Hi - I would like some advice as to what I have done wrong
I have 2 of 200 watt panels on the roof running to a 50 amp PWM controller - joined in parallel at the panels and 2 of 2.5 mm2 running from there to the controller
the controller feeds 2 of 120AH AGM batteries that are in parallel connected to gether with 2 of 2.5 mm2 wiring
this feeds a 2000 watt 220VAC inverter
Solar setup IMG_20180109_162839.jpg
into one of the 220 VAC plugs I run a lead to a electro/mechanical timer switch for a 10 watt and 12 watt LED spotlight set to run for about 10 hours of darkness
it has never run the whole time and I end up with a low battery alarm from the inverter
I recently - 3 days ago - changed the controller charge off to 14.8 volts after looking at the batteries - this is after 6 months of the system running at I think 13.5 volts charge off which was the default setting but this does not seem to have helped.
when the sun goes down and no more amps are charging the battery settles at about 12.8 volts and then under the LED spotlight load in will come down to 12.5 - 6 and then down to 11.2 volts over night until the alarm comes from the inverter and I switch off the inverter . - between 02h30 and 03h30
now with the setting of the voltage off to 14.8 volts it actually seems to only last until 1h30 or 2h00 in the morning
with good sun I am getting 10 amps charging and the batter is getting close to 14.8 volts whereupon the charging light flickers and the current reading in varies
Solar setup IMG_20180109_162924_BURST1.jpg
solar setup IMG_20180110_103249.jpg
solar setup IMG_20180109_162901.jpg
I am thinking I might change the cable to maybe 2 of 4mm2 for each lead and leg , but I wonder if I have damaged my batteries by running them for 6 months at less than 14.8 volts for charge off ?
the other issue to maybe consider is that after the cyclone ( Ava - east coast Madagascar ) came through last Friday , I have been without mains power so have been using the inverter during the day to charge laptop , phones and battery lights
but at the end of the day the battery is showing 14.5 volts
yesterday the charge totalizer on the controller showed only 16 AH charge for the day ( it was a little overcast during the day and the max I saw was 6 amps charging ) , but so far today after 6 hours I have 10 AH
any advice is appreciated
thanks
I have 2 of 200 watt panels on the roof running to a 50 amp PWM controller - joined in parallel at the panels and 2 of 2.5 mm2 running from there to the controller
the controller feeds 2 of 120AH AGM batteries that are in parallel connected to gether with 2 of 2.5 mm2 wiring
this feeds a 2000 watt 220VAC inverter
Solar setup IMG_20180109_162839.jpg
into one of the 220 VAC plugs I run a lead to a electro/mechanical timer switch for a 10 watt and 12 watt LED spotlight set to run for about 10 hours of darkness
it has never run the whole time and I end up with a low battery alarm from the inverter
I recently - 3 days ago - changed the controller charge off to 14.8 volts after looking at the batteries - this is after 6 months of the system running at I think 13.5 volts charge off which was the default setting but this does not seem to have helped.
when the sun goes down and no more amps are charging the battery settles at about 12.8 volts and then under the LED spotlight load in will come down to 12.5 - 6 and then down to 11.2 volts over night until the alarm comes from the inverter and I switch off the inverter . - between 02h30 and 03h30
now with the setting of the voltage off to 14.8 volts it actually seems to only last until 1h30 or 2h00 in the morning
with good sun I am getting 10 amps charging and the batter is getting close to 14.8 volts whereupon the charging light flickers and the current reading in varies
Solar setup IMG_20180109_162924_BURST1.jpg
solar setup IMG_20180110_103249.jpg
solar setup IMG_20180109_162901.jpg
I am thinking I might change the cable to maybe 2 of 4mm2 for each lead and leg , but I wonder if I have damaged my batteries by running them for 6 months at less than 14.8 volts for charge off ?
the other issue to maybe consider is that after the cyclone ( Ava - east coast Madagascar ) came through last Friday , I have been without mains power so have been using the inverter during the day to charge laptop , phones and battery lights
but at the end of the day the battery is showing 14.5 volts
yesterday the charge totalizer on the controller showed only 16 AH charge for the day ( it was a little overcast during the day and the max I saw was 6 amps charging ) , but so far today after 6 hours I have 10 AH
any advice is appreciated
thanks
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