solar on/off

[dreadnought]

hi all, i have added another solar panel to  my existing panel, and before they are connected to the mppt controller i`ve run them through an isolating fuse box ,which is fine , when i get back to my home mooring and plug into the landline my  vitron battery charger come manager takes over the charging and managing the battery bank,so my question is should i turn off my solar panels at the isolating switch and let the victron do its job alone when on landline?many thanks

[Higgs]

10 minutes ago, dreadnought said:

hi all, i have added another solar panel to  my existing panel, and before they are connected to the mppt controller i`ve run them through an isolating fuse box ,which is fine , when i get back to my home mooring and plug into the landline my  vitron battery charger come manager takes over the charging and managing the battery bank,so my question is should i turn off my solar panels at the isolating switch and let the victron do its job alone when on landline?many thanks

 

My less-than-expert opinion would be to go with isolating off of the solar panels, if your charge controller cannot be programmed to stay within the voltages the Victron is putting out. More so, if the panels are feeding more voltage into the batteries than any particular charging phase of the Victron, which might throw up an over-voltage light. 

 

 

[PeterF]

In an ideal world you would have your MPPT controller set voltages 0.1V higher than the mains charger, then when you have solar it causes the mains charger to stop charging so you get the free solar power if you pay for your shore power. However, this does not always work perfectly with separate chargers as there may be some errors in voltage readings and they may have different battery temperature compensation and will undoubtedly have different rules for when to change from absorption to float. Having both mains charging and MPPT from one supplier communication together with common voltage and battery temperature measurement is required to ensure that they play happily together.

[David Mack]

If you are turning your solar panels off, you must do so by interrupting the connection between the panels and the solar controller. If you do so by disconnecting the controller from the batteries while the panels are still connected, your controller may well start emitting magic smoke.

[ditchcrawler]

4 hours ago, PeterF said:

In an ideal world you would have your MPPT controller set voltages 0.1V higher than the mains charger, then when you have solar it causes the mains charger to stop charging so you get the free solar power if you pay for your shore power. However, this does not always work perfectly with separate chargers as there may be some errors in voltage readings and they may have different battery temperature compensation and will undoubtedly have different rules for when to change from absorption to float. Having both mains charging and MPPT from one supplier communication together with common voltage and battery temperature measurement is required to ensure that they play happily together.

That's my thought, why pay when the sun is free.

[jonathanA]

I wouldn't do anything they'll sort themselves out. And at the home mooring the batteries are most likely going spend most of their time in float anyway. 

 

My solar controller does an equalisation charge every 60 days Id probably switch that off just in case the other charger doesn't like it.

[Paringa]

With concerns over galvanic corrosion while being plugged into shore power, I would be inclined to leave the boat unplugged and leave the solar to do it's bit.

 

Even in winter there would be enough to keep the batteries charged.

 

That's what I would do if leaving the boat for a while in a marina.

[PeterF]

1 hour ago, Paringa said:

With concerns over galvanic corrosion while being plugged into shore power, I would be inclined to leave the boat unplugged and leave the solar to do it's bit.

 

Even in winter there would be enough to keep the batteries charged.

 

That's what I would do if leaving the boat for a while in a marina.

This is exactly what I do when my boat is at the home mooring. I only plug in if staying on the boat for a few days before setting off or when returning.

[dmr]

As so well said, the sun is free 😀. Chances are the two chargers will work together either perfectly or adequately.

If they are both modern Victron devices then you can fine tune the voltages from your iPhone (or even an Android😀) so set them so that the solar does all the work and the landline charger only gives a hand if the solar can't keep up with the drain.

 

..........Dave