Low Solar Output?

[Horyleal]

My understanding is that the system has a hard term running under 50 V input. Try running three and series and then those two series in parallel should give you sufficient voltage for better charging. Also think of voltage as pressure pushing the electricity through.

[powderskier]

The eg4 batteries need to pre charged to 100% before being put into the system. If not they will be unbalanced. Take one battery out and charge the other until 100% then swap out and charge that one to 100%. Hook them back in all should be good

Your low power will be flat panels up north.
Also when your batteries are full you're only going to draw from the panels what the bus is using, power wise.

[RebelWithoutACausey]

My array is wired 2S3P,. I initially wanted to do 3S2P, but that would have put my voltage too close to the sun (pun intended) for the charge controller. VOC of the panels is 49v, the controller is good for 150v. In my current configuration at noon im getting 91v.

From educated opinions here and on other forums I have scoured, I seem to have about all the juice I can expect to get for my location and time of year.

I tried to turn one of the batteries off to charge them individually and the thing still reports 3/4 SOC…..but now the voltages match, so im not sure what to make of that.

[Rock-N-Ruth]

Originally Posted by RebelWithoutACausey

Im scratching my head on this one.

I just finished the installation of my electrical equipment, and flipped the breaker on the solar array. My setup is 6 x 400 watt panels, wired in sets of 2 in series, and paralleled at the combiner box. From the combiner box, they go straight to the Victron MPPT 150/50.

At noon today, clear skies, no shade, and around 40 degrees (F), the Victron app reported I was getting 1100 watts.

I figured I wouldn't get the full 2400 watts the array is rated for, but this seems low. The max output of the array wired as it is should be 90v and just shy of 30 amps. My peak today was 71v and 15 amps.

What gives?

You have one issue you need to address before you can address any of the other issues. Your batteries are out of balance. It is not good to have one battery at 100% state of charge and another at 75% state of charge. You need to balance your batteries.
And then I think you'll find that the power that you are getting from your panels is in line with the sunlight that you're getting on your flat roof panels is close to the solar equinox in North Carolina.

[Brian S]

Originally Posted by RebelWithoutACausey

Im scratching my head on this one.

I just finished the installation of my electrical equipment, and flipped the breaker on the solar array. My setup is 6 x 400 watt panels, wired in sets of 2 in series, and paralleled at the combiner box. From the combiner box, they go straight to the Victron MPPT 150/50.

At noon today, clear skies, no shade, and around 40 degrees (F), the Victron app reported I was getting 1100 watts.

I figured I wouldn't get the full 2400 watts the array is rated for, but this seems low. The max output of the array wired as it is should be 90v and just shy of 30 amps. My peak today was 71v and 15 amps.

What gives?

My 860 watt system typically peaks out around 400 watts at most in winter and rarely above 680 watts in summer. Considerably lower early and late in the day. It is laid out flat like yours. Even the slightest amount of shadow on a specific panel will basically bring the solar input of that specific panel to almost zero. You can isolate the panels individually by covering a piece of cardboard to check if you actually have a bad panel. Your solar input should decrease proportionally when isolated. That should tell you if you have a bad panel. Dirty panels will also have a significant effect on input. Also if your batteries are fully charged, the solar input will ramp down to prevent overcharging.

[RebelWithoutACausey]

I did isolate the panels by pulling fuses for each string. Everything appears to be operating as it should, my expectations were simply misaligned for my location (and Earth’s location).

Well, I say everything, but the batteries are still a mystery. Matching voltages, different reported SOC. Havent cracked that one yet.

[More2See]

Did you get an answer on your question? As the weather gets colder the voltage of the panels goes up so the amperage goes down and with winter sun angles the output on flat panels significantly reduces. You could be losing 15% to 20% due to the cold and another 30% to 50% due to the panel orientation in the winter.

[Brian S]

Originally Posted by RebelWithoutACausey

I did isolate the panels by pulling fuses for each string. Everything appears to be operating as it should, my expectations were simply misaligned for my location (and Earth’s location).

Well, I say everything, but the batteries are still a mystery. Matching voltages, different reported SOC. Havent cracked that one yet.

Have you tried contacting the place you purchased the batteries from? I have a 12V system consisting of 2-12v batteries wired parallel. The place I bought my system components from pointed out that one battery needed to have a wire going from (+) to buss bar with the other battery going from (-) to system bus bar. They are otherwise connected parallel.

[Rucker]

Originally Posted by RebelWithoutACausey

...my expectations were simply misaligned for my location (and Earth’s location).

Thinking back on my own failures in bus life, this statement has almost universal applicability.