solar panel voltage

[Kontiki]

What should be the solar panel voltage going into the regulator? I seem to think I was getting around 18 volt on my last van, on this van it only seems to be around 14/15 volts.

 

[Techno100]

17/18 in good light/Sun 14/15 is not unexpected in this weather

 

[Kontiki]

Our weather down near Malaga is bright sunshine & clear blue skies :dance:, can a panel deteriorate & would giving a low voltage be an indication of the panel failing? I don't know anything about the panel except info left by the original owner that it is a 130 watt panel.

 

[Techno100]

I would disconnect it from the regulator and check you get 21.5 volts on the panel leads open circuit. If so then it's more likely to be a regulator issue.
It's not recommended to disconnect under load so I would cover the panel first

 

[Kontiki]

Thanks I will give it a try. I have been in contact with the dealer I bought the van & he thought it might be a regulator problem. I could do with getting the panel/regulator & batteries being checked out to see what the problem is. With a 130 watt panel & 2 x 95 amp batteries we should be ok as we aren't heavy users but we are barley making it through the night after conserving as much power as we can.

 

[Bigpeetee]

Check the voltage at each end of the cable whilst live, if you've got a much higher voltage at the panel end then you're losing voltage in the cabling. If as you've said you're barely getting through the night, then the batts must be pretty flat so the regulator is trying to get maximum current through to charge the batts, maximum current = biggest voltage drop

Either a bad connection or the cables too thin and offering too high a resistance.

Try and get your batts up to charge.

What voltage are your batts in the morning? During the day they may show a good voltage, but it doesn't mean they're full, check after dark and they've been in use for about 20 mins or so.

Max current you can get is about 6.5A in peak sun so prob much less at this time of yr, even so you'd need about 36-40 hrs of brilliant sun to charge depleted batts, maybe time to book into a campsite for a couple of days??

 

[hextal]

Yeah voltage should stay regular but the current will vary dependant on light.

 

[Kontiki]

I am on a campsite with hook up at the moment so I can check a few things out, we have family coming out to stay for 9 days so we thought it easier to be on a site. The cost isn't too bad at 165€ including hookup & free wifi, as they will be hiring a car we can get out & enjoy letting somebody else drive .
Back to the power, the voltage in the morning is between 12.1 & 12.5 volts (this is after moderate usage) We watch a bit of TV but not excessive, all the lights are LED's, I turn off power when we aren't using it. I found that just having the water pump on standby used 0.5 amps, likewise many of the other circuits seem to consume power on standby.
After a good days sun the voltage is showing around 13.5 to 13.8 volts when the panel has stopped, it has sometimes gone as high as 14.5 volts when the sun is shining on it. The highest amps I saw was just over 4 but this is very rare.
I can check out some of the things suggested but can't get access to the panel itself the roof is too high & the skylight near to it is too small to reach it through.

 

[Bigpeetee]

I am on a campsite with hook up at the moment so I can check a few things out, we have family coming out to stay for 9 days so we thought it easier to be on a site. The cost isn't too bad at 165€ including hookup & free wifi, as they will be hiring a car we can get out & enjoy letting somebody else drive .
Back to the power, the voltage in the morning is between 12.1 & 12.5 volts (this is after moderate usage) We watch a bit of TV but not excessive, all the lights are LED's, I turn off power when we aren't using it. I found that just having the water pump on standby used 0.5 amps, likewise many of the other circuits seem to consume power on standby.
After a good days sun the voltage is showing around 13.5 to 13.8 volts when the panel has stopped, it has sometimes gone as high as 14.5 volts when the sun is shining on it. The highest amps I saw was just over 4 but this is very rare.
I can check out some of the things suggested but can't get access to the panel itself the roof is too high & the skylight near to it is too small to reach it through.

Well a spell on EHU should completely charge up those batts.

Don't know where you are at the moment, but our daughter's been working in Marbella for the past two weeks and there's been torrential rain at times, maybe a water driven turbine would help!!

It's the battery voltage after they've either rested for couple of hrs or had light use for 15 mins or so that helps. How old are the batts?

Just over 4A is good for this time of yr, but shared between a couple of batts means only 2A each max, not much more than a trickle charge!! So will show good voltage at first, but soon drop

 

[Kontiki]

Had some heavy rain & wind a couple of days ago when we were driving down from Almerimar, had to get up one night to turn the van into the wind. Don't think it was anywhere near strong enough to tip us over but just as you would drop off a blast would hit the van. Sitting in the awning now as its raining, nothing more than a bit of a shower. Forecast on an app I downloaded was spot on, gave sunshine this morning then after lunch rain.

Hadn't thought about it charging 2 batteries so only 2 amps per battery, definitely fitting extra panel when we get back & will make them both where I can tilt them. Spoke to an English guy who was fitting an extra one to his caravan, he bought it from Germany & had it delivered to the car park he was on in Torrevieja Windgenerator | Solaranlage fr das Wohnmobil | preVent GmbH - preVent GmbH said that he was hoping to get one from Spain but they were too expensive.
I think it will be a lot of sitting round in candle light & early nights until I get back home :sleep-027::sleep-027:, always plenty of cheap booze to help while away the days :cheers:.