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Hi all,
Just recently returned from trip away with 250w solar panel and victron 100/20 controller. The maximum solar output over three days was 115w with the lowest battery voltage of 12.41.
My question is does the Solar reading on the Victorian app of 115 w reflect the total solar generation at that time or does the battery soc control it. I would have expected more than 115 w in full sun,
cheers
Edge
The App will only report a value of the max the charge controller needed to maintain your battery, and not the max the panel was capable of putting out. Since your lowest voltage was 12.41, it likely did not need to convert any more power from the panels output to keep your battery happy. If your battery was a lot lower and you had plenty of sun, the charger would have used more of the panels output relative of course to the battery type, bulk settings, absorption settings, etc..
This is one of the more confusing things that I think needs to be addressed in the manual or possibly a quick guide.
When you hook your panels up, you should see close to full panel voltage in the App. If you don’t see a figure close to what your panels are rated for, then something not right.
However when looking at the power (watts) figure, this value will reflect only what the charger is using (dependent on mode) to charge or maintain your battery, and or to cover whatever load draw there is.
You can test to see how the charger works by attaching a load and tuning it on. With full batteries, as soon as you add the load the Watt gauge will increase along with the Amps out to compensate for the power being drawn by the load. Turn the load off, and the Watts decrease along with the Amp output.
So yes, to answer your question SOC does affect how much of the panels power gets used along with any loads of course.
