₦airaland Forum

Good day house,
Please I have a lot of questions which I will appreciate the gurus to help me solve them.

I currently have 15 panels 3.75kw in 3S5P connection.
My Charge Controller is an Outback Flexmax 80A
My Inverter is a MustPower 5kva (48v)
My battery bank is 400a x 48v

For flexmax 80 the maximum wattage for a 48v setup is 4000 watts

(All connections were done by my humble self)

From my calculation (using the Isc) the 5strings in parallel connection should have around 10.21A x 5 x 1.25= 63.8amps. However the best I have seen from my Log on my Charge Controller is 3.443KWp and 64.1Ap. (See attached Pic)

Would it be wise for me to increase my panels from 15 (3.75kw) to 18 (4.5kw) since most times put out about 85% max of its rated power which is about 3900watts and about 76Amps?

The main reason for this is that in Port Harcourt Sun is a luxury. Most part of the day is cloudy and from July to Sept when it will rain for 7 straight days I don wan to depend on PHED

2. Another major concern which I’m currently having is that the battery voltage on the Inverter is different from the Battery voltage on the charge controller. Initially they were the same but over time there have been a variance of about 2volts. Should I be worried? I have tried using the Vbatt Calibration setting on my Outback but can only reduce it to about -0.5v which is the maximum I can reduce it to. Picture 2 & 3 were taken at same time
My Outback CC has a RTS Temperature sensor connected to it and the battery

3. My Inverter (Mustpower) shows 100% at when the battery gets to 52volts when I’m using solar to charge, duh its voltage keeps climbing till it gets to about 56.8v (58.8v on the Charge Controller) and drops to 53.6v when the CC gets into float mode. Please is this normal?

Thanks guys for all your help

Na wa

solibayo:
Gurus in the house...i need your opinion and help please

i paid for solar plus inverter back in January this year at a cost of over N700000 for which the installer supplied a 2.4kv prag inverter plus two GDM 200Ah batteries and three 300w flames mono solar panel with a roy solar controller so its safe to say that the installer made a very very good profit on my job because if I had bought all that myself and called him to just install, the materials won't cost me more than 525k as at then and am sure he can't charge me 200k for just installation

but i wanted to avoid issues so I let him buy everything and avoid "i am not the one that bought it, i just installed it" issues but unfortunately those issues i wanted to avoid
all came back now making it turn out to be the worst purchase i ever did in my life.

first off...i knew that solar was fishy as its mostly reading arnd 7 to 11A even under bright hot sun.

from day 1..i hardly got 20A charging frm the solar(frm my calc..900w solar should give upto 40A at 24v)...so even at full sunny day..once phcn doesn't bring light for a full day..inverter goes down arnd 6 to 7pm..now the solar charging is so bad that if nepa takes light frm morning, the inverter goes off mid day arnd 1-2 pm when the sun is at its brightest

just 6 weeks after installation, the useless prag inverter gave up..thats when i knew something was fishy 100%...the inverter would be supplying light to mains when in battery mode..had to take it in to warranty repairs.

now the inverter hardly gives 3.5 hrs backup down frm about 9 hrs when it was new in january(same load)..this is something less than 4 months old and has never worked for more than 7 weeks at a time without going nuts

usually nepa takes light by 12 midnight and bring by 4am....now even b4 4am..dis unverter would be screaming low battery and shutdown anything frm past 3am...just dissappointing for a setup costing over 700k

the installer is very nonchalant because i paid him in full so he doesn't seem to care. always forming busy and like he is doing me a favour to even respond to my messages

lesson av learnt so far is never pay any technician/artisan in full upfront and also never ever buy a prag inverter...never..dat brand is just useless!!!

can u believe that after the inverter packed up just 6 weeks after installation, it took this idiot installer another 6 weeks to show up and take it to the service center?

later...dey will say its village people when its just deir stinking attitude thats killing their prospects

if i had been on installment with this proud fool that installed this nonsense..he would have been forced to fix all this

now to why am here..any suggestions on how I can at least get arnd 6-7 hrs backup regularly?

because as it is...the prag inverter is crap(i mean i knw many ppl on luminous that has worked for years)

the solar is semi crap

now it seems the battery too is giving up

all these barely 4 months after installation that cost over 700k

ppl just don't have fear of God in this country

load is about 4 fans, 3 energy bulbs, 2 lcd TVs and 2 laptops

any suggestions on how to remedy this pathetic situation highly recommended!

thanks in advance

Welcome to the world of Nigerian Renewable Energy.

I have a near similar experience with urs and I now understand why people keep telling me that Solar is expensively unreliable.

My next few post I will highlight my own experiences and how I have manage to overcome them.

hardywaltz:
Try UAE...

Thanks
Any specific hospital if I may ask?

Pls where can one buy 300w monocrystalline solar panels here in Port Harcourt.

Good day house my brother is looking for the best country to carry out this medical procedure. ( excluding India ) preferably UK or European countries

Please which country will be best to handle

1. Septal Myectomy
Or
2. Alcohol septal ablation

For an enlarged heart muscle (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy – HCM).


I wish to inquire on the cost of carrying out the procedure Including all necessary tests.

PS: Please I don't need suggestions on Nigerian supplement or natural remedies.
Thank you all

Na wa

Did this man just call Nigerian youths Lazy and ignorant?

Politics

Nobody

DMerciful:
I do not know this exulted brand however you did not mention what charge controller you are using. Mustpower idle power consumption is appreciable and this increases with the kva so be mindful of that. your panels is enuf to charge ur batteries and at least augment the inverter gap.....you might need to check if the panels are facing the right angle

Charge controller is Outback Flex Max 80
Please is there any other brand of inverter u can recommend 5kva with good charge charging amps (30A and above) and charging current 56+v.

Thanks

sinistrian:
Yes, that charging current is pretty low for your bank. If you're buying the mustpower, bear in mind the idle power consumption: its about 100W.

Yes i have also read about that here, is there any other one with high charging current (30A and above) with low idle power consumption?

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Since you have a combiner box, you can simply switch off all breakers for all PV strings and switch them ON one at a time and use the AMPS output reading at your CC screen to see what each string of 3 panels is putting out. That way you can see if any string is underperforming relative to the others - this is a cheap workaround for your lack of a DC clamp meter.

Be sure to have a sufficient constant house load ON and PHCN/Gen OFF at the time of testing so the panels are giving their maximum juice and of course do it when the batteries are drained and charging at bulk stage.

The extra backup hours you are getting is a result of proper charge voltage unwinding some of the sulphation your batteries have suffered and one possible reason why your solar output is low is because your real battery capacity is being limited by the one bad battery in the string.

Given 4 12v 200ah batteries in series to make 48v 200ah. If one of the batteries (the one reading 10.2v) has capacity reduced to 80ah for example then what you have is a 48v 80ah battery bank and this is how your batteries will behave under charge and discharge with the extra consequence that the 200ah batteries in the string will overcharge and boil out and slowly lose capacity just like the one bad one.

You really can't equalize mismatched capacity sealed batteries in series. All you will be doing is boiling the good batteries in the series string. Isolate the one bad battery and give it a proper charge and then assess its capacity.

Please given ur experience which battery is best recommended for use with solar system. I have been using Bluegate Sealed VRLA batteries coz the distributor here in Port Harcourt is a registered Distributor of Bluegates Intl. But i dont mind testing another brand

DMerciful:
Give more details preferably specifications of ur inverter, solar panels and we might help diagnose what's wrong with ur setup. It might just be a little tweaking and you will get the output required.

The Inverter is Exulted Inverter 3.5Kva; The Charging Current is 53.4v and the charging current is 11.4A
The Solar Panels are also Exulted 300w rated (Voc 38.8v; Isc 10.21A) 12nr connected in 3S4P.

For now i believe the problem is the Inverter and 1 or 2 bad batteries.

I am making arrangements for Mustpower 5Kva Inveter then i change and increase my battery bank

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Since you have a combiner box, you can simply switch off all breakers for all PV strings and switch them ON one at a time and use the AMPS output reading at your CC screen to see what each string of 3 panels is putting out. That way you can see if any string is underperforming relative to the others - this is a cheap workaround for your lack of a DC clamp meter.

Be sure to have a sufficient constant house load ON and PHCN/Gen OFF at the time of testing so the panels are giving their maximum juice and of course do it when the batteries are drained and charging at bulk stage.

The extra backup hours you are getting is a result of proper charge voltage unwinding some of the sulphation your batteries have suffered and one possible reason why your solar output is low is because your real battery capacity is being limited by the one bad battery in the string.

Given 4 12v 200ah batteries in series to make 48v 200ah. If one of the batteries (the one reading 10.2v) has capacity reduced to 80ah for example then what you have is a 48v 80ah battery bank and this is how your batteries will behave under charge and discharge with the extra consequence that the 200ah batteries in the string will overcharge and boil out and slowly lose capacity just like the one bad one.

You really can't equalize mismatched capacity sealed batteries in series. All you will be doing is boiling the good batteries in the series string. Isolate the one bad battery and give it a proper charge and then assess its capacity.

Thank you very much
I have already done the string by string isolation and notice one of the strings is faulty (maybe due to wiring) so I put off the breaker so for now it's just 3S3P.

The thing is there has been Phed light since Friday till now so the batteries haven't really been drained so I can really tell the output of the CC.

When it comes to looting its WAZOBIA

kiekie1:
Good morning Nonoski,
How did you tackle the issue of the bluegate battery reading below 11v ? What is the name of solar panel & did you run brief individual test on solar panels before mounting them ? Was there marginal variations in the individual string readings in the combiner box? Are the panels shaded in anyway whilst operational ? Was mc4 connectors used ??
Ceteris paribus, you will surely enjoy your set up ! Cheer's

I changed the position of the battery and used the charge controller to carry out equalization at 60v for 2hrs plus I connected ZHC battery equalizer.

Since Saturday the battery bank that couldn't last 6hrs (usually goes of by 5am) now last more than 9hrs till sunrise (with more load). So for now I think I will manage them till the end of the month when I will start changing them in pairs.

I tested all 12panels and they had similar readings + or - 2v.
The 4 strings almost same reading + or - 0.2v (101v to be Precise)
But I don't have an Amp meter to know the exact amperage of strings coz on the CC it's shows less than 18amps while I'm expecting at least 30-36 amps.

Yes I used Mc4 connectors I bought from Amazon and kept running test to make sure all the connections were Ok.

Will test each string this morning when the sun is up

So I finally finished my connection over the weekend and have been monitoring the results.

Here’s my story.
It will help a lot of people venturing into RE.
My setup for now is 12 panels rated 300watts (3600w) each in 3S4P connection.
I already had an inverter and 48v x 200Ah battery bank (Bluegate VRLA Batteries). The batteries are 13 months old.
Before powering my charge controller (Outback FlexMax 80) and connecting my ZHC equalizer on Saturday I decided to check the reading of the batteries
Battery 1 – 12.2v
Battery 2 – 12.2v
Battery 3 – 12.2v
Battery 4 – 10.2v
The inverter I have been using has a maximum charge voltage of 53.4v (13.35v per battery) and a maximum charging current of 11.4A.
It took me over 10 months before I realized the inverter was undercharging the batteries basically because we had PHED light for at least 21hrs a day throu out last till January this year when we now go weeks without having light. So the inverter neva really went beyond 50% DOD. Infact it was on this thread I learnt that 53.4v is not a good charge voltage.
From my little knowledge of batteries I already know most of those batteries are sulphocated and may need to be changed soonest.
Since I powered my Outback CC midday Saturday till today Monday I haven’t seen more than 6.2KWH which I consider quite poor for a 3.6kw setup. (Thoug there wasn’t any sunshine throu out Sunday in ph).
But today Monday was all sunny and that was when the CC recorded 6.3kwh which less than 45% efficiency rating of the panels.
The incoming Amps didn’t go beyond 20Amps. I am beginning to doubt the rated output of the solar panel coz I was expecting at least 65-70% efficiency. I will be doing a string by string test tomorrow and Wednesday just to be sure.

Now I bought the Inverter and the solar panels (early last year 2017) from a known solar dealer here in Port Harcourt who came highly recommended. He is always on radio talking about renewable energy, in my office he is one of the main contractor for solar installations.
After I noticed the inverter was charging at 53.4v I decided to engage him on the issue.
I was both amazed and disappointed coz the guy is both empty and unknowledgeable compared the folks here on Nairaland. After much question I deduced that he just went to China and shipped in lots of solar panels and inverters. He isn’t even aware his inverters undercharge batteries.

My advice to those who want to go into RE to do a lot of research and triple check anything they want to buy. Check for reviews for any product they want to buy to be sure.
Contact the guys here, there are far more knowledgeable that all these clowns masquerading as solar expert. I don’t blame anybody who refuses to go into RE coz its quite heart breaking spending millions and within a year or 18 months everything fails.

My Solution: (I am learning the hard way)
I will be changing my inverter to a mustpower 5kva inverter (30a charger)
I will gradually phase out all the batteries I’m currently using and increase it to 48v x 400Ah by July
If the solar panels are also found wanting they too will be phased out gradually before February next year.
My goal is to achieve at 75% freedom from PHEd and their nuisance.

Rivers of Blood

Ok

Lol
Why was the comment above me hidden?
Abi the person don commit

cretin:
fully charged at 12.2v?. something is wrong, you may be lucky and its the bad batt of 10.2v affecting the system. are they fla or agm batts?

Sorry I have modified my comment, I meant they weren't charged.
They are VRLA Valve Regular Lead Acid battery according to the manufacturer

I took time to take readings from the existing four batteries before connecting the ZHC Battery equalizer, duh they weren't charged but here are the readings
Battery 1 - 12.2v
Battery 2 - 12.2v
Battery 3 - 12.2v
Battery 4 - 10.2v

Connected in series 47v

I think I may need to discard one of the battery (battery 4).

Finally finished my connections and powered the Outback Flexmax 80 Charge Controller and joined the club.

Thou I'm still confused about some of the readings

My set up for now is 12 nr 300watts panels (3600kw) in 3S4P connection and battery bank is 48v 200amps.

(I intent to add 3xtra panels to make it 15 panels and increase the battery bank size to 48v 400amps in the next few weeks)

Don Wanni

Good day house
I will be finishing up my connections tommorrow and powering my Outback Charge Controller for the first tym.
Pls I took a photograph of my bluegate VLRA battery which is the absorb voltage and float voltage

Ghg

Pic 9 - Combiner box installation finished
Pic 10 - Outback Charge Controller mounted
Pic 11 - the battery bank

Pic 5 - breakers installed
Pic 6 - Positive wires installed
Pic 7 - lightening arrestor connected
Pic 8 - 16mm2 wire to CC connected

Over the weekend I tried to do a lot of wiring and installation
Pic 1 - solar panel array mounted
Pic 2 - solar panels extended to the Combiner Box using Mc4 connectors
Pic 3 - Combiner box mounted
Pix 4 - negative of the solar panels connected to the busbar

More pictures loading

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Haha. See the ZHC balancer in there between the Combiner Box and CC. I have caught you now!!!! One of the people making the ZHC go out of stock on Amazon even till now

LOL
Yes I saw it in one of your post so I decided to quickly order it.