kyocera Solar Panel Volts no Amps

[deepthought]

Controller is connected to the batteries.

[senormechanico]

Series resistance in the "no amps" panel. No question.

[deepthought]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Series resistance in the "no amps" panel. No question.

What do you mean? ?

[deepthought]

So I took another panel out of my closet and hooked it up with same results however this panel is older. So I decided to open the box and remove the silicone which there was none so I was able to test better.

It was working same as the other panel I been describing. Showing voltage would lite the led lite but not put charge to the controller.

Next I thought I would just stripe it and throw it away if it was no good. So I removed the MC4 connectors and again thought let me test it and sure enough it was working. Putting amps to controller.

So I went to the panel that I started this discussion with and did same thing and now its working.

I cant see anything though physically wrong or anything with the connectors so not sure still. But at least they are working.

Thanks every one for your input.

[newhaul]

Sounds to me that you had a bad connection in the mc4 . Had the connector had any stress placed on it? Likely the wires were not adequately supported while in use which allowed them to partially pull out of the connector. Now check the connectors on the other panels to ensure this doesn't plague you again.

[senormechanico]

What Newhaul just said. Series resistance in the bad panel circuit.
"Circuit" includes the panel wires.

[cstan22]

Did you ever solve this issue. Having the same problem at the moment. 2 panels in parallel. If I disconnect the one panel I know to be good, the other panel continues outputting voltage to the MPPT controller but no amps. Another weird quirk is that the battery control system is showing MORE amps going into the battery than the MPPT controller is reporting coming from the panels when they're both connected.

[deepthought]

Yes it turned out the quick connector was bad. It looked good from outside. I chopped it off and wired it directly and its been working great since.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by cstan22

Did you ever solve this issue. Having the same problem at the moment. 2 panels in parallel. If I disconnect the one panel I know to be good, the other panel continues outputting voltage to the MPPT controller but no amps. Another weird quirk is that the battery control system is showing MORE amps going into the battery than the MPPT controller is reporting coming from the panels when they're both connected.

That's what an MPPT controller does. Adjusts the voltage/current coming in to generate the "maximum power" at the system voltage.



If you're panels are putting out, say, 10A @ 20V, they are putting our 200W.


If you need a battery charging voltage of 14.4V, the MPPT controller will try to output the full 200W @ 14.4V. i.e. 200/14.4 = 13.9A. (In principle: there are obviously efficiency losses throughout the system.)

[hellosailor]

Stu-
MPPT controllers can be more deceptive than that. The BlueSky that I tested some years ago actually just leads the battery by something like 1 or 1/2 volt, putting all the rest of the power into higher amperage. So if your batteries were down to 12.3 and you were expecting to see a 14.4 V charge? Nuh-uh. You might only see 13V at that point. The controller will check battery voltage every couple of minutes, and slowly rise to 14.4 as the battery voltage also rises. Very diffferent from the old 3-stage line powered chargers.
Exactly what and how they do it, depends on the charging logic, and that of course varies with the designer. Although now there are MPPT "brain" chips, so there must be common parts and designs going around.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Stu-
MPPT controllers can be more deceptive than that. The BlueSky that I tested some years ago actually just leads the battery by something like 1 or 1/2 volt, putting all the rest of the power into higher amperage. So if your batteries were down to 12.3 and you were expecting to see a 14.4 V charge? Nuh-uh. You might only see 13V at that point. The controller will check battery voltage every couple of minutes, and slowly rise to 14.4 as the battery voltage also rises. Very diffferent from the old 3-stage line powered chargers.
Exactly what and how they do it, depends on the charging logic, and that of course varies with the designer. Although now there are MPPT "brain" chips, so there must be common parts and designs going around.

I followed the KISS principle.


While you are correct in what you say, the OP clearly needed a simple explanation of the principle, not an exposition of the nuances of different MPPT implementations and charging algorithms.

[senormechanico]

I am in the process of replacing two Aurinco Flexible Walkable 100 watt panels which suffered the same fate. Internal high resistance. 21 volts open circuit, but less than one amp output in full sun. Of the 4 series strings in the panels, only one per panel is actually working. They are under warranty until 2022, but the factory went bust a couple of years ago. Oh, well...
NO STEP signs will surround the replacements on the amas.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

I am in the process of replacing two Aurinco Flexible Walkable 100 watt panels which suffered the same fate. Internal high resistance. 21 volts open circuit, but less than one amp output in full sun. Of the 4 series strings in the panels, only one per panel is actually working. They are under warranty until 2022, but the factory went bust a couple of years ago. Oh, well...
NO STEP signs will surround the replacements on the amas.

them panels are good for tinkering with then ?

[senormechanico]

I have gone over with magnification, and everything looks perfect.
I have squished every single visible solder junction and haven't had any luck when measuring Isc in sunlight.
The only way I can get it to 3/4 of Isc is by bending it upwards from one end about six inches.
When I lay it flat again, it goes bad.
This is only the first one I've dismounted. The other one is still on an ama.


I did send an email to a guy who used to work at Aurinco, and he said,

"In retrospect I think we as well as other manufacturers were too optimistic in thinking that semi-flexible panels would be as durable as rigid ones. Silicon wafers are by their very nature very brittle. Amorphous silicon would be more tolerant but the output is much lower."


He suggested resoldering each visible connection after removing the clear plastic covering, then testing. If it worked, to then recover each hole with clear silicon or similar. I may try it, and if it works, will use " Shoe Goo" to cover. It's pretty good stuff and non yellowing.


I suspect the problem is not what I just described and is a bad connection on the back side of at least three of the series strings in the panel, and therefore completely inaccessible due to the aluminum backing.


Apology for the thread drift, but I thought it was relevant information for the OP.