MPPT and inverter question.

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bobby99
bobby99 Registered Users Posts: 4
I have 500W 66V 8A total from panels feeding 45A Tristar MPPT and 400Ah 12V AGM battery bank with 1500W pure sine inverter. I have both controller and inverter fused and connected straight to the battery terminals with 0AWG wire. I know this is not perfect setup and that the Tristar MPPT with my Voc is only about 95% efficient for the 12V bank. However, why does my Tristar stop charging (green led stops blinking) as soon as I put moderate load on the inverter in full sun? As soon as I remove the load from the inverter, the Tristar continues charging (green led starts blinking again)? I am not experiencing any other issues.

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  • scrubjaysnest
    scrubjaysnest Solar Expert Posts: 175 ✭✭✭
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    Your loading the system enough the tristar can no longer support the charging mode it was in, either absorb or float. I suspect the CC drops back to bulk mode and on my PWM tristar the green light is steady in that mode. Measure CC input and output voltages and current with and without the inverter and you should see what is happing.
  • turbinepower
    turbinepower Registered Users Posts: 1
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    thanks for this answer I had the same question about inverter
  • bobby99
    bobby99 Registered Users Posts: 4
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    scrubjaysnest, thanks for your recommendation. I bought a 600A clamp meter and measured amps and volts with and without the inverter turned on in full sun. What I found out, is that the speed that the green led blinks/flashes on 45A Tristar MPPT in no way corresponds to what the outgoing volts and amps from the charge controller into the battery bank are. I loaded the inverter with wide range of amps from small to very large, and confirmed in real-time with the clamp meter that the outgoing volts and amps from the Tristar into the battery bank were accurately corresponding to the changing inverter load. However, the speed of the green led blinking/flashing did not correspond to the changing load on the inverter. Sometimes the green led kept blinking very slowly, sometimes it stopped blinking completely and just remained on, and sometimes started blinking a bit faster, all while the clamp meter was measuring large differences in amps and volts from the charge controller into the battery bank.
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The 45A must have a different LED setup than my 60A:
    LED G -> G/Y: 16.00 V (12V), 32.00 V (24V), 64.01 V (48V)
    LED G/Y -> Y: 15.00 V (12V), 30.00 V (24V), 60.01 V (48V)
    LED Y -> Y/R: 13.90 V (12V), 27.80 V (24V), 55.59 V (48V)
    LED Y/R -> R: 11.90 V (12V), 23.80 V (24V), 47.59 V (48V)
    Can't help ya.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,