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vasyo avatar image
vasyo asked

Mppt SmartSolar 150/100 MC4 VE.Can doesn't charge when U>76 volts

Hi,

I'm new here and I belive in a power of community:)

I have two controllers victron. The first one SmartSolar 250/85 is working perfect.
The second one Mppt SmartSolar 150/100 MC4 VE.Can I recieved as a gift from my friend from Germany. It was buyed in Spain and I had no connection with seller as I live more than 1000 km far eway.

When I recieved it I tried to conect to my sollar panels 4500W (3parallelx3)
Voc of one panel is 37V
Current at Pmax is 17A
It didn`t charge my 48V Lithium NMC battery

Here is screen -

https://prnt.sc/nV3rEsisVtF4

When I connected to only one solar panel with 24 volts accumulator everything was ok.

After that I sent it to engineer for diagnostic. The diagnostic was made with 48volt power suply unit.
It shows that mppt is charging well when U<76 volts

U>76Volts - https://prnt.sc/f11i_Asq_WnL
U<76 Volts - https://prnt.sc/ETmoxVVJGO28

Also the mppt is charging when U>119Volts - https://prnt.sc/LLoUi_UeFFHJ

I discovered a lot of topics from here and found only one similar question - https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/150147/mppt-150100-is-not-charging-with-3-solar-panels-in.html

There was the problem of special 12/24V model of Mppt 150/100 controler - SCC115110512
I checked my it has SCC115110511 It means that it has work with 48V system

The last idea was about firmware. But it is tha latest version now - v3.13, bootloader - v1.07

Usually we tried to reset to defaults a few times and disconnect-connect solar panells/accumulator


I hope we will make it charging together!


MPPT ControllersMPPT SmartSolar
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vasyo avatar image vasyo commented ·

Hi Matthijs!


@mvader (Victron Energy) could you please suggest smth for this situation?


I posted this question 6 days ago and no answer. May be nobody saw this question or smth else

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9 Answers
kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Your first image from the MPPT shows it trying to charge, but zero current. Usually this is either the BMS preventing charge or a connection issue.

No idea what the other two images mean.

A screen shot of the battery settings in the MPPT would help.

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Alex Pescaru avatar image
Alex Pescaru answered ·

Maybe a dumb question, but did you tried to enter in the SS 150/100 settings and see if it's set for 48V?

Maybe it remained set for 24V and once set these MPPTs doesn't adjust automatically to battery voltage. You need to manually set the battery working voltage.

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vasyo avatar image vasyo commented ·

Thank you for your answer, Alex.


Did you mean this settings?

screenshot-20240322-111731.jpg

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Alex Pescaru avatar image Alex Pescaru vasyo commented ·
Indeed, those settings... And seems that they are OK.

Which is your system configuration?

Besides the MPPT and batteries, do you have anything else for coordinating things? Like a Cerbo or similar?

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mjs500 avatar image
mjs500 answered ·

Solar panels 4500W (3 parallel x 3) ?
Voc of one panel is 37V
Current at Pmax is 17A


if this how your panel are wired = total 37v @ 102 amps PV max voltages need to be 5% > charging voltage your looking for


panels wired in parallel adds the current together and voltage is same


panels wired in serials adds the voltage together and current is same


and also you will exceed the max current input too the Mppt



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vasyo avatar image
vasyo answered ·

Thank you a lot for your answer!

Yes, the first image about how mppt controller try to charge but can not to start.


The second images shows our experiment with 48volt power suply unit. We conected it instead of sollar panels because it was more easy to regulate volts. It helped us to understand that mppt controller can to start charging our 48V 200Ah Lifepo4 battery with U<76Volts.

When we conected different configuration of sollar panels it was hard to understand why mppt controller worked corectly with 24V battery and 1 sollar panels and why it didn't start to charge 48v battery when sollar panels could give 90..110 volts.


You also mention about BMS preventing. I also thought about this reason and thats why conected other type of battery without BMS. But it didn't helped.


Here is screen of battery settings in the MPPT. I tried different configuration

screenshot-20240321-131952.jpg


Thank you one more time for your interest to this question. I'll be thankfull for any ideas




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kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Firstly disable equalisation for lithium

Secondly check battery makers recommendations. Looks as if your voltage settings are too high. This will cause the BMS to disconnect for battery protection

Probably good to turn on expert mode and select battery preset of smart lithium. This is meant for Victron batteries only, but will be better than your existing settings

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vasyo avatar image
vasyo answered ·

Thank's for fast response and advices. Yes the settings from the image I had sent is not good for Lifepo4 48v battery.


The image of batery settings I sent as an example. We tried to use different type of accumulator batteries and different settings for them.


Now I use LiNMC batery and settings for it is like this


screenshot-20240322-111731.jpg

It works for my MPPT SmartSolar 250/85 But for my second Mppt SmartSolar 150/100 MC4 VE.Can it doesn't work.

The problem is not in battery settings. The problem is in value of voltes from the solar panels. If It's more than 76 voltes the mppt can't start to charge the battery. It's very strange. That's why I with my friend think about firmware.


How can I downgrade it? Because it is the latest version now v3.13

Is it a good idea?


Thank's in advance for your ideas.


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mjs500 avatar image mjs500 commented ·
your panel voltage and current spec i.e. Pmax =w Vmax = V Imax =amp Isc = short cct current Voc = open cct voltage can you share this with us
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vasyo avatar image
vasyo answered ·

img-20240322-142237.jpg



I have 9 pieces of this panels

The conection is 3 paralel block of 3 cascade conection

With this 9 pieces of solar panels mppt controler 150/100 doesn't charge the LiNMC 48V 160Ah battery. When I conecting other my controller 250/85 everything perfect.


Also I tried to use only one this risen solar panels with 24V battery. In this way mppt controler 150/100 is working good


The screen is not in English but I hope it is enough for understanding


screenshot-20240322-143421.jpg





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mjs500 avatar image
mjs500 answered ·

so now we panel spec right

With your panels wired 3 in series x 3 strings i.e. 3S3P pv max voltage is 127.2V min temp and PV min 73.4V at max temp temp rang +70c to -10c

and have look at victron Mppt calculator this wiring config is good for both 150/ 100 and 250/85 mppt

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vasyo avatar image vasyo commented ·
Yes, the configuration of solar panels 3S3P is fit well


But I can't understand one magic thing. Why mppt 150/100 doesn't charge the battery. This is the main problem


Thank you for your atention to this question

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mjs500 avatar image
mjs500 answered ·

3s1p-1024x1024.png


this 3 panels wired in series



3s1p-1024x1024.png (171.0 KiB)
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vasyo avatar image vasyo commented ·

I also tried this type of conection. The mppt 150/100 doesn't charge...

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