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No power from new solar panel

Damdifino
Explorer
Explorer
I have existing solar wiring in my Casita running through a Renogy ViewStar controller. The controller is communicating with my battery. However, I'm not getting any input from my new 100W Renogy solar panel. Inline fuse is good. What should I look for?
2014 Arctic Fox 22H.
2009 Toyota Land Cruiser URJ200 Series
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
23 REPLIES 23

time2roll
Explorer II
Explorer II
I see you had help. Did you read the instructions?

http://www.renogy.com/10A-20A-30A-PWM-Viewstar-Solar-Charge-Controller-Manual.pdf

Page 7 says panel connects to the left terminals. Battery to the center terminals. Right is load terminals and should have nothing.
Panel and battery shows positive to the right and negative to the left. Put your meter on to match the polarity and see if the meter reads normal or backward to verify polarity.

Page 20 shows a list of trouble shooting tips.

Post the results.

red31
Explorer
Explorer
Damdifino wrote:

Voltage at the controller is 18.63 (or -18.63 depending on which probe on the micrometer.)


you could share which probe you are using for the + and which one for the - to confirm polarity, if the probes are in the correct spot on the voltmeter then red is + and black is - so if you probe the PV+ terminal with the red and the PV- with the black you should get a positive reading, if you reverse the probes you would get a negative reading.

Same with the battery controller screw terminals Same with the battery itself. And the battery measurement is ?

BFL13
Explorer II
Explorer II
Damdifino wrote:
Ed_Gee wrote:
Did you check polarity as 'twodownzero' suggested above? And are you certain you connected the panel to the proper input terminals on your controller?


There was only one way to connect it, given the locking MC4 plugs available. Knowing the dude who installed this, I'm sure he got the polarity right.


It is impossible to understand what you are dealing with from your info provided. No big deal, nobody is an expert at everything. Best thing would be to find the "dude who installed this", and get him to sort it out.
1. 1991 Oakland 28DB Class C
on Ford E350-460-7.5 Gas EFI
Photo in Profile
2. 1991 Bighorn 9.5ft Truck Camper on 2003 Chev 2500HD 6.0 Gas
See Profile for Electronic set-ups for 1. and 2.

pianotuna
Nomad II
Nomad II
Damdifino wrote:
pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

What is the battery voltage?

Double check to make sure input to the controller is correct polarity and correct terminals.


Voltage at the controller is 18.63 (or -18.63 depending on which probe on the micrometer.) What would happen if I just switch the panel wires leading into the controller. Will that fry something?


Very likely.

I wanted to know the battery voltage. If it is higher than the set point on the charge controller--then there won't be any charging happening. i.e. your system may be working exactly as it should.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

Damdifino
Explorer
Explorer
pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

What is the battery voltage?

Double check to make sure input to the controller is correct polarity and correct terminals.


Voltage at the controller is 18.63 (or -18.63 depending on which probe on the micrometer.) What would happen if I just switch the panel wires leading into the controller. Will that fry something?
2014 Arctic Fox 22H.
2009 Toyota Land Cruiser URJ200 Series
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

pianotuna
Nomad II
Nomad II
Hi,

What is the battery voltage?

Double check to make sure input to the controller is correct polarity and correct terminals.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

twodownzero
Explorer
Explorer
Damdifino wrote:
Ed_Gee wrote:
Did you check polarity as 'twodownzero' suggested above? And are you certain you connected the panel to the proper input terminals on your controller?


There was only one way to connect it, given the locking MC4 plugs available. Knowing the dude who installed this, I'm sure he got the polarity right.


The MC4 plugs don't go into the controller. You need a voltmeter.

Damdifino
Explorer
Explorer
Ed_Gee wrote:
Did you check polarity as 'twodownzero' suggested above? And are you certain you connected the panel to the proper input terminals on your controller?


There was only one way to connect it, given the locking MC4 plugs available. Knowing the dude who installed this, I'm sure he got the polarity right.
2014 Arctic Fox 22H.
2009 Toyota Land Cruiser URJ200 Series
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ed_Gee
Explorer
Explorer
Did you check polarity as 'twodownzero' suggested above? And are you certain you connected the panel to the proper input terminals on your controller?
Ed - on the Central Oregon coast
2018 Winnebago Fuse 23A
Scion xA toad

Damdifino
Explorer
Explorer
not much cept the panel makes volts.

Controllers are powered by the battery. Good reason to hook up battery first before panel!

Does the panel make amps?

What does this mean " I'm not getting any input from my new 100W Renogy solar panel." No LED, no display ?


All I could see was the battery level (12.4) on the LED before I started poking around with my multimeter, touched the battery pins on the controller and blew the inline fuse (grrr...) So what I was saying was the PV light never lit up. Now I need to go into town and get a new fuse.
2014 Arctic Fox 22H.
2009 Toyota Land Cruiser URJ200 Series
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

red31
Explorer
Explorer
Damdifino wrote:
Damdifino wrote:
GordonThree wrote:
Put a volt meter across the panel itself, without any connection to the controller.

Maybe a bad or disconnected diode?


So just stick a probe into each lead? (Excuse my ignorance.)


Okay, so I did that and got 18.3 (volts?) all the way up to the controller. What does that tell me?


not much cept the panel makes volts.

Controllers are powered by the battery. Good reason to hook up battery first before panel!

Does the panel make amps?

What does this mean " I'm not getting any input from my new 100W Renogy solar panel." No LED, no display ?

twodownzero
Explorer
Explorer
Check with a voltmeter. If the polarity is backwards, you won't have any charge current (don't ask how I know). If you have 20+ volts from your panel and still no charge current, you may have an issue with the controller. If you don't have that 20 volts, then you have an issue with your solar panel or wiring.

time2roll
Explorer II
Explorer II
Possible bad controller. Most are very sensitive to reverse polarity.
What does the display indicate?

Was it new? I would call renogy.


100 watt panel you can bypass the controller to see if voltage rises on the battery. Still going to take some time.

Damdifino
Explorer
Explorer
time2roll wrote:
Damdifino wrote:
Okay, so I did that and got 18.3 (volts?) all the way up to the controller. What does that tell me?
You have power to the controller.


So that means the controller must be fried?
2014 Arctic Fox 22H.
2009 Toyota Land Cruiser URJ200 Series
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~