Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Solar Inverter System Battery woes.

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Solar Inverter System Battery woes.

    Hello all,
    I am having a Solar Inverter System at my home and I had a question which I need help with. Three years ago we had a Solar (Offgrid) Inverter System installed in our house.

    Specifications
    5KW Inverter Siret Solar
    2800 Watt Solar Panel
    6 x 12V/150 AH Tubular batteries.
    There's a small charging box thingie which I have heard them refer to as MPPT if that is important.


    My question mainly is about the amount of distilled water I have to keep pouring into the batteries. They seem to dry up every 2 months . Is this normal or is there something wrong or that I can change in this system to prevent this from happening. I'm fairly illiterate when it comes to Solar equipment so if there is some other information I have missed out on please let me know and I will see if I can get that for you.

    Thanks in advance
    Biju Mathew



  • #2
    Adding a cup or two of water monthly is normal. If the level drops low and exposes the plate material, that damages the battery and since you are watering frequently, I will guess they are being ovdercharged. That's going to be an installer (if you dare trust them to fix a broken system they installed) to re-configure the charger.

    What area are you in ?
    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

    Comment


    • #3
      The voltage settings would be done in the "small charging box thingie" AKA the MPPT charge controller

      If the batteries aren't already shot it clearly sounds like your charging set points are set too high.
      2.2kw Suntech mono, Classic 200, NEW Trace SW4024

      Comment


      • #4
        To determine if you are over charging your batteries we will need to know how those 6 150Ah are wired.

        But my guess is that with a 2800 watt panel system and an MPPT charge controller you are pumping very high charging amps into them.

        Comment


        • #5
          6 * 12 * 150 = 10,800 watthour battery bank

          10,800 / 2800 = 3.86

          C/3.86 is well above the C/12 to C/8 range usually recommended for FLA batteries. Is that within the manufacturer's specifications for them?

          Looks like the typical undersized battery bank that people go with to try and save money.

          WWW

          Comment


          • #6
            Your batteries have been cooked. Your system is poorly designed and operated.
            MSEE, PE

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks for all the answers. I apologize for the delay in responding.
              Originally posted by Mike90250 View Post
              Adding a cup or two of water monthly is normal. If the level drops low and exposes the plate material, that damages the battery and since you are watering frequently, I will guess they are being ovdercharged. That's going to be an installer (if you dare trust them to fix a broken system they installed) to re-configure the charger.

              What area are you in ?
              As of now I'm really not sure if they know whats wrong either. not to mention they are unlikely to accept any input from me either :c. I live in India so I'm not sure if you happen to know anyone within our area who is knowledgeable in this subject.

              The voltage settings would be done in the "small charging box thingie" AKA the MPPT charge controller

              If the batteries aren't already shot it clearly sounds like your charging set points are set too high.
              Im guessing the settings should be done within the box cause theres nothing other than 3 LEDs on the outside which is accessible . It just has "72V" printed on it on the case. Is there a way of confirming for a fact that the batteries are dead. I ask because at the moment the whole system is attached to our house and it works (possibly not in optimum efficiency) during power outages and our power bill which used to hit 3-4k INR now is around 400-500 INR Max (Air conditioner not connected to the system).

              To determine if you are over charging your batteries we will need to know how those 6 150Ah are wired.

              I believe this is how the batteries are hooked up. I might be wrong,Can check tomorrow for sure. Also I think I might have gave evryone incorrect information about the batteries. It is12V 200 ah c10 Batteries

              Your batteries have been cooked. Your system is poorly designed and operated.
              Suggestions on how I could rectify this without having to throw everything out.

              Thanks again.
              Last edited by BijuMathew; 03-24-2018, 11:44 AM. Reason: text edits

              Comment

              Working...
              X