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Andre


AndreTb

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Hi,

I am at my witts end... I have 3x 290w / 9.6amp solar panels connected in parallel. 
 

I have a 50a PWM controller and 2x 105ah batteries connected as 24v system

The panels are in full sun. No shade or any obstructions, yet i never ever get a reading of more than about 11a on my controller (with or without load) and my batteries thus never get fully charged.

Any ideas what the problem might be?! I was expecting at least 20+ amps?!

All panels read 36+ volts when testing with a multimeter.

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5 hours ago, AndreTb said:

I have 3x 290w / 9.6amp solar panels connected in parallel. 

Can you isolate each panel conveniently, say by popping fuses out of their holders? (Best not to do that under load; opening DC rated breakers is fine).

If so, do you see about equal contribution from each string?

5 hours ago, AndreTb said:

All panels read 36+ volts when testing with a multimeter.

Is that testing each panel in isolation? If that's an open circuit voltage, that sounds like they are 60-cell panels, which sounds OK for a PWM solar charge controller.

What brand of solar charge controller is it? Maybe it's a cheap brand that is actually only capable of 11 amps output. Or it's prematurely PWMing.

Can you temporarily connect PV-in to battery out on the controller? You'll have to do that with some beefy wire. That's what it should be doing until the battery voltage rises above the absorb voltage setting for some time. That will tell you if the panels are capable of delivering the expected 25+ amps. If not, check for faulty panel wiring. If you do get decent current this way, something is wrong with the controller, either settings, wiring, or it's faulty or overheating.

Is your wiring around the controller done with adequate size wire, e.g. 6 mm² or more?

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