Solar Question

We had the two solar panel option installed. In full sun in the desert the controller never gets out of bulk charge. Even using generator for an hour or two. We only are watching some TV and the water pump.  I reset the controller and changed the settings so it should go to 14.6 at bulk. Battery never gets pass 13.7 volts. Am I missing something? I have some knowledge of solar and this doesn't seem right

If you go around your PC and turn everything off "Including" your inverter, do you still get the same behavior?  Inverters left on but do nothing still consume energy.  Our old Tripp-Lite inverter left on doing nothing, has 12 amps of appetite.  That is why I leave it off all the time, except when inverted power is needed.

If not charging, night. Battery voltage should be 12.7 volts max, when fully charged and still in sun, voltage should be 13.2v. When not fully charged 14.4 to 14.7 V.

Take voltage with digital voltmeter that reads battery but no other current in those lines.

Figured out my issue. Called Samlax. They were very helpful. Shading was my issue. My Fantastic fan cover and flag pole were shading one panel causing it not to work. After removing the cover and flag I had a fully charged battery by 12;30pm.

Figured out my issue. Called Samlax. They were very helpful. Shading was my issue. My Fantastic fan cover and flag pole were shading one panel causing it not to work. After removing the cover and flag I had a fully charged battery by 12;30pm.

Wow. We were just discussing this over on the 'batteries' thread. 

I clicked and scanned through that "Handy Bob Solar" article.  That is a mountain of material to read through.

What really surprised me were the pictures further down in his article.

The tiniest of a shadow from a roof vent lid on a solar panel reduced it's output by 30%.


A narrow band of a shadow from the a/c unit reduced it's output by 90%.

If you want to learn more about solar energy from a 'real-world' point of view, I can HIGHLY recommend this blog.

https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the-rv-battery-charging-puzzle-2/ 

WOW Great blog.
Thanks for sharing.
This is what makes this Forum  great.
Syd