My solar panel moniter is showing a slight charge in the dark

[peterboat]

Hi all,

 

The other day Rotherham council were around changing the street lamps to LEDs since then my control panel is showing .5 of an amp charge. I have 900 watts of flexible solar in two banks its the bank nearest the lamps that is showing the charge. They run through two mppt controllers into two battery banks it sounds complicated but works well in practice. My question is has anyone else had this happen or do I have a fault I ask myself

 

Peter

[Bobbybass]

Hmm...sounds great.

 

Maybe I should unplug my power lead that goes to the street lamp..and rely on solar..?

 

Bob

[Grace and Favour]

Hmm...sounds great.

 

Maybe I should unplug my power lead that goes to the street lamp..and rely on solar..?

 

Bob

The best thing to do is to run a few cables from your batteries up outside, and mount your own LED lamps to shine on your solar panels. If you operate these through a light sensitive switch so they light automatically in the evening, you'll have a constant supply of power going to your batteries.

[Phil Ambrose]

I'm sure that at some point I have posted that I have had an output from my PV array when it has been bright moonlight and also recall others saying the same, moonlight is afterall just reflected sunlight.

Phil

[MtB]

Hi all,

 

The other day Rotherham council were around changing the street lamps to LEDs since then my control panel is showing .5 of an amp charge. I have 900 watts of flexible solar in two banks its the bank nearest the lamps that is showing the charge. They run through two mppt controllers into two battery banks it sounds complicated but works well in practice. My question is has anyone else had this happen or do I have a fault I ask myself

 

Peter

 

Try turning the boat around and seeing if the 0.5 Amp charge changes to the other bank, i.e. the bank currently further away from the lamps.

 

If it swaps banks, then you are genuinely picking up power from the streetlamps. If the charge stays on the same bank, then it's probably a fault.

 

 

MtB

P.S. Or try covering up the solar panels with blankets or sheets and see if the 0.5 Amp charge goes away!

[Ron T]

All those suggestions sound like hard work or are complex,why not just wait until they turn the lights off in daylight?Or is that too bright an idea?

[Phil Ambrose]

All those suggestions sound like hard work or are complex,why not just wait until they turn the lights off in daylight?Or is that too bright an idea?

Yup too bright an idea, when its daylight and the lights turn of the panels will be showing in input due to ....,the daylight.

There is no reason to suppose that solar panels will not get some sort of input from artificial sources such as street lamps provided the wave lenght of light falls within the operating range of the panels and the light source is of sufficient magnitude.

I reckon more people would find this phenomena if A/ they looked for it and B/ if their monitoring means were sensitive enough. Try checking on a clear full moon night

Phil

[b0atman]

A garden nursery I know had the council put metal shields on the street lamps to stop the light going into the greenhouses as the plants where all growing towards the fixed light.

[Dalslandia]

http://www.elsakerhetsverket.se/sv/press/nyheter/forbjudna-led-lampor/

translated to English

Edited September 3, 2014 by Dalslandia

[peterboat]

 

Try turning the boat around and seeing if the 0.5 Amp charge changes to the other bank, i.e. the bank currently further away from the lamps.

 

If it swaps banks, then you are genuinely picking up power from the streetlamps. If the charge stays on the same bank, then it's probably a fault.

 

 

MtB

P.S. Or try covering up the solar panels with blankets or sheets and see if the 0.5 Amp charge goes away!

Yes gong out on friday for 6 days so when we get back it will be the other way around. This only started when the council put up the new low energy LEDs and my panels are designed to work well in low light levels

 

Peter

[Hoose]

It's working fine, ours does same if moored in Doncaster under a lamppost. We were at a festival last year with a solar powered stage and at night they had a bank of halogen lights pointed straight at the panels to keep it powered, the halogens were powered by a massive generator..............

[peterboat]

It's working fine, ours does same if moored in Doncaster under a lamppost. We were at a festival last year with a solar powered stage and at night they had a bank of halogen lights pointed straight at the panels to keep it powered, the halogens were powered by a massive generator..............

Yes it is always bright at Doncaster This power on is because they have changed from sodiums to LEDs in the last few days. I am not sure about them I thought sodiums are btter in foggy conditions but we will see

 

Peter