it can handle, cause 5 x 7amps= 35amps and 5 extra amps is a big difference.

[SunEagle]

i did. 5 in parrallel to each controller.

Sorry for the confusion. You mentioned they were "in series" in your first post so I misunderstood you.

Looks like the problem was the wiring polarity.

[Sunking]

i did. 5 in parrallel to each controller.

OK my bad somehow I thought you wired them in series.

[snelbaker]

smoking charge controller

There is your problem. You have a PWM controller and can only wire all your panels in parallel. Your CC is toast. Only MPPT you can wire panels in series.

i did. 5 in parrallel to each controller.

[SunEagle]

That Thunderbolt CC only has a maximum input voltage of 25v. if was made for a 12 volt system. If you had wired your panels in parallel it would have been ok. Of course you still need to have gotten the correct wiring polarity.

Whichever CC has let out the smoke is no longer good. Best to give up on it.

[Sunking]

they are unisolar pvl 68 12volt 16-23voc ea yes about 100 volts cc's are not mppt. 30 amp standard cc.

There is your problem. You have a PWM controller and can only wire all your panels in parallel. Your CC is toast. Only MPPT you can wire panels in series.

[snelbaker]

my panels are 68watts each. the 5 panels should be under the 500 watts the controller is rated. when i put a meter on the wires from the panel one way shows a negative charge so i know that the + and - are switched. also im hooking into the battery at the easiest point where the battery cables connect to the inverter?

they are unisolar pvl 68 12volt 16-23voc ea yes about 100 volts cc's are not mppt. 30 amp standard cc.

[Sunking]

my panels are 68watts each. the 5 panels should be under the 500 watts the controller is rated.

That does not matter. What manufacture and model number. With MPPT you have to abserve both input power limitations but more importantly Voc voltage input. With 5 panels in series assuming they are standard 12 volt panels is over 100 volts input. Good quality MPPT are around 150 volts, but smaller ones for 12/24 volts are often limited to 50 to 70 volts.