solar

can i series 4 x 55W and one 90w into a 48V MTTP? or will the 90 W stop the 4 others

A friend who is not very tech savvy has a problem with his solar system. I gather his dealer went bust and the people the administrators passed him to say they can’t help because his system is non residential. Can anyone pass me the details of someone in the East Midlands (Bilsthorpe) area that we can get to come out and have a look at the system?

I would like to put this out to the community to see if I am missing anything in the way I currently have my system wired before I power everything up

12VDC side

Batteries

I have 10 battleborn lithium batteries divided into two banks interconnected with 4/0 cables.

Each banks positive goes through a 400 amp class t fuse then through a battery disconnect and over to a 1000 amp buss bar.

Each negative goes through a smart shunt and then to a 1000 amp buss bar.

Cables are within inches of being the same length slight variance due to placement of switches

Inverters 2 Multiplus 120v 3000

Each inverter positive and negative go directly to the the buss bars using two 2/0 for both pos and neg

Each inverter casing is grounded to the motorhome chassis local to the inverters

Cables are the same length

Charge controllers 100/50 x 4

Each pair of solar panels go through din rail pos & neg breakers to the PV input on the controllers over 10awg wire. The wire calculator I used was border line 10 or 12 so I went 10

Each output of the controllers battery side goes through a din rail pos & neg breakers then on to the buss bars over 6 awg wire

Charge controller chassis grounds are daisy chained and terminate on the motorhome chassis at the same point as the inverters

Cables are the same length.

Motorhome DC distribution

I am using the existing motorhome 3/0 inverter cables to supply voltage back to the original battery compartment where the original chassis ground is, dc distribution and alternator cables go to.

AC 120v 50amp

AC comes in from either shore power or the generator through the transfer switch over to a double pole 50 amp breaker then the ac is split into two circuits 1 going to each inverter.

AC1 out on each inverter is fed to another 50 amp double pole breaker and then continues to the main AC distribution panel for the motorhome each inverter feeding one leg of that distribution panel

AC cabling is within a couple feet of being the same length. Not sure how critical the symmetry is when running separate legs of the ac panel since the inverters will not share each other’s load.

Is there anything I am missing here?

Thanks Richard

Hi,

i have two Winner W280S (280Ah) as a Strip to get 24V for my inverter. Now i want to make a Profile for the correct Voltages for charging them both. Here are the voltages that Winner says they should be:

- Bulk 14,8V

- Absorption 15,4V

- Float 13,7V

so, i think i take them all as 2x. But whitch one is the right one in the profile? There i have:

- Absorption Voltage

- Float Voltage should be 27,4V

- Equalisation Voltage

Thanks a lot for your help!

gr33tings,

Robert

Hi, I have an existing grid-tied SMA inverter (SMA 5000TL) and 2 strings of 13 panels for total of 6.5kW. I want to add storage and am considering the QUATTRO with 4 x Pylontech US3000 batteries (@48V nom).

The main aim of the exercise is to be self-sufficient in case of extended/indefinate grid outage. I am no expert, but my reading suggests that the Victron QUATTRO would provide a mini-grid on the AC-OUT-1 and that the SMA solar inverter would run 'normally' on this channel regardless of whether the grid was connected or not.

Assuming that the above is correct, would the SMA inverter connected in this way be a stable and reliable configuration. I ask this because I have read some posts/articles that indicate that there are situations where the inverter may go over-voltage and shutdown the QUATTRO.

Is this a potential problem, and what would be the recommended way to deal with this?

Note, the loads would include 1000W and 1500W pumps (bore pump etc), inverter aircon, fridges and freezers, lighting and misc.

thank you,

Ron

Hi, I have a 1200 Watt solar system connected to a victron smart solar 150/100. I'm standing in full summer heat but I only get 700-800 watts. Now I saw blue bulk light is blinking once every 3 seconds which means charging is disabled? But it's charging, just not how it should. I restarted the mppt and measured my solar input, its 120 volts how it should be. My lithium batterys are only 70%full which my bmv 712 is telling my solar over victron smart network. Anyone got a idea?

Under “System Status in VRM” in the “Solar Yield” quadrant/box of the dashboard there is a temperature number listed there.

Where is that temp sourced from?

Directly from MPPT controllers? If so, which one if multiple?

Area temperature based on weather reporting and stated location of site in VRM?

Other?

Thanks.

I want to disconnect my 200 watt solar panel during the upcoming hurricane. I have a Victron mppt 75/15 controller. Is there anything I should do before disconnecting and reconnecting the solar panel? Thanks

When I run my generator with the smart chargers turned on and the solar in good sunlight I find I’m having to turn the solar off to the batteries in order to get the smart chargers to start putting out a decent charge current. Once they’ve settled I can switch the solar back on and it will sit in float while the smart chargers provide bulk.
Is there a way I can have all 3 (2x SC 1xMPPT) providing max power at the same time?

They are all connected to a VenusGX with VE.Direct/USB

Hello
A customer asked me the question if its possible to connect two SmartSolar MPPT`s to one string of 3 parallel PV-Panels.
The reason behind is, there are two diffrent type of Batteries (one bank is Lead-Acid Battery, the other is a LiFePO4 Battery).

He would like to charge both with the same Solar Array.

Is this possible?

Tanks for your Help.

Oliver

solar Regler mit Dongle, die grüne Diode blinkt nur. Vom Panel kommen 18,7 V! Batterie 12,6 V

keine Ladung

Defekt?

I set up a 12v system in a camper van over a year and a half ago with a 175w solar panel, SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 controller, BMV-712, and a 50ah Battleborn. Ran great with no problems. Two months ago I added another 50ah battery in parallel, ran great with no problems. It has been very hot recently and temps have been getting over 120 F in the van when parked. I started to notice that my vent fan was beeping, but didn't think much of it until my fridge had completely shut off but my lights still worked. I then noticed that the charge history showed my battery's voltage maxing out at over 20v for a week and that that no watts from solar charging were recorded for the previous 5 days.

My charge controller just keeps showing the flashing bulk light indicating "no charge". Even in full sunlight with my panel's vmax coming through, but no current or power according to the charge controller app. Strange thing is that the unregulated panel voltage seems to be making it past the charge controller. If disconnect the panels and charge controller, the battery voltage will eventually stabilize. I am assuming the BMS on my batteries has kicked in to stop charging, but my loads must have been getting the PV voltage direct. Hence the fan beeping and turned off fridge.

Other weird part it that in direct sunlight, my battery monitor will register watts coming in but the charge controller wont and maintains the flashing bulk light. In full sunlight, the BMV will record 21v. I have a breaker between PV panels - charge controller and charge controller - positive bus bar. Testing voltage on both sides of breakers and they seem to be functioning properly. Not sure if high temps could have done this, but my system has functioned without issue for a while prior to this.

Any help would be appreciated.

New to the group. To lay the groundwork for the question:

• We have a 50 amp fifth wheel.
• We bought the unit used from a private seller, very happy overall.
• The solar / Victron was installed by the seller or he had it done.
• We have 4x Battle Born 100ah LifePo4, 4x 190W solar panels, 2x MPPT, SmartBMV and the Victron 12/3000/120-50
• We (the wife, the dog and I) are fulltimers, three months now!

We have been, in the past three months, mostly on shore power, and always on (confirmed) 50 amps. We found that one of the monitor panels (not listed above) showed us at 30 amps continually. Reached out to seller, he indicated that if I had the inverter on, I'd be limited to 30 amps. Turned it to Off, and I'm back to 50 amps and I can run the air conditioners. Excellent for the Texas heat we'd been dealing with.

Two days ago, we relocated to a park, and were fortunate enough to park in the shade. Sure, solar will be very much reduced, but that's okay: we have 50 amps.

Tonight...the generator kicked on. Turns out we ran down the batteries to 50%. Direct DC usage in the rig, like lights, whatever else is straight DC, ran them down. With the Victron set to off, the shore power doesn't recharge the batteries. If I turn the Victron to just "Charger" (not Inverter), it will recharge the batteries, but I will still be limited to a 30 amp system.

This feels wrong to me. I'm a programmer, have been for 30 years. I'm decent at debugging, but I haven't examined all the the wiring and gotten a deeper understanding of the layout. It just feels wrong that it's this way.

When we have good sun, the batteries always get charged up the next day, even on cloudy days. We've been here, in the shade, for... two full days, I think.

I'm trying to determine if one or more of the following are true:

• Is this a standard solar implementation scenario? That there is only ONE possible charger/converter to replenish the batteries installed at one time?
• Is there a possible wiring / schematic / system design oversight or bug. (I don't have a schematic yet, I have reached out to get one, if available.)
• There would have been an original charger/converter installed on the rig, before the Victron, etc. was installed. Does anyone ever have that still wired into the system?
• Really, my only choices are "have sun" or "be limited to 30 amps even when 50 amp shore power is available"? This cannot be right.

I'm trying to determine that, if the Victron being on limits me to 30 amps, is there a different way to charge the batteries when on shore power? I know my question might be difficult to many without y'all knowing more about how it's wired up. But I'm hoping I kept my questions as free of the implementation as possible and focused on generalizations, and typical scenarios.

For the moment, there's a chill coming into the area tonight and I don't need two A/C's. I'm okay with the 30 amps for now, and I'll get my batteries replenished. Not a long term solution.

I truly appreciate any help anyone can put forth, or any education I can glean out of your answers. I did do extensive research into solar, DC, AC, converters/chargers, inverters, MPPT, etc. before we bought the rig. I feel sort of comfortable in my general knowledge. I was a little sad I didn't get to do the install myself so I'd REALLY know it, inside and out, but the deal was just too good to pass up and our seller was a pleasure to work with. But I lack the intimate knowledge that installing it myself would have gained.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

- Will B.
Somewhere in Kansas at the moment.

Hello, I had a question about Multiplus and Multigrid. I am building a small off-grid system with 4 solar panels off 300 watts each that will charge battery's using an MPPT charge controller. I also want a backup generator to charge the battery's if they get under a certain level, and I will be using an inverter to make 230VAC 50Hz from the battery bank. At least I am also using a wind turbine that will give me a peak of 600 watt.

So a short list of items.

- 6x Solar panel 300 watt

- Battery bank

- Multiplus or Multigrid?

- Inverter

- Backup generator

What will be the right choice? Multiplus or multigrid.

And is this a realistic setup? Or is there a more efficient way?

Has anybody found a work-around to Victron products requiring firmware updates, and preventing use of the product until they are conducted?

I have an MPPT 75/15 solar charge controller, with the bluetooth dongle. This is the only means of charging the battery on my boat, and it is my best source of monitoring the health of my battery.

I really need a way to make these updates optional, so that I can defer conducting the update when my signal is weak. Has anybody found a way to bypass a forced update so that you can use the products?

Has anybody asked Victron why they do not give the option to defer these updates? Do they not understand that being blocking use of their products puts their users in danger? I use this product to manage my boat's electrical resources. The update process is dangerous. It requires a much better signal than the process of simply checking to see if there is an update. From what I can tell, shutting off my phone's connectivity isn't good enough, b/c the app remembers that there was an update. I would need to proactively shut off my data access before I knew whether or not there was an update, every time I connected to the device.

I have a 150/60 MPPT with 600W solar connected to my house bank, there are also 2x Phoenix Smart Chargers (50A 3+1) each have an output to the house bank and the engine battery, one has an output to the 12-24v charger for the bowthruster.

All are connected with VE.Direct and where possible Smart Networking.

I'd taken my batteries off shore power and isolated the MPPT to run the batteries down a bit to check their voltages. When I switched everything back on I noticed that the MPPT was in bulk and the 2x chargers were in absorption, the voltages were the same however the MPPT was putting a lot more Amps in. I'd have expected the house bank output on the chargers to be the same as the MPPT.

Should I change the set up so that one charger does the house bank and the other does the engine and bow thruster?

I have a battery bank of 12V, 800Ah (gel) and a battery pack of 200Ah 48V.

I have a smart solar charger MPPT 250V, 100A and smart solar charger MPPT 150/70-MC4

My main PV system is 4 panels of 330WP, connected 2S2P (about 100V peak).

I would like to connect both solar cahrgers to the same PV and use the 1st solar charger for the 12V battery pack and the 2nd solar charger for the 48V pack.

Advantage of this sytem is that if one battery is full the full PV power will go to the other battery pack.

Question is:

1. Is this kingd of sett-up allowed?

2. What would be the disadvantages?

3. When both battery packs are charging, how would the available power be distributed over the 2 solar chargers? Will the behaviour be stable and optimal?

Thank you in advance,

Kind Regards

Johan De Vos

I'm trying to buy a new setup for a campervan which will have a lifepo4 leisure battery and a lead acid starter. I need to be able to charge the starter battery from solar and mains hook up but I've noticed that the 800 multiplus only has a 1a feed to the starter which isn't enough and I can't see any way to connect the solar controller up to both at the same time. I'm going to use an Orion smart to charge the lifepo4 battery, is one possible solution to buy a second Orion to charge the starter from the lifepo4 circuit once it is charged?

Thanks

My BMV-700 indicates increased "battery voltage" when connected to AC house current (charging), and when connected to my RV solar cells (2 110 watt). When connected to AC, the "Current" and "Power" readings go from negative to a positive reading, but don't change when connected to my solar cells. Why not?

My situation is this. I have a large PV array 2600 watts running into two 100|50 MPPT charge controllers, I have 2x 3000|24 Multiplus inverters, BMV702 and a raspberry pie connecting it all together running Venus OS. I also have a 260 amp 24v DC alternator onboard that will charge the battery bank and help power loads.

My question is, how can I force the PV / MMPT chargers to always output if there is a draw on the system. I have set my alternator to charge to 27.8v while my MPPT chargers charge to 28.4 (temp compensated) . Often times I'll run two air conditioners, using close to 3000 watts. If my battery bank is not full and the MPPT chargers are still in bulk mode, it will work pretty well with the chargers continuing to contribute to the loads and the battery bank will fill. However once the bank is near full the MPPTs throttle down and the alternator takes more of the AC load, which puts my strain on my diesel engine costing me fuel and power.

With the tools at my disposal here, how can I have the MPPT chargers contribute even if the battery bank is full. I thought a few years ago the DVCC used to work this way and it would trigger the chargers to assist.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hi all,

I am designing a custom solar system setup and want to be sure it will work.

[image]

Here's details on all components

Solar Panels - Two 12v panels at 115 W each (already owned)

Charge Controller - Victron BlueSolar MPPT 100/30

• https://www.amazon.com/Victron-Energy-BlueSolar-Charge-Controller/dp/B076N5PTBN/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=victron+bluesolar+100%2F30&qid=1590864560&sr=8-3

Batteries with BMS - Nissan Leaf Generation 2 Battery Module Lithium Ion NMC

• https://www.techdirectclub.com/nissan-leaf-generation-2-battery-module-lithium-ion-1-kwh-per-set-66-amp-h-12-volt-configuration-w-option-lot-of-2/

• 2 units at 500 Wh each = 1000Wh x 70% usable = 700Wh usable. These batteries are 60-70% usable capacity (I guess because BMS limits it?)

• BMS - https://www.techdirectclub.com/4s-bms-30-amps-assembly-kit-for-2-nissan-leaf-lithium-ion-battery-g1-g2/

Inverter - Victron Phoenix 12V 500W

• https://www.amazon.com/Victron-Energy-Sinewave-Inverter-VE-Direct/dp/B01N4J9OOM

Wall Charger - 54.6V 9A YALANCHA

• https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Battery-Aluminum-Electronic-Wheelchair/dp/B07RQS96W5/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=48v%2B9a%2Bcharger&qid=1590814661&sr=8-2&th=1

My goal is to disconnect the solar panels and connect the wall charger (powered by generator) on cloudy days. The reason I chose a 48v charger is because I will eventually get a 48v battery for an electric bike so I'd need it anyway. I calculate that I can plug this charger into the inverter to charge the bike battery from the Nissan Leaf batteries. What do you think my potential issues are? Thanks a ton!

Hi, I have a house with a 4kW GT system on FIT on phase A

I have added a 12kW array which I am planning to split over phase B and C.

I want to use a multiplus II as a smart inverter/charger from a lithium battery to store excess energy from any phase.

My supplier meter is net metering (non smart). So what I (think I) need is my own net metering meter which talks to the Multiplus and tells it to charge or discharge the battery to keep the import/export at zero. However this will only be pulling off one phase. This is why I need the external meter. If I am exporting 1kW on phase B and C (for example), with no import, but the Multiplus is on phase A, it can still import 2kW on phase A with no supplier charges.

I have researched Modbus meters but I just wondered if anyone had done anything similar - presumably I need an interface between the Modbus and the Multiplus to convert Net Export Power into Victron charge now Power.

I will have a zappi car charger and a DHW store system to soak up the excess energy. Ideally this would be priority order

1. Car (if present)

2. House batt

3. DHW cylinder

4. Export.

Although I would be willing to always do House first if that is less complicated (the zappi and DHW system will communicate internally but I don't know if they would communicate with the Victron).

I believe delays can be programmed such that the Victron could have a shorter delay on start up than the Zappi which would ensure the house batt gets priority over the car.

Of course as the car isn't always there I thought that would be best if the car got first dibs as hopefully if its a sunny day the house would get a chance later after the car leaves.

I should be good for producing approaching 16000kWh per year with this system (the 1year old original 4kW array made close to 4000 in a year and the 12kW array is less shaded)

My background is Marine - off grid so use a lot of Victron products. I have used R pi a bit so I guess this or Arduino could maybe be a useful interface if there isn't a premade solution available.

Thanks in advance

Olly

Dear all,

I try to figure out, if the behaviour I see is per design or not. In my van I have installed a Victron LifePo4, a BMS12/200 and a MPPT75/15 with 2x110W solar panels. Due to the current cold weather conditions (<5°C), the battery and the BMS shutdown the battery charging.

Whenever there is sun available, the voltage on my BMS load and the MPPT battery output increase to ~17V. I assume this is due to the battery shutdown for charging. As soon, as the battery is open (>5°C), the voltage decreases to a normal level.

Is that expected? I thought the MPPT will reduce somehow the voltage when there is no charging in progress.

Why I am asking the question? If put the MPPT battery charging minus on the BMS load pin, where all my other load is also connected to. Now I have ~17V on all my devices, as long as the battery is shutdown. Is my design correct or do I need to change something?

best regards,

Fabian

I’m building a small EV-charging station using an EasySolar 5000, a BMW i3 22kWh battery and some solar panels.. and it’s almost done :-)

I am thinking to start with a simple control, i.e. I plug in the car and let it charge at 3.7kW AC. When the SOC of the battery bank has dropped to say 10% SOC, I would like the Multiplus to turn on grid AC and complete the EV-charge, but leave the battery bank at 10% SOC.

I have read about the different assisatnts, but I don’t think any of Them is a straight fit. What’s the best way of setting this up? Sorry if this is trivial, I’m new to the Victron Universe :-)

Hello,

Im just after some advice on a suitable circuit breaker between the panels and the mppt

I will be installing 3 (potentially a 4th in the future) Victron poly 175w panels in series and a Smartsolar 100/50 MPPT but am unsure of which circuit breaker to install between the 2 in order to isolate the panels if need be and also for safety.

Given voltage will be up around the 72 mark what would you suggest? With 4 panels it will be around 94v

Between the MPPT and batteries would it be advisible to install a 60 or 70amp medium duty thermal circuit breaker?

Hello,

We're running an ESS system comprised of a Quattro 8 kVA and 2x MPPT 250/100, PV array is 8 kWp, with a bank of 1200Ah-48V battery bank. Octo GX is running OS 2.53, and all devices are flashed to latest firmware (.473 Quattro). ESS configured in Optimized w/o batterylife, and zero feed-in is enabled. We also have DVCC enabled. BMV-712 external monitor.

Once the battery state from absorption to float, (Quattro's status) the PV suddently switches off, although there is still consumption on the ACOUT side :

[image]

This is puzzling as this is happening during the day and there is still plenty of PV power available. This energy mismatch is not understandable, as the PV charger should match the AC outside power....

Any ideas ? We have tried all combination possible (battery life enabled or disabled, DVCC on or off, etc...).

Thanks a lot,

Hi I Have 5 x 110Ah Victron AGMs in parallel for 550Ah bank , Can anyone advise the end amps in absorption for these ? have heard everything from 1-4 % from watching them a little when on generator through Phoenix charger and inverter it switches to float around 10-11 amps so about 2% does this seem right , alot of people say AGM's should be set higher than this at 3-4 %

I updated firmware on app and two smart controllers today, May 2020 and I want to synchronize the charging. Do I need to add a smart sense? If I do, is it best to install the smart sense partway down a 5 battery bank to allow for cable losses between batteries?

Hi,

I've got a SmartSolar 150/35 with a string of panels totalling 600W. I've a couple of 110AH TN Power LiFePO4 batteries in series so running at 24V.

I've also a Phoenix Inverter Smart 24/3000. Both the charger and inverter are connected in parallel to the batteries via fuses etc. Cables to the inverter are 50mm2 copper and 16mm2 to the charger.

Generally on its usual load (around 150W) everything is fine. The 'fun' starts when I charge the car....

I've set that rate to 1.3KW which the inverter is fine with and it charges nicely. One of the batteries gets a bit warmer than the other but nothing to worry about. But the yield from solar drops right down from say 400W to under 200W. I note that the panel voltage also drops from around 95V to 50V as well. It's almost like the MPPT tracking has gone wrong somehow. Stop charging in the and it all recovers.

Ripple up the DC to the charger upsetting it? Something else obvious I've missed?

Cheers

Phil