My Batteries are not charging, please help

timosky

Hello, I have a 120v battery bank along with 10 solar panels (I don’t know the ratings), a 3KVA inverter and a 60A 48v MPPT charge controller.

The batteries charge fine with normal electricity but do not charge with the solar panel. I’ve checked all the connections and everything seems fine. What else could be the problem???
Thanks.

mike95490

a 48v charge controller will be unable to recharge a 120v battery

post more details please, models, Mfg's

timosky

Thanks for the comment.
The batteries are all VRLA 12v 150AH batteries, The charge controller is a Yohako 60A 12/24/36/48v charge controller. 

Also, I read that more charge controllers may have to be cascaded to charge the batteries... how many of these charge controllers would I need??

BB.

How many 12 volt batteries do you have in series (10 batteries * 12 volts = 120 VDC battery bus).

Yes, you can put a 60 volt charger on the "low numbered batteries" and 60 volt charger on the "high number" batteries in series... But not always that simple...

First need to find a 60 VDC rated charger (in reality, need a charger that can output 75 volts or so)... Second, when you have chargers in series like that--Need to make sure that all wiring is protected by fuses, and the "high charger" output leads are rated for 60-150 VDC. Third, if you have any "digital or signal connections from charge controllers (alarms, status, etc.)--The offset in DC voltage can be a big issue too (i.e., your "ground reference is now (possible) 60 VDC for the "high string" charger.

You need to be very careful with these high voltage/high current strings of batteries... The can be very dangerous (both from an electrocution and a fire point of view).

There are (typically) UPS systems that are designed to work with 120 to even 340 VDC battery buses--But that is more often used in commercial/industrial installations.

If your system is a 48 VDC battery bus (typical for home/small commercial systems), then we have to back up and get more information (typically 4x 12 volt batteries in series * X battery strings in parallel). And know more about your loads (WH per day) and charging needs (solar, genset, utilty power, etc.).

-Bill

Photowhit

timosky said:

I have a 120v battery bank 

Are you sure? that would be unlikely as there are few 120v DC to AC inverters other than a few large UPS system.

timosky said:

"... 10 solar panels (I don’t know the ratings)..."

You will  need to know the ratings of the panels to figure out the wiring for your charge controller...

timosky said:

"...a 60A 48v MPPT charge controller."

We will need to know the parameters of the charge controller as well, so we can determine the proper wiring of your array. 

MichaelK

Could you please take some pictures of your battery bank so we can see how it is wired?  Do you own a voltmeter?  What is the voltage of the battery bank in the evening after the sun has gone down?  What brand of inverter are you using?

I've never heard of a single commercial retailer selling a 120VDC inverter.  This could be a 12VDC inverter putting out 120VAC that you are wiring incorrectly.  We need to know the inverter brand/model?