HI guys,

Can someone with expertise with the Argofet help me, I want to add an Argofet to split charge my VRSLA start battery and my LFP house bank. Easy so far. I want to connect an MPPT controller to the input of the FET and utilize the alternator energize circuit to tell the MPPT that there is voltage. The solar controller needs to see voltage at the battery terminals or it wont start charging.

This is what I had in mind, will it work?

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The following is from Victron ArgoFet documentation...

Alternator energize input
Some alternators need DC voltage on the B+ output to start charging.
Obviously, DC will be present when the alternator is directly connected to
a battery. Inserting a Diode or FET splitter will however prevent any
return voltage/current from the batteries to the B+, and the alternator will
not start.
The new Argofet isolators have a special current limited energize input
that will power the B+ when the engine run/stop switch is closed.

I have a MPPT150/85-MC4 that specs say it can handle 1200 watts and deliver 85 amps. I have 1800 watts of panels. Will I ruin the controller when these panels go to full power or will it bleed off the excess?

I have 6 305 watt panels connected in 2, 3 panel sets that are in series, then parallel. My controller is a MPPT 150/85-MC4. I am charging 8 6 volt batteries producing 12 volts. I have the capability to produce 1830 watts. Specs say my controller can only handle 1200 watts @ 12 volts but will handle 2400 watts @ 24 volts.

My question is am I over running my controller?

Can I switch to 24 volts and do you have a step down convertor from 24 v to 12 v that can handle this load?

Or is there a better way?

I'm doing my first install for a customer on what should be a pretty straight forward install.

I have a VE 100/30 mppt controller attached to two SunPower 170w cells.

From each, I've measured 33v/1.5A above the parallel junction.

When I connect one panel (renogy y) to the system, the VE Connect App measures ~75 watts "low sun angle" and the appropriate volts/amps. When I complete the connection the watts/amps don't change. I expected it to double since the cells are pretty closely aligned.

I disconnected the panel1 and connected panel2 and got the expected ~75w/33v/1.5A in the VE connect app.

With both panels connected in parallel I expected to see about ~150w and about 3A coming into the system.

Can anyone help me understand what might be going wrong?

Thanks!

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Hi. I have an solar instalallation - homemade - 5 kW, and I want to change the old batteries (AGM 2x12 v) with NiCd - 2x12 v. The controllers I use are Victron 100/50 (4, because I have many tipes of solar pannels). The controllers have a rotary knob to select the tipe of the batteries 0 to 7 positions, but there is not specified NiCd. Whitch position should I use for my new batteries ?Details: controllers Victron 100/50 and 150/85, inverter Victron 24v/5 kVA, balancers Victron, battery manager BMV 712 smart, control Gx

Hey guys. Totally new here

I have a rough under standing but after realising how much these Victron products can do it’s gone way over my head

So I have 2 12V AGM batteries, 1x 105A, 1x280A linked together for one big 12V system in my caravan

I’ve got a 330W solar panel with the Victron MPPT 100/30

And now just put the BMV-712 battery monitor

I’ve just purchased the Bluetooth dongle for the solar regulator.

When it comes I’m just wondering if I can get some advice to what I should set all the parameters up on,

At the moment it’s charging at 13.8V which is the base setting I believe in the regulator but from what I’m now finding out it should be up around the 14.8V

so if anyone has some specs that I should upload for the solar reg once my dongle arrives that would be awesome

Thanks guys

Hello guys!

I have three-phase ve bus system with two PV chargers.

I think I have some problem with in/out power calculation on VRM portal.

If I take one-day data from VRM its look like the PV to battery power more than the battery to consumption power. So how it's happening? If I take from battery less then I use where the excess power is going?

Hi all,

I have gone through a few posts and am still not able to find a answer to match my question.

I have the following setup:

1 x MultiPlus-II 48/5000/70-50
1 x SmartSolar 250/100 MPPT controller
6 x 405W Canadian Solar Solar Panels (Connected 3 x 2) (Theoretical limit should be 2430W)
4 x 120Ah Deep Cycle Batteries (20A max charge current)
1 x VenusGX Controller
1 x BMV 712 Monitor

At this stage it is a pure DC solution. Mains will be connected once an electrician can be found.

My problem is this. I have set the max charge current on the MPPT to be 20A as this is the max the batteries can take. But what it is doing now is limiting the overall solar input. How do I limit the charge to the batteries but still allow excess solar to feed the load?

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Hello I currently have 2x100w panels in series supplying a 100/50 which is charging 2x12v batteries.

I just purchased 3 more 100w panels and I’m stumped how to connect them. Originally I thought I would just connect all 5 in series but quickly realized that will exceed the 100v input limitation.

Should I do 2 panels in parallel + 3 panels in parallel and connect them in series?.

This is for my RV so there are times I am in shade.

thanks

Hi,

Are the Blue Solar panels rated for applications out at sea where they will be exposed to a high amount of salt water? I cannot see anything in the certification section of the VE website however have noticed other panel manufacturers either specifically exclude or include this type of application/exposure in their documents.

Recently I installed some solar panels to my narrowboat. I have a Lithium system with a multiplus 3000. I recently added 8 solar panels and a MPPT 150/100. Since then, whenever the state of charge drops to around 70%, the lithium voltage drops to 11.9ish and the whole system cuts out. I changed my settings in my BMV to 14.4V for charged voltage as I read online. Anyone know what is happening?

Thank you.

We purchased a motorhome with a large roof solar panel and a SmartSolar charge controller installed. We only downloaded the app 2 days after we had the motorhome and ever since then no electricity has been coming in through the solar panel.

The app showed that it had been charging properly up until we downloaded the app. We tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app but nothing changed.

The app shows both the battery state as off and the load output state as off. The device is also constantly flashing blue. Does anyone know how we could get our solar panel to charge again? Any advice would be appreciated.

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Dear forum:

I have been exploring the web and seeing a lot of electrical diagrams for a Solar installation in a camper van, but non with the idea I had in mind, so I'm sharing my scheme.

My idea is to have 2 x 180W Solar panels serial conected to have 24v output connected to a MPPT solar controler to charge two 12v batteries (115Ah each, serial conected 24v total). I would like to be able to charge those batteries also with the van alternator, and someone in the forum suggested me to try the Orion DC to DC high power 12v to 24v 450W.

From there, control de batteries level witht he BMV 712 Smart, and some other components (see int the scheme) to have a 12v power line, an inverter to have 220v, etc.

I would appreciate a lot if anybody could comment on this, give me his/her opinion, It is my first electrical scheme, I know there might be some basic error (I'm not sure how to wire the Orion 12v to 24v to the alternator/starter battery and bank batteries), things to be corrected or improved.

All fuses and wire diameters still in process

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

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I've got a 50/100 charge controller on my camper, 2 100 watt panels, and a single 100ah battleborn battery.

I recently had my camper in to get my radio wired into both the engine battery and camper battery with a switch between. I realized they only hooked it up to the camper battery when the battery completely died. I tried to charge it with my shore power hookup. I think since the battery was dead, something wasnt recognizing a battery being there and it wouldnt charge it.

I then unhooked everything from the battery, and jumped it from the engine battery. hooked everything back up, and was able to charge it through shore power from there, and everything functioned normally.

Im wondering if when hooking everything back up i blew a fuse in the charge controller itself? my other thought was that I might have blown one of the inline fuses coming from the panels, though I've got a 20a fuse between my battery and charge controller, Id be surprised if it was the solar panel inline fuses.

I havent been able to check them because the renogy mounts make it an absolute pain to reach the bolts. Otherwise I'd have to remove the mounts from the roof itself which means a lot of disassembly to access those mount bolts, which i'd really like to avoid.

Does this sound like a problem with the charge controller itself? any other Ideas?

Hello everyone, I am off grid with Aquion battery system powered by solar pv and Sunny Island inverter, and an 11KVA generator connected via a Victron 48v Quatro inverter charger rated to 8000w, with a CCGX Colour Control panel and a BMV700. Everything was working fine until the Quatro inverter suddenly stopped charging the batteries and the battery voltage dropped to 5-6 volts. Since when I have been unable to re-charge the batteries from the pv because the Sunny Island display indicates "Grid Failure" and as a result the Victron inverter can't or won't accept power from the solar pv (or my in-situ generator probably for the same reason). I brought in a Fork Lift Truck charger to do the job instead but it also appears not to recognise the grid so won't connect properly to supply any charge to the batteries either. I would be very grateful if someone or @guystewart could advise me on how to get enough voltage charged back into my batteries so that the Victron will pick up the power from the solar pv and the 11KVA generator to charge them up fully again. Thank you

Hello, I am putting a 96v EV motor on a sailboat. I need to run the motor at 96v. I will have 2kw of solar panels on the boat and would like to have the solar controller output 96v and not 24 or 48. Does anyone know how I could achieve this with Victron?

Thanks

Regards,

Dennis

I want to use two power sources to charge a battery, which will in turn power a motor. I need to know how to design the circuit required so I can charge the battery from two sources

SOLAR SETUP TO CHARGE LITHIUM ION BATTERIES (24v 11a)

I want to start a new project. I am completely new in this field. My only concern is that the charging current should not exceed 4 amps in any manner. I have even heard that the voltage should not exceed 30 volts.

Kindly provide me inputs on the same especially about the solar panel rating and mppt charge controller ratings which I should use.

Thanks

Sanat

I have a BMV-700 BMS that has done a great job and registers the incoming battery charge current from the shore power AC charger. I just installed solar with a MPPT solar charge controller that is clearly charging the batteries as the voltage goes up (as shown on the BMV-700 and the solar charge controller). However the solar charge current does not register on the BMV-700 which means all the SOC, Ah left, etc. does not work for the solar charging. Please help.

We have a battery pack (2x 12V 110 AH PbCa) for Engines and a second battery pack (2x 12V 110 AH PbCa) for service on our motor boat (34").
All our circuits (engine start, lights, electronics...) are in 12V.

We plan to install two 115 W Blue solar panels on the roof to maintain batteries fully charged when we are not on board (if we are on board, the batteries are charged by the engines).

Our shipping area is from Britanny and Scotland, with a quite low solar illumination (!)

What is the optimal solution ?

- Use of two separate MMPT regulators (and 1 solar panel / regulator / battery pack) ?
- Use of Blue solar PWM DUO charger (and the solar panels in serial or parallel) ?

- Another more optimal solution ?

Thanks for yr help and your experience.

Regards

I have been having issues with my charge controller.

I have one solar panel (specs below) connected to the "Victron 100/20 SmartSolar MPPT" charge controller. When I tested the panel directly, the multimeter was reading 37.2v.

There are 2 x 12v leisure batteries (haven't been charged in a while) wired in parallel to the controller. The controller light flashes blue when the batteries are connected, but no change when the solar panel is connected.


Solar Panel specs:

Maximum power (pmax +10%,-0% - 245w
Short Circuit Current (Isc) - 5.86a
Open circuit voltage (Voc) - 53.0v
Maximum power current (Imp) -5.54a
Maximum power voltage (Vmp) -44.3v
Mamimum system voltage -1000v


Readings from charge controller:

Battery: 12.49v
PV: 12.3
Load: 12.49v


I tested it again after a few hours and the Load was 12.45v.
Are these the reading I should be getting? Or is something in my set up wrong? I was told this controller would work in creating a 12v system (very important, don't want 24v).


"Nominal PV power, 12V - 290W":

https://www.victronenergy.com/solar-charge-controllers/smartsolar-mppt-75-10-75-15-100-15-100-20#datasheets

https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-SmartSolar-charge-controller-MPPT-75-10,-75-15,-100-15,-100-20,-100-20_48V-EN-.pdf



Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you.

I have 3 Panasonic 325w HIT PV panels I am installing on our sail boat. It says on them that the open circuit Voltage VOC is 70.9

ISC 5.94A

Imp 5.50A

VMP 59.2

Question is can I run the panels in parallel in to a single Victron 150/100 MPPTcontroller or do I have to go to the 250 model.

Any help appreciated!

Hi, I would like if someone with more experience than I can help me to solve this. Actually we have an Off-Grid site with 4 PV strings, every string have 16 50w solar pannels connected in serial-parallel to get 24V to the power bank (14 batteries 12V 100Ah each battery). Each string have a Morningstar PS-30M, but they are connected in parallel on the load port and works well, but we have to replace them, because they have more than 20 years in use. I have seen that a Smartsolar MPPT 150/35 is a good option, but we can't connect the battery banks in parallel to charge the batteries because they are in 2 different places with a distance between them of 4 meters (around 8 meters of cable difference between the longest cable and the short one, so they could have a difference of the charge voltage. How can we connect the battery banks to the load with the Smartsolar and maintain the 4 battery banks?

Thanks a lot for your help.

I have read a couple of posts on the question of connecting solar panels to a hot water heater on a boat. My boat has three 250w Kyocera solar panels with a MPPT 150/70 and BMV700. The battery bank is three 220amp 6v [in series and parallel] LifeLIne AGMs. The charger/inverter is a Xantrex Freedom 458 2500w. The hot water heater is 11 gallons. I have a dual 12v/120v heater element that has not been installed yet. From earlier discussions it seems that using the inverter when the SOC is 100% is the most satisfactory and efficient course of action. Is my system up to the task? And what settings need to be made? Thank you for attention in this matter.

Hi all,

i'm struggling to get my solar set up to charge the batterie of my battery bank.

The solar panels give the right output voltage of about 37-something volts but 0 Amps and Watts.
I've tried resetting and re-detecting the system on the EasySolar unit to no avail.
Also it gives no errors in the notifications section of the menu.

I reckon it's something relatively simple I've been omitting but I just can't get my head around it...
Any ideas and help would be appreciated.
Also let me know if you would require some more information if needed.

Here are the specifications of my set up build in on a MAN 4X4 overland camper truck.

5 x Canadian Solar CS6K-295MS panels (1475W in total).
One set of 2 panels and one set of 3 panels.

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On the picture the panels are not wired up yet but you'll get the idea.

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4x12v Victron Deep Cycle 220 Ah Gel Batteries in set up 24V / 440Ah configuration.

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Here are the readings from the Connect app

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I have sailboat with 2 solar panel 365W each , with 2 MPPT 100/30 and BMV702. On a sunny day at 10am all my (4) batteries (200A/hour each) are charged 100% and I want to use the excess energy from the solar panel to heat my water tank. (1500 W /110Vac). I have 3000W inverter from 12VDC to 110Vac. What kind of set up i need to heat up this water tank. Is victron energy has a monitor/equipment that can switch once the battery reach 100% charged to heat the water tank? If yes please provide more detail information.

I've just installed the BMV712.

It currently monitors a Lead Crystal 110Ah battery.

Bulk 14.7

Absorption 14.7

Float 13.6

I also run an 80w solar panel through a CTEK D250SA.

I have the 712 at settings:

Charged Voltage: 14.5

Tail Current: 2%

Efficiency Factor: 97%

Puekert: 1.25

Low SOC Relay: 50% 50%

It appears to always show 100% SOC even when the voltage has dropped after a night of accessories running off it.

The settings weren't initially setup like this. Do I need to charge fully and resync? Or is there a settings issue.