Volts but no amps?

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  • robojoe_fl
    Junior Member
    • Jun 2011
    • 2
    #1

    Volts but no amps?

    Hi -
    I just hooked up my first home made solar panel, producing about 19 volts to my Koneze CMP12 charge controller and the charge controller to my battery bank - 3 batteries hooked in parallel and at about 11.7 volts. I was expecting to see the "charging" LED come on, but it did not. As I poked around w/my multi-meter it seems like I'm getting no current at all (it won't run a tiny hobby motor that my 9V test panel will run).

    I'm kind of stumped. V=IR... I've got volts, the wire (184' total back-and-forth of 10AWG) will give me some small resistance - why no current?

    Thanks in advance.
    Tags: no current
    • Mike90250
      Moderator
      • May 2009
      • 16020
      #2
      PV cells will produce VOLTAGE with a low amount of light.

      Amps are developed with strong bright light.

      Cloudy or indoor light will produce less then 10% of rated amps. So until you have FULL Sun, don't expect much amps.

      And there is always the possibility that new out of box no-name controller may be a BoC (Box Of Cra*)
      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

        • SteveC
          Member
          • Mar 2011
          • 55
          #3
          184' of 10 ga. wire is gonna cut that voltage down a bunch.

            Comment

            • Mike90250
              Moderator
              • May 2009
              • 16020
              #4
              Originally posted by SteveC
              184' of 10 ga. wire is gonna cut that voltage down a bunch.
              But it's not going to be 0. 200' of #10 @ 6 amps only drops 2 volts.

              I'm suspecting bad tab wire, or cracked cells. Very difficult to diagnose remotely

              spreadsheet based voltage drop calculator:
              http://www.solar-guppy.com/forum/download/voltage_drop_calculator.zip
              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

                • robojoe_fl
                  Junior Member
                  • Jun 2011
                  • 2
                  #5
                  Found the problem

                  Or it could be the zener diode that I put in backwards...

                  Thanks for the input!

                    Comment

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