What should I see from my panels?

dlarson59

Hi All,
I have recently upgrade my off-grid system with a 24v system. I consists of Schneider MPPT 60 controller, Conext SW 4024 inverter and four 255W panels (2 ea in series). My questions is: On a perfect direct sunning day my input readings are - 330W, 65.1V and 5.1A. Does this sound right? Thanks for all responses

cupcake

it depends on your battery bank and loads... if your batterys are fully charged you can have a zillion watts in panels but only draw 35 watts...
So it depends on your battery bank and weather or not it needs to be charged or not... and so forth

Photowhit

Do you know what charge mode you were in? and/or what the charge controller was outputting? Doesn't sound like a very balanced system, that's a very large inverter for a 1000 watt array, might post your entire system. How large is your battery bank?

dlarson59

Thanks for the quick responses. If I remember correctly, I was in absorb. The output was 321W , 29V and 11.0A. I have four Trojan 6V L16 batteries, 370ah.

cupcake

dlarson59 wrote: »

Thanks for the quick responses. If I remember correctly, I was in absorb. The output was 321W , 29V and 11.0A. I have four Trojan 6V L16 batteries, 370ah.

Sounds about right for your absorb phase... When I am in absorb the system might only draw 100-200 watts even though the panels can make 1,140 watts...

In float the system goes to 55 watts

to test your system, turn on a load when you are in absorb -- something like a 100watt bulb, then see if your charge controller shows a 100watt increase in output

vtmaps

dlarson59 wrote: »

Thanks for the quick responses. If I remember correctly, I was in absorb. The output was 321W , 29V and 11.0A. I have four Trojan 6V L16 batteries, 370ah.

As Cupcake pointed out, when batteries are absorbing they will have a limited charge acceptance. Absorption at 29 volts sounds a bit low for those Trojans if they are at room temperature... perhaps they are warmer and the voltage is low (as it should be) because of temperature compensation. In any case, get an hydrometer and check up on them.

--vtMaps

Photowhit

In Bulk, the batteries receive the maximum available current, when the batteries reach the Absorb stage the charge controller limits the max voltage and the batteries slowly reduce the amount of current they accept.

If you want to see the maximum output from the array, you might discharge your battery to 75% of capacity or less and disconnect the array until near solar noon, assuming you have your array set for peak sun at noon...

zoneblue

Conext SW 4024 inverter and four 255W panels (2 ea in series)... 24v 370ah.

1000W solar into 24v is a peak charge rate of about 35A. Thats 0.1C which is spot on.
At 0.2C discharge rate a 370Ah bank is capable of supporting a 1.5- 2kW inverter
Beware: tare for that inverter is 40W/d. Thats 10% overnite bank DOD right there, and assuming 2Wh/d per Wp is an eye watering 48% of daily production. You really need a smaller inverter or a bigger system. Meantime make sure you run the thing in sleep mode. Or... turn it off when not in use.