Charge controller not charging

osare
osare Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
Hi,
I have the following installation:
- 100w solar panel, 19V
- PWM charge controller (cheap model....)
- Solar portable battery
1) when I connect the battery to the charge controller the screen is not displaying anything: in fact when I measure the voltage from the battery it's (almost) 0V
While the battery is perfectly working (half charged), when I connect to the '12V charging port' it gives "0" reading
2) when I connect the solar panel to the charge controller the screen is still not displaying anything: when I measure the voltage from the solar panel ( on the contacts on the charge contrioller ) I can see 19,28V  
3) on the contacts (output) from the charge controller the voltage is = 0.

Here there is a quick video to show my installation (unfortunately in French...) https://youtu.be/TzcEGOXcd50

I think that the charge controller expects to see a voltage coming from the battery to be switched on: in my case the output 12V port from my battery doesn't have any voltage.

By the way I tried with anoter charge controller, the issue is always the same.

Is there any way to "force" the charge controller to feed the battery even if the battery input port is somehow protected and doesn't show any voltage?

I hope I made myself clear....

Thanks
Regards
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Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #2
    Welcome to the forum Osare,

    First, disconnect the solar panels... Your charge controller is not "booted".

    First, what is the voltage at the "battery terminals". It should be somewhere around 10-15 volts. Most charge controllers use the "battery terminals" and voltage to run the electronics.

    If you do not get good battery voltage at the controller, check the Li Ion battery connections... I wonder if it is not outputting 12 VDC at the time. Do you have to turn something on, or is it an "input only" terminal (connects to an external standard AC charger).

    If the polarity is backwards, or the voltage is below ~9.5 volts, the solar charge controllers will not boot.

    Of course, it is possible the charge controller has failed.

    Once you get the charge controller running (showing data on the LCD panel), then you can connect the solar panels and see how everything works from there.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Photowhit
    Photowhit Solar Expert Posts: 6,003 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
    osare said:
    I think that the charge controller expects to see a voltage coming from the battery to be switched on: in my case the output 12V port from my battery doesn't have any voltage.
    Yes, the charge controller is looking for voltage from the battery bank. It is designed to output 12 or 24 volts and needs the information to turn on and set limits. 

    If you want to charge from that panel you might look into a voltage regulator to charge using the Micro 'B' charging port, First, I would see if the USB output on the charge controller isn't a 'stand alone' voltage regulator. If it's not you could look into a "solar usb voltage regulator" to use instead of the charge controller.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfbjyDiNUrw

    There are also higher amperage regulators available on Amazon.

    Home system 4000 watt (Evergreen) array standing, with 2 Midnite Classic Lites,  Midnite E-panel, Magnum MS4024, Prosine 1800(now backup) and Exeltech 1100(former backup...lol), 660 ah 24v Forklift battery(now 10 years old). Off grid for 20 years (if I include 8 months on a bicycle).
    - Assorted other systems, pieces and to many panels in the closet to not do more projects.
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