Am I even using my solar??

[BigT]

Backstory: I've got a 190 Watt Monocrystoline panel, a 15 Amp MPPT charge controller, and a 75 Amp hour, Group 24, AGM battery under my hood.  
The Group 24 was the largest I could fit under the hood, and, due to very limited space in a TC, I didn't want to run 2 batteries.  

Thing is, I never deeply cycle the battery...... ever.  Installing solar on my Transit Connect, though I told myself would be used to run many things, was really just practice for when I build my "real" system someday.  Like a test bed.  A convenient platform for seeing what works and what could use some tweaking.  

Given this limited use, I sometimes wonder if my charge controller ever "turns on" and sends power from the panel to the battery, or if this whole system is just a waste of space and money.  

I've always kind of hoped it was trickle-charging my battery, keeping it at 100% charge and extending its life, but the truth is, I have no idea at what point power is being allowed from the panel to the battery.  

The last time I ran my little 12V Fan-Tastic "Endless Breeze" fan, I told myself the panel was putting more power into the system than the fan was taking out.
This kind of sustainability, even though just an assumption, sounded pretty cool...  but again, I don't really know if that's what it was doing or not.  
For all I know the CC never let power reach the battery at all, because it was never needed.  

Maybe it's time I pulled the trigger on one of these. --->  https://www.amazon.com/Morning-Star...7667&sr=8-1&keywords=Morningstar+remote+meter

I've read this meter doesn't tell you the Amps coming from the panel.  Not sure how important that is, though.  
Amazon's ad doesn't go into much (any) detail about what this meter does do. 


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[TMG51]

I'm not sure why you wouldn't want free, passive energy, now that you've made the solar investment.

So you're saying you have a surplus? That's good!

One day you will want to run a laptop, or charge a tool battery, or... something. And you will be glad you have the infrastructure to do so.

 

[jimindenver]

It is not the amps coming from the panels that is important. That varies greatly depending on how the controller is handling the voltage of the panels. The remote meter will show you how many amps the controller is sending to the battery and/or producing to cover the loads present.

Having your system be able to keep the battery up AND cover the loads to is a wonderful thing.

 

[BigT]

I'm not sure why you wouldn't want free, passive energy, now that you've made the solar investment.

So you're saying you have a surplus? That's good!

One day you will want to run a laptop, or charge a tool battery, or... something. And you will be glad you have the infrastructure to do so.

That's not what I'm saying at all.  

I'm saying I don't know if I'm getting free, passive energy or not.  I use the battery in the van so little, I'm not sure my charge controller is ever turning on, allowing power from the panel, through the cc, and into the battery.  

I really have no way of knowing.  The battery is connected to the alternator as well as the panel, so for all I know the van's charging system is doing all the work, with zero input from the panel.  

I'm really curious to know at what point a charge controller feels the need to allow power to reach the battery.  
Does it do it any time the battery Voltage drops at all, or is there some point at which it "turns on"?  

There aren't a lot of adjustments on the Morningstar SunSaver 15L.

 

[jonyjoe303]

why spend so much? 
get a coulombmeter for less than 25 dollars, it will tell you everything. Amps use/how much amps in your battery etc.
they are on ebay
TK15 High Precision LiFePO/Lithium/Lead Acid Battery Tester Coulomb Counter 50A


If you just want to know how many volts and amps your controller is putting out get one of these and connect between the controller and battery.
[font='Helvetica neue', Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif]DC 90V 30A Volt Amp Battery Capacity Power Combo Meter Charge Discharge Monitor[/font]
these are in the 20 dollar range and have an easy to see bright led.

They are both easy to install, no need to guess what your controller is doing. I been using the same combometer for 5 years, its been on 24/7 almost all that time.

 

[Weight]

Here it is again.; https://marinehowto.com/installing-a-battery-monitor/

 

[BigT]

Thanks again for the link, Weight, but I'm an Electrical Retard.  I need something I can plug directly into my CC with a single wire/plug and be done with it.  

I was just wondering at what point charge controllers come on and allow power to reach the battery.  
Im sure there's variables to this, like temperature, etc.  I just mean in general.  

I had hoped it would be a very early point in the voltage loss so the battery would stay at 100%.

 

[jimindenver]

Most controllers wake up as the panels start producing power. I have seen meager amounts of power produced even before the sun is up, others report seeing this in moonlight. Depending on the charge controller you may be able to get a remote meter that will show you the voltage of the battery bank, amps or even watts produced by the controller to the bank. Some controllers have a display that will show it for you.

 

[frater secessus]

I'm saying I don't know if I'm getting free, passive energy or not.  I use the battery in the van so little, I'm not sure my charge controller is ever turning on, allowing power from the panel, through the cc, and into the battery.  

I really have no way of knowing.

This comes up frequently so I wrote out a way of knowing. 

The battery is connected to the alternator as well as the panel, so for all I know the van's charging system is doing all the work, with zero input from the panel.

 

It is unlikely the the alternator is doing all the work.

I'm really curious to know at what point a charge controller feels the need to allow power to reach the battery.  
Does it do it any time the battery Voltage drops at all, or is there some point at which it "turns on"? 

Even with no loads the batteries receive a maintenance charge (Float stage).  Here's an overview of smart (multistage) charging. 

When sunlight is available the controller will do its best to provide power for charging and loads while holding the controller's present setpoint, whether that's 1A or 15A.    How an MPPT controller actually does that is beyond the scope of this thread.

 

[BigT]

Thank you, FS, that is exactly the sort of answer I was looking for.

Much appreciated!

 

[jonyjoe303]

this is the backside of the combo meter, you connect the 2 wire from the solar controller that say battery to the input of combo meter, and the combo meter output goes to the battery. Thats all the connections needed. 

On you 190 watt panel you should be getting at least 9 amps in full sunlight, also while bulk charging it should read 14.4 volts. 

These combo meters use to be only available from china, but now they have US suppliers.
  

On mine I made a special case for it