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ldoctor1 avatar image
ldoctor1 asked

Why does my SmartSolar 100/20 MPPT appear to be limiting the watts I am getting from my system?

I have a 300 Watt solar setup with a 48V battery that I am trying to use the SmartSolar 100/20 MPPT to charge. The setup is designed to have a high enough voltage to charge the 48V battery, around 52-55V, but it appears that the MPPT is stepping down the watts coming off of the panels. When I directly connect the solar panels to the input of the battery, the watt meter reads about 180W coming in. It has read as high as 215W with ideal conditions. However, when I feed the power from the panels through my MPPT, it only reads about 110W. I don't make any changes to the setup except for adding the MPPT. Is there a setting that I have wrong somewhere in the Victron app? Or is this supposed to happen? If anyone knows where the 70 or so watts that I appear to be losing are going I would appreciate the help!

Thanks,

Liam

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klim8skeptic avatar image
klim8skeptic answered ·

With your 48v battery you will need an array Vmp of about 60 volts.

What is your arrray specs?

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ldoctor1 avatar image ldoctor1 commented ·

@klim8skeptic Each panel has a Voc of 22.5V and a Vmp of of 18.9V, so the array total is a Voc of 67.5V and a Vmp of 56.7V.

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klim8skeptic avatar image klim8skeptic ♦ ldoctor1 commented ·
What is the array voltage when the battery is being charged?

Panel temperature?

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ldoctor1 avatar image ldoctor1 klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·
Array voltage is around 53.5V it appears. Panel temp reads at about 80 F.
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