I need help diagnosing my solar system as my inverter does not recognize my solar array

jadlcsw2004 · December 14

Hello All,

My fiancé' and I bought a cabin in Happy Jack, Arizona. Lightening or EMP fried my inverter. One of my neighbors has a PowMr inverter and I decided to go with that. I wired in the new inverter and it powered up, however it does not recognize the solar array or incoming voltage. It does not charge the batteries. I bought some RS485 cables that I'm going to use to connect the batteries and inverter together (prior owners never set that up). I'm going to list all my equipment and stats here. When my friend and I tested the voltage from the solar array to the inverter it was at 85 volts and I'm thinking that's too low. Although I don't understand the wiring of my solar array. I believe it's 10 panels wired in series in two strings. I bought one MNSPD-300-AC and two MNSPD-600 for the DC side. I placed one 600 at the input side at the solar array, one 600 at the input side of the inverter, and the 300 at the input side of the breaker box at the cabin.

Any direction you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Image: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=8806aa6c4e&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-a:r-1633414162801247671&th=19b1f324fee2acd7&view=fimg&fur=ip&permmsgid=msg-a:r-1633414162801247671&sz=s0-l75-ft&attbid=ANGjdJ-zxZPMZcb0W5pgtsHArLQrNZ9Gq2lnSc2naj9WF-wW7gTm7n_PJ5TF9vwC7MZrmShed2HmIrTwE_3VyT1dYOUzIAhASNeqE9fQjaqngrnZd4YWfnKlNBrPNRg&disp=emb&realattid=ii_19b1f323c7f17cd24b11&zw

Wheelman55 · December 15

If you provide the VOC and the ISC values from the back of your solar panels, as well as how they are wired up in the array, that’ll give the experts here something to work with in helping you to troubleshoot.

For instance you said 10 panels in 2 strings of 5. That would be 5S2P.

littleharbor2 · December 15

The new all-in-one inverters require high PV input voltage. Very likely your voltage isn't high enough

jadlcsw2004 · December 16

My apologies as I cut and pasted all the statistics on my system, but I now see that they didn't post. I wish I could post pictures.

REC Twinpeak 2S72 XV series-5S2P, VOC 46.8 V

Powerup ESS Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery - B48LPI5 V2 - two 48 volt batteries in parallel
-Charge current 20-100 A

PowMr 5000W Hybrid inverter - POW-LVM5K-48V-N

When I tested the PV input my voltmeter read 85 volts and I'm guessing you're right that the voltage is too low. Which makes me ask the question why the voltage is so low.

If I did the math correctly 10 panels should crank out 486 volts at max capacity and then wired into two strings of 5 should put out 243 volts. Am I thinking about this correctly?

Forgive me as I'm really new to understanding solar systems and how they work. I'm really trying to understand it all.

Wheelman55 · December 16

What is your ISC?

littleharbor2 · December 16

Wire up your array at 5s2p And you'll be fine

jadlcsw2004 · December 16

ISC for one panel = 9.78 amps

For some reason my solar array is not generating enough voltage to register on the inverter; the complete array is only generating a total of 85 volts.

littleharbor2 · December 16

You've yet to tell us what arrangement the wiring is sounds to me like you've got get wired with two in series and however many of those in parallelIf that's the case you're probably trying to put too many amps into theMppt as well as not enough voltageThat's my guess anyway

Wheelman55 · December 17

Littleharbor. OP lists his array as 5S2P in post #4😊

Wheelman55 · December 17

OP. Consider troubleshooting your array. You mentioned lightning damage.

Disconnect all of the modules, then test them one by one with a multimeter and a clamp meter. See what they output for volts and amps.

BTW. Do the disconnecting before the sun rises, so the modules won’t electrocute you.

Is it a roof mount or a ground mount?

jadlcsw2004 · December 17

I wish I could just cut and paste a picture in here for you.

I did not wire the solar array. The entire system was installed a year or two ago and we bought the cabin in January 2025. About two months ago the inverter just stopped working and two of my neighbor friends believe it was a close lightening strike or EMP that fried it.

There are 10 solar panels as I mentioned. I believe they are wired in series into 2 strings of 5 panels each. If that is how they are wired each string should produce 243 volts at 48.6 volts per panel.

How do you think my solar array should be wired to send enough voltage to the MPPT? Again, please forgive as I'm really trying to learn and understand all of the dynamics of a solar system to make ours work properly.

jadlcsw2004 · December 17

Wheelman55, it's ground mounted. That's what I was thinking that I'm going to have to test each panel at the array to make sure they are working properly. I was also wondering about the risk of electrocution when testing them, so thanks for that tip. Silly question, but don't I need the sun on the panels to see how much voltage and amperage they generate?

littleharbor2 · December 17

Wheelman55 said:

Littleharbor. OP lists his array as 5S2P in post #4😊

my bad i misinterpreted that post i thought he was giving me theoretical voltages ten in series and two strings of five. Then thinking he had a 2s5p arrangement with the 85 volt reading

BB. · December 17

You should be able to post most picture/file types... For example a screen shot from my chrome book:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/wc/kq63rrth1eli.png

Drag and drop sometimes works too...

Generally the "photo" button I use for pictures. And the black sheet of papers for other text file types...

-Bill

Wheelman55 · December 18

OP. Disconnect the individual modules from each other either before sunrise/after sundown or cover them all with a tarp.

Then individually test them when the sun shines.

Take pictures to share.

Open the combiner box and take a pic of the wiring inside of the box.

Take a pic of the connectors used between modules. Show the brand and model if possible. You might be able to take the connectors apart with small screwdrivers or you might need a special tool.

It’ll help to see what you’re dealing with.

Good luck.

littleharbor2 · December 18

Wheelman55 said:

Open the combiner box and take a pic of the wiring inside of the box.

Good luck.

This may explain the problem and since he just added a new all-in-one inverter and didn't change the wiring on the roofIt may be a 2s 5p arrangement as I originally thought

Wheelman55 · December 18

Boots on the ground time for you now. Send pictures of what you find.

jadlcsw2004 · December 18

BB I wish it was as simple for me to post pictures as it appears to be for you. It doesn't give me insert picture or attach a file options as you posted. It only give me the option to insert an image URL. Apparently I need to use something like Imgur to upload pictures and attach the URL for all of you. Sorry, what a pain!

jadlcsw2004 · December 18

We will be heading to the cabin tomorrow night and it will be dark when we arrive so I'll work on disconnecting the panels at that time. Then I'll test them the next morning when the sun is up. It's off the grid and I have really bad cell service up there with no wifi. So I'm hoping I'm able to post pictures for you guys. I really appreciate the insight and direction you've given me so far. Thank you! Keeping my fingers crossed!

Wheelman55 · December 18

Go over to the neighbors house and borrow his WiFi.

Wheelman55 · December 18

OP. If using a smart phone, when you go to insert a pic, click on the “choose files” button. That’ll direct you to your phones camera as well as pics on the phone.

It’s pretty straight forward.

jadlcsw2004 · 5:24AM

https://imgur.com/Ut6eud6 https://imgur.com/BiRHGGg https://imgur.com/eFoM6qk

My solar array. This is the only way it will let me give you access to photos. Please let me know if it works for you.

I need help diagnosing my solar system as my inverter does not recognize my solar array

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