Why does not my 100W Solar Panel fail to charge my two small 12 40Ah solar batteries?

[SEIRMIC]

in order to help you, I suggest you do a test with your voltmeter.
connect your panel, your regulator and your battery as shown in the diagram below.
your 3 regulators have the same type of connection so you can try any.
EP5-regulator-schema.gif
then, when the sun is shining and your panel is well in the sun, measure with your voltmeter first between the 2 terminals + and - left side of the regulator (those indicated P on the white regulator) tell us what value you have.
then measure the voltage on the 2 middle terminals + and - indicated B on the white regulator.
then measure directly at the battery terminals and wait a few minutes to see if the value increases by a few digits after the decimal point.
with all these values, we will try to make a diagnosis of your problem.

Good evening thank you for your message, I came back to check in the sun.

arrived, at the terminals of the battery I had 11,7 Volts. at the terminals of the regulator going on the battery it gave 12,2 v and on the other side the panel connected to the regulator I had 13. (since I left a battery on the solar plate and I bring a battery to charge the current, I will recover it in the evening)

I allowed myself to stay at home for an hour to turn on the TV with the decoder and see what will happen.

About 50 minutes I was able to follow the TV and it was cut.

After that I put on the radio and waited 15 minutes and redo the control, that's what it looks like in the photos;
1- at the battery terminals voltage between: 10.9 and 11.1 and 11.2V
2- voltage coming from the solar plate connected with the battery: from 11.9 or 12.0 v and if it is not connected to the battery I directly have 20.7 or 20.9 V.
3- at the terminals of the battery connected to the regulator and to the panel I have 11.2volt
4- In the last position, the inclination of the panel towards the sun barely 30 minutes from that.

Really it's not joy, I hope I have given the requested information.
Thank you for your availability to help me.
very cordially

[izentrop]

The PV seems normal with more than 20 V empty.
The connecting wires are too small in section, given the voltage drop between regulator and battery (12.2-11.7 V).
Connections should also be taken care of.

The battery is discharged at the start and even more after connecting the radio.
The charger should be able to power the radio at the same time as charging the battery, unless it consumes a lot?

It should be measured how long the battery voltage reaches the maximum, around 13.8 V. Logically, about 5 hours.

This software should help point the dish http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/ ... ca&lang=fr

[SEIRMIC]

The PV seems normal with more than 20 V empty.
The connecting wires are too small in section, given the voltage drop between regulator and battery (12.2-11.7 V).
Connections should also be taken care of.

The battery is discharged at the start and even more after connecting the radio.
The charger should be able to power the radio at the same time as charging the battery, unless it consumes a lot?

It should be measured how long the battery voltage reaches the maximum, around 13.8 V. Logically, about 5 hours.

This software should help point the dish http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/ ... ca&lang=fr

Hello, thank you very much for the message, I never had 13 volts. What connection wire do you suggest?
Ok, I will take care of the connections
For the radio, the battery holds up with this (because I noticed that the battery charges despite the radio playing), it is with the television that the battery drains

[SEIRMIC]

The PV seems normal with more than 20 V empty.
The connecting wires are too small in section, given the voltage drop between regulator and battery (12.2-11.7 V).
Connections should also be taken care of.

The battery is discharged at the start and even more after connecting the radio.
The charger should be able to power the radio at the same time as charging the battery, unless it consumes a lot?

It should be measured how long the battery voltage reaches the maximum, around 13.8 V. Logically, about 5 hours.

This software should help point the dish http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/ ... ca&lang=fr

Ps; the wires connecting the regulator to the battery are the same wires which leave the solar plate at the regulator.
The blue and brown sons are the daughters who go to catch to feed the house.

[dirk pitt]

ok, great, your measurements allow you to know several things.
the panel delivers the correct voltage (20V when empty), however the voltage drops a lot when connected to the regulator. the reason may be that the regulator does not correctly manage the VMP (Voltage at maximum Power)
normally, a 20V vacuum panel has a VMP around 17 Volts.
if the panel voltage is dropped too much, power is lost.
then, the other thing a little shame is the difference in voltage between the value at the terminals of the battery and at the terminals of the regulator. (0,5V loss) for this, as has been said, you need to improve the contact between your wires and your battery.
then, a question I ask myself: do you use your 12V socket network in your house to power your television or is it connected directly to the nearest on the battery?
if you use the network of 12V sockets, it may be that there too, you have bad connections and long lengths which make the voltage drop.
The last point of vigilance concerns the panel on the roof: what length of cable to the regulator? you must try to have a length that is not too large. are you sure the panel is clean? because the dust greatly reduces the power.
and last thing at the level of the panel: does the shade of the antenna not pass over the panel at certain times of the day?

so in conclusion, all these small cumulative losses, make that your 100Wp panel stores perhaps not more than 30 or 40W in the battery.
if you then rated consumption of losses also in your catch network, you may be consuming 2x more than what you produced.

[izentrop]

Hello,

I never had 13 volts.

I'm afraid the PV is defective.
What does the measurement of the charging current give?
If we consider this panel type, it should be at least 5 A.

[SEIRMIC]

ok, great, your measurements allow you to know several things.
the panel delivers the correct voltage (20V when empty), however the voltage drops a lot when connected to the regulator. the reason may be that the regulator does not correctly manage the VMP (Voltage at maximum Power)
normally, a 20V vacuum panel has a VMP around 17 Volts.
if the panel voltage is dropped too much, power is lost.
then, the other thing a little shame is the difference in voltage between the value at the terminals of the battery and at the terminals of the regulator. (0,5V loss) for this, as has been said, you need to improve the contact between your wires and your battery.
then, a question I ask myself: do you use your 12V socket network in your house to power your television or is it connected directly to the nearest on the battery?
if you use the network of 12V sockets, it may be that there too, you have bad connections and long lengths which make the voltage drop.
The last point of vigilance concerns the panel on the roof: what length of cable to the regulator? you must try to have a length that is not too large. are you sure the panel is clean? because the dust greatly reduces the power.
and last thing at the level of the panel: does the shade of the antenna not pass over the panel at certain times of the day?

so in conclusion, all these small cumulative losses, make that your 100Wp panel stores perhaps not more than 30 or 40W in the battery.
if you then rated consumption of losses also in your catch network, you may be consuming 2x more than what you produced.

Good evening very expensive, thank you for your details, very nice.
This evening I just bought another 20 A digital regulator. I hope this month to pay a 150 W panel to do an assembly.
To answer your questions:
Well received I will review the connection between my wires at the battery terminals.
Yes I use the 12 V socket network in my house to supply the television, no the batteries are in the bedroom and I use the television in the living room.
For the cable, to the regulator I paid about 12 meters of cables and two meters to the batteries. Yes, I cleaned the panel well, it is clean, I watch over that.
I do not think that the shadow of the parabola or the antenna passes over the panel, I have been at home many times from morning to evening, but I have not seen that no shadows which is reflected on the panel frankly.

OK for the sockets, I saw my technician who installed my 12 volt and 220 v sockets who is my neighbor next to my house (since in Burkina we consume 220v). He reassured me that everything was perfect on the installations , otherwise I would not have 220 normally and others ...

For the installations in any case I spent a little money for the 12 volts and the 220 volts, good I hope that it will be settled, as of tomorrow I will mount the new regulator of 20 volts and I will keep you informed .
Otherwise I am currently saving to buy myself a 150 watt panel to add to my 100 watt.

For information when I got home this evening; I had at the terminals of my battery a variance between 11.9 v and 12.2 volts at the terminals of my battery, remember that it is the battery that I brought to charge on the Electric current yesterday in the day and I really did not use yesterday night because I was tired and wanted to rest without touching anything. in the morning, in short, I had between 11,9 and 12 volts before going to service.

Great, and my very best wishes to everyone around here.
thank you for being here!
You are truly exceptional!
See you soon!
very cordially
Eric

[SEIRMIC]

Hello,

I never had 13 volts.

I'm afraid the PV is defective.
What does the measurement of the charging current give?
If we consider this panel type, it should be at least 5 A.

Hello
The pv is defective with the new digital regulator.
yes The measurement of the charging current gives 12,7 v, 13 volts often.

[SEIRMIC]

Good evening everyone!


I made remarks this evening.
Nothing good.
The Pv on the digital regulator is 0,1 more than the value of the battery. the battery giving a false charge of 13.2 Volt and the pv giving 13,3. it seems that it is not normal and that the Pv should normally give 20.
Note as soon as the battery runs out, the Pv also drops, strange!

Now the empty panel without being connected to the regulator gives a pv of 20.7 or 20.8

CI attach the photos of the different shots, sorry I couldn't capture the photo for the report, I made a mistake

[izentrop]

Hello,

I never had 13 volts.

I'm afraid the PV is defective.
What does the measurement of the charging current give?
If we consider this panel type, it should be at least 5 A.

Hello
The pv is defective with the new digital regulator.
yes The measurement of the charging current gives 12,7 v, 13 volts often.

No, that's the tension.

Your multimeter has a 20 A rating.
Connect the red wire to the 20 A terminal of the multimeter,
The red test tip on the plus, regulator battery output and the black tip on the plus of the battery, replacing the red wire going from the regulator to the most of the battery.
Turn the rotator to A = 20 gauge and measure when the sun is shining.