NoahAndArk

Hello. Thanks for this valuable information. Turns out, according to a calculator, I can only connect 5 solar panels in series. Would you mind taking a look at the specifications of the solar panel, it is the 440T model? https://static.csisolar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/09154049/CS-Datasheet-TOPHiKu6-TOPCon_CS6R-T_v1.7_EN.pdf

Hello. I am planning of connecting multiple solar panels in series, which will amount to ~226 volts. The MPPT can only handle 250 volts. My question is, what can I use to limit the solar input voltage, so it does not go above 250 volts on cold winter days? I found this circuit breaker on amazon, I am wondering if this would work for my needs. Speaking of my solar panels, I will be connected 7 solar panels in series, each 32.4v and 12.4Amps. I really don't want to connect less than 7 solar panels, just because I need that additional solar power. Thanks.

Hi, Coulomb. I really appreciate your effort in trying to help me. In respect to the measurements I did, yes, I tried to not move the two poles as much as possible. I just don't think there is any sort of problem here in respect to wiring, as I connected everything as I should. Also, the frost/ice cleared on the solar panels, and still not getting any form of reasonable input. I am getting 0 amps again. But it is totally cloudy now. I switched back to the circuit breaker with 4 mc4 connectors (two up, two down), just because the connections in the temporary version looked awful and unsafe. I just received a redodo battery charger, and switched that on to give life to my batteries again, as my MPPT practically doesn't work. I am thinking of getting myself a Victron 250/100 MPPT inverter, perhaps that would help, but I am just very disappointed as to what's happening with my solar system. It is a shame that there aren't any updates that I could download. Thank you so much for the help that I received here. I know more than I did before. You are good people. I am grateful.

Sorry for the confusion, I wanted to say before disconnecting the wires, I got a reading of 33 amps, but it later stabilized.

Hello, it is another precious day. Here is what I've done. Previously, I had 4 solar panels on one side of my roof, and the other 4 on the other side (triangle roof). One side faced the sun, the other side was kept in shadow consistently, and had unequal sunlight reaching it. So, I disconnected that part that got no sunlight in good quantity altogether, and connected 5 panels on one side of the roof in series which faces the sun. Can't say it helped, but we had terrible frost, it will be visible on the pictures that I will share here. I thought that the 4 panels that go no sunlight, despite having diodes, were still causing issues for the MPPT/inverter. Here are all the photos I took: Edit: planning to install that renogy thing on the batteries. iloveimg-resized.zip

Thank you, I will do that. However, I also read that if solar panels are connected in series, if one of them gets shaded all panels suffer with it. I have my solar panels on my triangle roof, where in the morning one side of four panels gets hit with sun rays first, while the other of four is on the other side of the roof, experiencing less sunlight. My inverter seems to have a startup voltage of 120 volts, so I wonder if perhaps my “series” solar panel connection is causing the issue. However, my solar panels are constructed using 3 bypass diodes, so there's that. I will share the pictures in the daytime, although part of me does suspect the solar panels, as I previously measured the voltage of the wires coming into the circuit breaker being 120 volts. I really appreciate your help, it is either the solar panel connection that is causing the problems or the inverter, hopefully nothing is serious and is easily fixable. Will update later on.

Thanks for the reply. As you can tell, I am absolutely clueless at this point. I disconnected solar wires that were connecting to a circuit breaker, and I got a reading of 33 amps, but it was quite sunny then, I didn't manage to get the same reading later on. When I turn on the unit, it does show that it seems to be providing power to ac? Here's an illustration it shows me, when it is outside the standby mode: I don't remember changing anything else really in settings, other than trying on 5th option the LIC mode, and later on the User-Defined mode. I have finally received the cable to serial adapter, perhaps there is something that I could try with it? Thank you, Coulomb. Edit: my solar panels are currently covered in rain droplets, but I doubt that changes anything much. The best amperage I got, according to my memory, was 0.6Amps on the unit. Today I got 0.4amps, but then went back to 0 amps, yet magically I was exporting ~100watts to the batteries. No idea how.

Update. I disconnected all the loads, even the very wires. Still 0 amp input. After I took these two pictures, I went into standby mode, which does not output anything but charges the batteries, but still poured in 0 amps. I just want to bash that thing in pieces, at this point.

Oh! That's a good idea, perhaps I have wired the wall socket wrong coming from the mppt/inverter, I did see before the load icon pop up. Battery voltage is at 26.4v, redodo 2x 12v200ah batteries. Thanks for the response, Scorp!

Well. I finally got the results. Here are two photos, I couldn't upload more as there is limit of megabytes on this website: I really don't know what's wrong with the unit, both voltage and amps seem to be fine with the cables connecting to the inverter/mppt, but the amps are just not flowing out to the batteries. I checked the PV terminals on the inverter/mppt, and it read ~13 amps (clouds arrived). But when I look at the dashboard, it shows 0 amp input. I could really use some help. Thank you.

Hello, thanks for the suggestion. I will do that and send the results here, waiting for the measuring device to arrive.

Hi. Thanks for your reply, once more. The PV input usually sticks around 120v. It rarely reads around 117–119 volts, but typically sticks around the 120v mark. I just went and checked it out, and it was on 120 volts again. However, sometimes the moment I tab into the PV input live data screen, it shows input voltage sometimes of around 300 volts, or around the 200 mark but then goes straight back to 120 volts for some reason. I have “Canadian solar, CS6R-440T” solar panels with MC4-Evo connections. Since I needed to extend the wires to my inverter from the outside, I used regular wire with your common Mc4 connectors. I am wondering if there is a conflict between Mc4-Evo and regular Mc4 connectors. On the solar panel's pdf sheet, it says the following, although I am quite uncertain as to what that means: I believe I could be facing merely a problem with the wire connections, although I am really not sure. The overall inverter feels very well-built, and is heavy for an inverter. I am currently charging my batteries are around 150-200watts, which is not enough to actually run my heater or any other power consuming appliance. I actually replaced Mc4 connectors on 2 of my wires that ran from my circuit breaker, and now I seem to be getting 5–7 Amps in, which is still very low for my solar system, even though it is very sunny today.

Update. Still getting stuck on 120 volts. Still 0 A input on a sunny day. I spoke with the technician of the company, he said to check out the current using polymeter, which I don't have.

Hello. Thank you so much for replying. I found the option you spoke of. Here is the picture: I have changed the wiring of my solar array, and tightened the connections to the inverter/charger, and now I am getting over 200 volts, but 0 Amps. I don't understand what is wrong. I have 8x 32.4v 440w solar panels, connected in series (combined voltage). The charging is still slow despite inputting over 200 volts, very odd. I attached another picture, which shows the Amp input. I am actually getting error 15 now, despite having increased voltage input.

Hey. Thanks for replying. I believe this is an updated model, although I am really unsure. I do not yet have an RS232 to usb adapter, so I am waiting for that to first arrive to plug into the system. I was thinking of using a USB drive to update the system, as I checked in the manual it seems possible. I bought this inverter from Spain, from a respectful company: https://suministrosdelsol.com/en/all-in-one-inverter-24v/840-inverter-voltronic-axpert-vmiii3000-24v.html I can't yet verify the firmware which I have because I do not yet have the adapter, unfortunately. But, here are the two pictures I took, first shows the details of the inverter and the other shows the input voltage of my system which is stuck at 120v: