₦airaland Forum

This is the best i've ever got since I purchased the BlueSolar charge controller (after following Niyi's advice and connecting the thing directly to batteries jejely )

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Oga Sinistrian.

Say we agree that the Fangpusun Blue Solar has the superior MPPT algorithm, you can only get worse results by feeding the superior DC output of the Fangpusun into a inferior DC Buck Converter (essentially what the Axpert is in this scenario).

You're right, performance was much worse. Max power pulled from the panels today was 950W even when total instantaneous load was 1140W.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
The Axpert will not suddenly become wonderful because it is receiving input from a good MPPT CC - your solar panels are already an excellent DC power source and I see only subpar results as the outcome of this experiment because per the laws of physics you won't be able to create additional power out of nothing - you can only convert from one form to another and there will always be conversion losses even in the best of circumstances.

While you can feed other DC sources into an MPPT CC, they are optimised to work with solar panels as the DC input and not necessarily any and every other DC source.

You need to be careful also not to damage the Blue Solar or Axpert as they present a variable and unnatural load profle to each other while attempting to do their work..

You just might release the magic smoke from your precious equipment and end this experiment in an ugly manner.

Just connect the output of the FangPusun Blue Solar to your batteries per the original design and you should be good.

No blue smoke yet, but I have disconnected them now. I have to say though, the annoying up-and-down hunting for MPPT was not there today. I need to find a way to get my realtime PV data from the BlueSolar now and forget the Axpert's charge controller.

Guys I am conducting an experiment - feeding the charger output of a Fangpusun BlueSolar MPPT into the input of the Axpert's weaker MPPT (to take advantage of the superior MPPT algorithm and also have the monitoring of the axpert). The BlueSolar thinks it's feeding 60V into a battery, while the Axpert thinks it's getting 60V from panels.

Will update on how it goes.

I got it for 168k but I can give you for half of that

davodyguy:
Thank you very much Guys.

God bless you really Good.

I am expecting some funds by Mid march, 2018

I will Get 2 more panels to now give me 4* 300= 1200watts Panels
Get the 2000w Inverter

I'll update the house.

Hopefully, if God answer Prayer on time, by March 15th, I should have done it

I have a 1 month old 24V 3kva inverter sitting around that I could sell for a giveaway price, if you're interested:
https://cloudenergy.com.ng/products/3kw-home-inverter I took it out and replaced with a 48V Hybrid, and it's been sitting in a box since

Barezzi:
The wahala is that you're not even getting the 15A sef... This matter is spiritual baba!

Increase your pv array to max out the 50A solar charger. No need for a new CC at this time.
I suspect you have a 400Ah 48Vdc battery bank.

It's a 200Ah 48VDC bank (4 x 200AH in series). I'm beginning to worry that overcurrent/overvoltage may have blown something on the AC charger part, cos the solar charger looks fine albeit underperforming. If a capacitor popped i would smell it, right?

sharks776:
Is it possible to have a 2kva or 3kva hybrid inverter with the SUB/SNU function? Any known brand ?

No, only the 4kva/5kva models have that menu

Yeah I checked, there's no SNU for the 3ka and lower models.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Mhen 15A Max Utility Charge Current and you have 4 batteries bros plus your peak solar charge around 23A based on your prior posts.

Looks tight!!!

Good or bad?

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Nothing is wrong with your inverter bros. Just a 'Settings' problem.

Press 'Enter' for a few seconds till it takes you into the 'Settings menu'.

Navigate to Setting Number 11 - Maximum Utility Charging Current - Set a amperage higher than 5A e.g 40A as you desire

That should fix you.

Also check setting number 01 - Output Source Priority should be set to 'Uti'

and setting number 02 Max Charging Current - u know the rest

Summary

Long press Enter to get into Settings Menu, use the Up and Down arrow keys to navigate, Press Enter on any setting number to enter into 'Settings Edit Mode' In Edit Mode use the Up and Down arrow keys to iterate through various options and Enter to commit any changes then Esc to back out.

Report back to base if your setup is different or you encounter any issues...

Program 1 is UTI
Program 2 is 60A
Program 11 is currently set to 15A (that's the maximum value supported on the 3kva 48V)
Program 16 is CSO

I was hoping it was a settings issue and I've gone through the manual from cover to cover. Imagine having power for a whole day and the Inverter is using a tiny fraction of current to apply on batteries at 33% SOC. If not for the sun that came out the following day ...

Barezzi:
Confirm Setting 11: "Maximum utility charging current" is set appropriately.
Confirm Setting 16: "Charger source priority" is set to CSO or SNU.

I'm fully off-grid now, but i remember adjusting those settings whenever i wanted to charge from the grid.

Edit: i see Niyi already addressed you...In addition, don't change Setting 01 to UTI. Doing so, your panels will never charge your batteries unless the grid fails. Set it to SBU or SOL.

Program 1 is UTI
Program 2 is 60A
Program 11 is currently set to 15A (that's the maximum value supported on the 3kva 48V)
Program 16 is CSO

Who is familiar with Axpert inverters here? I have an issue where the AC charger refuses to output anything more than 3.8A (no matter how low the battery is) but once the sun rises and the Panels take over I see currents of up to 23A, when the sun sets and it reverts to utility charging, its 2.6A or less. Is something wrong with the charger circuit? Inverter works pretty fine otherwise.

See the chart below - what it's doing between 12 midnight and 8:55am is a puzzle to me

@Niyi the Fangpusun you sampled, was it the Flex series or the Blue Solar ones? The online prices I'm seeing for MorningStar TS-45 are over my head - it can buy another 4 panels. Hoping someone had a morningstar for a bargain but I might also consider a tier-2 mppt controller like fangpusun

Abeg how much is morningstar cc ? My own is not giving me the required output and i think it's a CC quality issue. Using the same Flames panels that Niyi is praising o.

The shading i experience at 3pm everyday is killing my output. Imagine a maximum of 906W from a 6-panel 1800W array. Abeg who can supply and install this for 6 300W panels:

DMerciful:
The tilt angle looks like the culprit. is it 86^o to the vertical or horizontal? for optimum yield your panels should be almost flat...about 6^o inclination.
mind your the weather has not reached the 'clarity' of high yield.....probably after several rains however moving clouds becomes the show-stopper

86^o from the vertical. That's 4^o downward

I think I am finding out the hard way that FLAMES solar panels have inflated specs. Even when I was using a PWM controller, I noticed my yield was consistently about half what it should be. I should have known - the Voc never ever reached 44V as advertised.

What i've tried so far:
* Moved from PWM to a Fangpusun 100/50 MPPT charge controller
* Increase my battery bank from 24V 200Ah to 24V 400Ah
* Changed all my cable connectors to MC4 (money!)
* Tilted panels to 86^O based on clinometer recommendations
* Changed from 1 x 4 array to 2 x 2 array
* Moved all panels completely out of next-building shade (the last one was being shaded slightly)
* Added 2 more panels and changed panel output voltage to 72V
* Changed batteries to a 48V system and 145/60 charge controller
* Clean panels with sponge and water twice a week
* Drop my DOD to 55% and switch on power-hungry devices between 10am and 4pm.

From what I observed and the statistics I generated, and it's pretty much the same. So the nominal 300W panel is really performing like a quality Canadian Solar 200W panel. I guess I got what I paid for - each one was N50k. I'll just derate it on my calculations so that I can manage my expectations.

sinistrian:
Buying an axpert from Gennextech. I can use tools to read data from it and my BMV at the same time.

@gennextech which one of you two gave me surge protection capacitors yesterday morning? I don't know where to install them o

See what ICC is doing for me on my newly installed Axpert MKS+. Now i don't have to keep calling my wife from work to check what the inverter is reading.

mank1234:
Use shoptomydoor.com

Thanks Niyi. I actually have an account with shoptomydoor but shipping costs for these small items is on the high side. I saw an AC/DC SSR and a 230V coil NO1 NC1 contactor (that's the keyword i was missing in my search) on aliexpress. So i'll just chain them.

Oh yeah i bought two more 300W panels too

I decided to bite the bullet and change my inverter. I'll also switch to 48V while i'm at it. Reasons:
* Fangpusun 100/50 cannot handle more than 4 300W panels, no matter what config I use
* The voltage loss along my PV cable is annoying, an i can't increase the number of strings (see #1 above)
* Inverter draws insane currents from batteries at full house equipment load (approx 650W) and 16mm² cables get hot. My 63A MCB has been thrown many times.
* Inverter (CloudEnergy LPT3000) runs hot and uses 75W standby
* The woes of parallel batteries and charge imbalance. One set is starting to show an ever-so-slight bulge.
* No monitoring software for the inverter, I mean seriously?? Not even a data logger.
* Inverter is aggressive with charging cycles. setting for AGM batteries = 29.6 - 30V bulk (until battery is at 95%), then 28.8V absorption for a loooong time. I have seen the LED for float light up only once.
* Inverter runs hot and i'm worried about overheating. The fan doesn't run constantly and at a point in time you ill not be able to place your hand on the chassis- it's that hot.

Buying an axpert from Gennextech. I can use tools to read data from it and my BMV at the same time.

Gennextech:
Join the next crop of Solar Engineer professionals and expand your skills and know-how with Gennex Solar Academy 12 weeks (Saturday's only) Solar Engineering training.

This training is for Entrepreneurs, Solar Engineers, Skilled and Non-skilled practitioners who will like to add recent techniques in Solar installation and Site design and Layout.

Is the promo still on? Does it cover the 3KVA/24V 600W MPPT model too?

NiyiOmoIyunade:
On the cheaper DIY side Oga Pranil has mentioned using AC relays/contactor (not sure of the exact technical term) to disconnect the AC loads vs disconnecting the DC/battery side

Aha, that's a good idea. I can just feed the inverter output into this AC relay. I've seen one locally already. My Victron BMV702 will then act as the trigger.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Is your inverter 24v? Then you can lay hands on the Victron battery protect for about 60USD on Amazon.

There is a newly introduced 48v 100a version but I can't seem to lay hands on that one anywhere.

Thanks Niyi. I saw it while googling, but unfortunately i have no means of shipping it down here.

Please who has a Victron BatteryProtect 65A for sale? Or at the very least a DCDC solid state relay? My family regularly uses up the batteries below 40% by turning on various un-needed fans and lights and i need a relay to cut off the loads at 50% SOC (my inverter cant do that)

Can AGM Batteries be mounted on their side? Trying to save space in an already narrow corridor

chris81964:
The angle at which sun hits the panels can affect how much you see in production. We experimented with angles in our office and the result was nothing short of amazing. Silly question are you 24 / 48 Volts?

24 volts

makavele:
Take a snapshot of your installation and post here; so we can work with facts and not guesswork

Thanks

Here it is (pics attached). The MCB group has four breakers: PV to CC (25A DC), Grid to Inverter (32A AC), Inverter to Battery (63A DC) and CC to battery (63A DC). The inverter is another Mustpower clone from Cloud Energy (https://cloudenergy.com.ng/products/3kw-home-inverter), rated at 3kw. Batteries are 4x 200AH arranged 2x2.

Inverter to battery cable is 16mm², CC to battery cable is 10mm², PV cable is 6mm², battery interconnect cables are 16mm².

makavele:
Your panels V_mp shuld be at 33. something. So in an ideal condition, with your 2 x 2 config
your input to the controller would be about: 67V18A (rough calculation)

Limiting factor 1: Battery bank . . . If your battery bank is a 48V one, there is little or no voltage headroom to convert excess voltage to ampere. If it is a 24V bank, should be sufficient enough to convert excess voltage to amperes; if a 12V bank, very cool.

Limiting factor 2: Faulty charge controller . . . that is limiting your output for whatever reason (incorrect battery profile selected, etc)
or losses due to bad wiring system.

Thanks for the response! The battery bank is 24V 400AH, so I think there's enough voltage headroom. The charge controller, though ... I just plugged and prayed. Apparently it's supposed to autodiscover the voltage and also comes with a preset battery profile. I'm waiting for the data cable i ordered so i can see what's going on inside it.

makavele:
Strange !!!
You should be between 25-30 A during this hazy period

Ehen. Because with a max possible input of 17.66A from my array (each panel has 8.83A I_mp) I am sure the MPPT controller is already doing 'something' to get me to 20A output, just not enough. What could be the limiting factor(s)?

@chris81964 @NiyiOmoIyunade and @makavele Is it strange to get 20A max from a 2x2 arrangement of 300W panels? That's the highest current i've seen today @ around 12:30pm and my batteries were about 57%, even after washing the dust off the panels daily. The panels are ground mounted (i didn't have any other option, landlord issues) and the Charge controller is a Fangpusun MPPT 100|50.

Does anybody know anything about the LPT3000-224 inverter (https://cloudenergy.com.ng/products/3kw-home-inverter) from Cloud Energy? It has the same shape and design as the MUST EP3000 series inverters, and seems to be based off CoSuper/Devel LPT3000 series inverters from china. The AIMS inverter (http://www.aimscorp.net/3000-Watt-Pure-Sine-Inverter-Charger-24-Volt.html) also seems to be based of the cosuper inverter.

It claims an idle power consumption of less than 10W