Solar panel upgrade.

[jammin1620]

I write this in the hope that others will see the light!

 

Being a liveaboard I have been on a mission to reduce power usage.

 

I run a 62ft trad boat with led lighting, led 240v, hurricane heater, shurflo 11.6gpm pump, plus shower drain box. Along side the usual I have a couple of tablets, the missus has a laptop and her obligatory hairdryer a d bits. (say no more)

 

I run a victron multiplus 1900w inverter/charger. Victron mppt 75/15 regulator. I now run 2 x LG 305w b3 9a solar panels.

 

Previous to this the solar panels were 2x 200w 5 amp panels

 

The battery system is basic. Just 3x 110ah albions plus a starter.

 

We ran the 200w panels for a year with the inverter charger in he background

 

For a month now I've been monitoring these new panels and I'm stunned by the difference. The new system yield I'd 1.2kwh to 1.6kwh! I physicaly can't store that much! When we had all that rain the other day I was still receiving 5 amp. It sits at the moment around 14.6a thru the day this is limited by the 15a regulator which will soon be replaced.

 

I should point out that the panels are mounted flat on the roof. They aren't aimed at the sun.

The panels are house panels. 24v and the latest technology. Which has helped reduce the thickness of cabling required and also reduces current loss overy long distance. The panels you might think would be too big but there is still space to walk down the sides of the roof.

 

With the previous panels I couldn't get away from needing a 240v hookup. With the new panels I have been off grid from day one.

 

Even the good lady can't upset the system...

 

The panels are LG x-mono b3. They allow sun to penetrate between the cells and reflect onto the rear of the cell aswell as the front. This allows an amp increase of up to 9.52a per panel. As opposed to 6 to 8amps.

 

I hope this information helps someone as I and others in our basin have been thoroughly amazed by the changes

 

Something to point out here is that these panels are available in ones and twos. Go to the main importers and ask them for any spares off the months order. They will import a container full at a time but 99% of the time the orders they have will leave a few spare. They're no good to a house install in 1s or 2s but ideal for us boaters. The companes will give you favourable rates in. Half price if not more discount! It makes this option really affordable. Yes you may spend a bit more.on a. Mppt regulator but trust me.. the difference is phenomenal.

Dont go for the cheap regulators as the algorithms used aren't clever. I swear by victron. They really do what it says on the tin.

 

If I can be of help or you think I've missed something then let me know and I will endeavour to assist or update.

[Alan de Enfield]

Maybe I am not understanding something.

 

100w panel would (with 100% efficiency) give a tad over 8 amps (at 12v). I generally work on 5 amps per 100w, allowing for Northern Latitudes, clouds etc.

 

I regularly achieved 5 amps from a 100w panel.

 

With that in mind a 300w panel should easily produce 15amps, yet you are saying that they only produce 9 amps.

 

What am I doing wrong ?

[Phil Ambrose]

Maybe I am not understanding something.

 

100w panel would (with 100% efficiency) give a tad over 8 amps (at 12v). I generally work on 5 amps per 100w, allowing for Northern Latitudes, clouds etc.

 

I regularly achieved 5 amps from a 100w panel.

 

With that in mind a 300w panel should easily produce 15amps, yet you are saying that they only produce 9 amps.

 

What am I doing wrong ?

Absolutely nothing as far as I can see.

Phil

[valrene9600]

My 100w panel was showing 6.4 amps through a basic controller.

My 230w panel was showing 14.1amps through an MPPT controller.

All on 12v system

 

 

Edit; of course your figures, as are mine sometime, will be low if batteries are to full to receive a lot of amps.

Edited May 4, 2016 by valrene9600

[Sea Dog]

Well I'd certainly be interested to learn more about how to source these 'surplus' panels. Do you have some suppliers' details?

[Dave_P]

Well I'd certainly be interested to learn more about how to source these 'surplus' panels. Do you have some suppliers' details?

Bimble often stock surplus panels. I got my 175w 29v domestic panels for just over £60 each.

 

Surely any discussion on how many amps the panels are producing is academic unless you are giving the combined voltage of the panels and how many amps the batteries are accepting and what the weather was like and what time of day is was and what time of year it was.

 

For example, I have 525w of panels going into 3 x 110ah 12v batteries. Yesterday morning at about 9.30am i saw the read-out above 20a which I was pleased with. However, it fluctuates up and down obviously and I'm not going to sit by the meter watching to see how high it gets. Maybe some on here do? The night before I had run my batteries right down so the smiley face on the display had stopped smiling. When I checked again at lunch time, the sun was out but the batteries weren't accepting much charge (about 0.5a), because they were full.

 

Comparing apples with oranges doesn't help much.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Dave_P

[jammin1620]

I attach a screenshot off the system for perusal. I will return with more data

[jammin1620]

I attach a screenshot off the system for perusal. I will return

[Sea Dog]

Bimble often stock surplus panels. I got my 175w 29v domestic panels for just over £60 each.

 

Surely any discussion on how many amps the panels are producing is academic unless you are giving the combined voltage of the panels and how many amps the batteries are accepting and what the weather was like and what time of day is was and what time of year it was.

 

For example, I have 525w of panels going into 3 x 110ah 12v batteries. Yesterday morning at about 9.30am i saw the read-out above 20a which I was pleased with. However, it fluctuates up and down obviously and I'm not going to sit by the meter watching to see how high it gets. Maybe some on here do? The night before I had run my batteries right down so the smiley face on the display had stopped smiling. When I checked again at lunch time, the sun was out but the batteries weren't accepting much charge (about 0.5a), because they were full.

 

Comparing apples with oranges doesn't help much.

I'm aware of Bimble and their competitive offerings, but the OP seemed to have identified an interesting alternative source, which is why I asked.

 

The rest of your post was, I assume, directed at others rather than an answer to my post that you quoted. Makes sense to me though!

[jammin1620]

Just a quick reply to seadog. The source I came across happened to be where a family membe worked and when I questioned the general avaliability they said " we regularly have more delivered than we have orders for. In fact we just threw a load away! I suppose it makes sense that for a house installer they need multipless of. THe company said that they are quitr happy to sell to the public it just seemed the public were too scared to come to them as they are a huge importer. They do all quality items through their energy department including 48v battery sets. Sadly no 24v or 12v available. The panels Iwas told were available at the moment are

 

LG250S1K-A3 : LG/MONO-X All Black 250W Module Anti Reflective 1000x1640x35mm x 1 panel

 

JKM-260P : Jinko/POLY 260w PV Module 992x1650x40mmx x 1 panel

 

PM280M02 : BenQ/Green Triplex MONO 280Wp Black Frame 983x1639x40mm x 4 panels

 

LG285S1C-B3 : LG/MONO-X 285W PV Module 1000x1640x35mm x 3 panels

 

LG300N1C-A3 & B3 (305w)

 

If you would like more info then please contact me through my member profile. I'm not sure of the rules here as to whether I can post that kind of info?? Needless to say they are based in Elland, West Yorkshire

[Dave Payne]

How do you get the data to show on your phone, does your phone link to a solar controller?

[jammin1620]

The data is sent over a bluetooth link which plugs directly into the victron mppt regulator. It's available now on android and iPhone and stores historical data. I'll add a screenshot. It would be nice to see it live over the Web but I'd be getting into geek territory I fear.

Historical data

[Dave_P]

Fancy!

[Ssscrudddy]

So you've swapped 400W of solar for 610W of solar. 400W wasnt enough to meet your needs, & it would seem 610W is enough. It doesnt really matter what panels they are, 100W is 100W, a more efficient panel means a smaller panel for the same 100W. Different types of panel maybe more or less efficient in low light vs direct sunlight (poly vs mono), & seeing as we are often cloudy here it would probably be better to get the low light version (poly) but these are usually less (peak) efficient than the mono type, meaning larger panels for the same wattage... but of course we are limited by roof space on a NB

It does sound like you have got the most efficient mono panels currently available.

Size wise (assuming I've found the correct ones), yours (305W) vs mine (165W)
L - 1640 - 1590
W - 1000 - 790

So not much bigger for almost double the watts. What was the price of the panels?

Edited May 7, 2016 by Ssscrudddy

[New to this]

Ok looking at this are panels getting to the point where we have enough free energy that we can run say A halogen hob or for that matter complete electric cooker?

[Phil Ambrose]

Ok looking at this are panels getting to the point where we have enough free energy that we can run say A halogen hob or for that matter complete electric cooker?

You have always been able to do this provided you have enough wattage in panels on your roof and enough lead to store what they produce.

Phil

[Justme]

The new system yield I'd 1.2kwh to 1.6kwh!

 

 

Thats actually quite low & I guess its being held back by your lack of storage capacity.

 

In summer you can expect 5-8 times rated capacity. IE 3-4.8kWh per day.

 

Our system is about double yours at 1.2kWp & has hit highs of 8kWh per day but again limited by the total storage capacity & the capping of the MPPT controller as our array is over sized for the controller.

 

 

Further down the thread I see people are getting hung up on the amps.

 

You are all confusing the panel amps with the amps into the battery.

 

His 300 watt panels are prob rated at about 33V x 9 amps so will put more like 25 amps each into the battery at full power.