[P @ F]

Just had a proper look at these watt meters and what  good little gadgets they are .
They power up as soon as the panels get usable light and power off again when the panels stop producing , all the time in between they store the data for the day , but dont retain it for future reference , not all bad i suppose !

So i a am going to see what Amps it has collected from sun up to end of usable light  , now being as the battery is currently on float fully charged it will only show so much , but the true value can only be higher than displayed for float charge , as it wont allow more in than is needed . 

This is the weather so far today , cloudy , cant see the sun and its raining , not looking to change either , in fact not a bad day to compare to winter apart from length of light , but we can allow for that later , or i just make a note of when it would normally get unusable , when do you think that would be ?

 

[nathankaye]

You got a good price on solar panel!!
Im keeping my eye on prices at moment as im thinking of lifting my 20w panel of the van and sitting it on the roof rack angled down to the van. And gettining another one to mirror from the front roof bar!
In effect, looking like  \  /   so i dont need to worry about piveting points as one or both panels will be in the sun at any one time.

Gonna look into the MPPT controller and play safe and go for mid price range ones.

[Stoots]

Ok, so given that its going to be a few hundred quid to do it right its probably not worth it for me as i can pull onto my driveway and just run an extension to an outside plug socket every night.

[S.A.J]

So its your fault why it's been raining all bloody day!!!

[P @ F]

So its your fault why it's been raining all bloody day!!!

I thought you were on holiday .......AGAIN 

[P @ F]

Well that was a bit naff , so it works out that with the weather like that all day i pulled in just short of 2 Amps , that would run my pump for 30 minutes non stop , that could equate to 1 hour of cleaning or there abouts .

At my flow set to 90  ,  thats 1.7 L per minute my pump uses 4.5 Amps an hour .
So looking at 2 - 3 hours of continuous running  per day , i will need to produce between 9 and 13.5 Amps per day .

I think that is within reach as with todays test the solar controller was on float charge all day and i am not sure if any energy was dumped off due to the battery not needing it , a day where the pole system and solar are both running will tell , i will see exactly whats come in and what gone out on the watt meters .

Rich

[P @ F]

Just a little vid on what to look for with MPPT and PWM solar controllers , more so if its from Ebay .

https://youtu.be/cYYSkt5cEWs

Rich

[Spruce]

Well that was a bit naff , so it works out that with the weather like that all day i pulled in just short of 2 Amps , that would run my pump for 30 minutes non stop , that could equate to 1 hour of cleaning or there abouts .

At my flow set to 90  ,  thats 1.7 L per minute my pump uses 4.5 Amps an hour .
So looking at 2 - 3 hours of continuous running  per day , i will need to produce between 9 and 13.5 Amps per day .

I think that is within reach as with todays test the solar controller was on float charge all day and i am not sure if any energy was dumped off due to the battery not needing it , a day where the pole system and solar are both running will tell , i will see exactly whats come in and what gone out on the watt meters .

Rich

If you were in float charge mode all day then the charge controller was just taking what it needed to keep the batteries fully topped up - 2amps.
As you say, the test comes when you get out there and put a load on the battery.  So I expect that you should start to get an idea how it will perform during the Autumn tomorrow, weather permitting.

.

[Spruce]

Just a little vid on what to look for with MPPT and PWM solar controllers , more so if its from Ebay .

https://youtu.be/cYYSkt5cEWs

Rich

My browser doesn't recognise the video format, which is strange, as the earlier one it did. 

.

[P @ F]

Just a little vid on what to look for with MPPT and PWM solar controllers , more so if its from Ebay .

https://youtu.be/cYYSkt5cEWs

Rich

My browser doesn't recognise the video format, which is strange, as the earlier one it did. 

.

This is the link i saw the controller on , he goes on a bit but he knows his stuff , he got some great vids / reviews .

https://youtu.be/1z5r3Yo6fmQ

[windowswashed]

Just a suggestion, double your batteries for stored energy during winter when less daylight hours of charging

[P @ F]

I thought about that but i dont think the Noddy van will take any more 

[Den68]

What was the outcome today? How did the panel perform?

[P @ F]

What was the outcome today? How did the panel perform?

 

[P @ F]

What a cracking day of results , just got winter days to tackle now !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyttufTuozU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOqhHw199XI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtO0B7y5kRc

Rich

[Den68]

You still have a couple of hours daylight to make up the 0.5amp you are short, or if you installed VSR even on minimum mileage short top up in winter .

Thanks for posting hope you update every week or so to see how much it really drops during autumn and winter months.

[nathankaye]

Glad your enjoying the results.

[Spruce]

What a cracking day of results , just got winter days to tackle now !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyttufTuozU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOqhHw199XI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtO0B7y5kRc

Rich

Thanks for updating this. The 0.5 amp shortfall will be made up in the remainder of yesterday evening and this morning as Den68 says.  Increasing the panel size would also help in the future. But as you say, winter is going to be an interesting experience.

You have created a very informative thread Rich. Thank you.

.

[P @ F]

What a cracking day of results , just got winter days to tackle now !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyttufTuozU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOqhHw199XI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtO0B7y5kRc

Rich

Thanks for updating this. The 0.5 amp shortfall will be made up in the remainder of yesterday evening and this morning as Den68 says.  Increasing the panel size would also help in the future. But as you say, winter is going to be an interesting experience.

You have created a very informative thread Rich. Thank you.

.

Thanks , its nice to see that my shocking videos are of some use , they should be of better picture quality as of now as i realised last night that my phone was set to wide screen , you tube was not liking the resolution it said !
I will do some more tests with varying weather ,  and maybe one where the pumps are running for a greater pecentage of the time out , i have a school to do this week so that should be a better indication of how the sysem copes with more power draw .

[P @ F]

OK , another day of fine weather , decided to put a bit more demand on the system , it seems i could not use the power as fast as it produced it !
This is the last sun test for now , im gonna try a busy day with a lot of cloud cover next , see how it holds up , and i did notice today that as the battery was not getting flat at all , the flow of 90 was maybe more than i needed , i cut it back to 75 and was still getting plenty of water out , and it was only drawing 3.5 amp i think at that time , this could be another bonus of having the battery at full power constantly , ENJOY THE VIDS CHAPS , gimme some likes and i will stop boring yer arses 

 https://youtu.be/NfkiTLUQJ6k
 https://youtu.be/oFFehig6lro
https://youtu.be/wAOBC-t0y_I