Solar issues 110 amp etfe panels

[Brody]

Any solar experts out there ? I have 2 of these panels in parallel, I don’t seem to get more than 1 amp of charge at a time if I’m very lucky (usually about 0. Something) even in full sun when battery is low ?
I have a ctek d250se dc-dc with built in solar controller . Do you think the panels have had it ? Or could there be another issue ? What is the best way to test the panels ? Thanks

 

[Brody]

 

[jimc91]

Have you tried connecting just one panel at a time?

 

[Brody]

No I haven’t Jim , do you think one could be dragging the other down ? I assumed as they are in parallel it wouldn’t matter ?

 

[jimc91]

No I haven’t Jim , do you think one could be dragging the other down ? I assumed as they are in parallel it wouldn’t matter ?

I would think it’s worth trying, until someone with more knowledge than me comes along and can give some better advice

 

[Dellmassive]

Possibly one dodgy panel.

As above try one at a time.

Try some open panal voltage measurements.

And some short circuit measurements.

 

[Salty Spuds]

What is the SOC of the connected battery? If it's fully charged, the panels won't output anything. Do you have any other chargers (mains?) connected to the battery?
How are you measuring the output of the panels, what is the data source?

 

[Brody]

The data source is a aoli battery monitor with shunt ( I have so installed this myself and calibrated the shunt with battery fully charged from mains charger to indicate 100% charge . I understand that if the battery is fully charged it won’t allow the battery to charge further . When away from the weekend though and battery down to indicated 50% soc , panels in full sun , still not getting more than 1amp charge at any time ?

 

[Huba]

What battery? If Lithium note that my 250se let it get down to less than 70% (as read from battery app) before solar charging worked, and even then it was a bit rubbish. Have recently changed to a sepearte MPPT and making proper use of my 200w on the roof

 

[Brody]

Ah that’s interesting , it is a 100ah lithium , I was wondering if it was worth getting a separate solar controller ?

 

[Huba]

I did eventually, the ctek never caused any issues as there was always enough charge in the battery to do things, but just seemed daft to have 200w of solar on roof on a sunny day with the battery sitting at 68%, especially when we were going to be parked for a couple of days. I would say that it did eventually charge up, just was odd behaviour. Dellmassive noted it in his testing

Also make sure the ctek is set for lithium profile using the cable (see intructions)