Controller Help Needed

[devo]

Hey everyone,

We've decided to use Midnite Solar gear for our remote telecom sites, but are having quite a bit of trouble getting things up and running.

Right now we have one site online with a 250 clipper for the solar array (960w) and a 250 with a 4KW clipper for the turbine.

At the moment we can't get either controller to produce any power whatsoever.

The solar controller is showing an input voltage of 135v but no output at all.

The wind controller may be stopped due to lack of wind - i'm 3 hours drive away and not sure of the conditions.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what to change?

Thanks.

[Halfcrazy]

Ok on the Solar Classic it is Resting? It would be helpful to know the reason for resting. To find this hold the left arrow and hit the Enter button. There will be In and Bat at the top and in the middle of those will be a number that is the "Last" Reason For Resting or RFR

Ryan

[devo]

Ryan,

Thanks for the quick response. I believe John McDonald has been speaking with you and Bob about the issues.

Just trying to get things sorted out before we deploy all the other classics and clippers.

Right now the solar controller is telling me it's resting due to low light. We are having an overcast day here, but one other site using a single 140w panel and crappy controller is producing 20-odd watts.

I would expect the nearly 1Kw array to produce something useful.

I'm not really sure what to try at this point. We have confirmed everything is setup correctly a few times, checked the connections on the panels, etc. The firmware is currently at 1609 and 1597 on the network.

Our battery bank is 48v. Any ideas on where to start? The only problem I have is that the site is a 3 hour drive away!

[Halfcrazy]

Well does the solar controller work when it is sunny? That would be the first starting grounds. If the controller says it is resting for Low Light that means it has tried to put a 15 ish watt load against the array and the array could not run it basically.

Pretty tough to say remotely but? Do you have remote access to the classic via the local app? If so and you PM me the IP address and Port I can log onto it and watch it for a bit and see what I can figure out?

Ryan

[devo]

Ryan,

Getting a truly sunny day in this area will likely have to wait until March! Lol. Winter is getting underway and overcast days will be the norm pretty much all the time.

As i said, we have other sites that are producing power with only single panels, so I don't think it's a lack of sunlight. I just checked one site and it's putting out around 40 watts from two 130w panels.

This site has four 240w panels. I would expect them to make more than 20w today, even though it is overcast.

As for remote access, we use a secure VPN to access the network. From there I'm using the local app.

I'm going to get a port forward setup on the edge router to allow access for you as soon as I can. Thanks for your help.

[devo]

Ryan, I have the info in your PM.

Perhaps we're just doing something stupid. Wouldn't be the first time!

Thanks for you help.

[Halfcrazy]

Devo
Watching it now it sure looks like it is trying to load it and can not get enough watts to turn on. I am watching it setting it at 136v and it keeps dipping to 123 volts when it tries to load it. I will watch it a bit more.

Ryan

[devo]

OK. I'm wondering now if the panels are setup correctly in the controller.

When I set it up the first time I inputted the values (Voc Vmp, etc) but we reset the unit to defaults after the firmware upgrade.

Would those settings have been lost?

One of the techs is heading out to another site which has a separate Classic 250 that's not on the network at the moment. He's going to see if that one is producing anything and install a new switch to get it online.

This has to be something simple.

Thanks for your help. Once we get things straightened out we can go ahead and deploy the other half dozen controllers we have here.

I'll work on the turbine/clipper combo once the solar is squared away!

[TomW]

Devo;

Do not mistake me for an expert!

From the peanut gallery I would venture a guess you have a bad connection someplace from the panels to the Classic. The Controller sees sufficient voltage to turn on and when it applies a load the resistive (loose) connection drops voltage across it and limits the current so it can't pass any power.

I have been wrong more than right lately so your mileage may vary and all that.

A bit hard to check from remote but that is my story and I am sticking with it.

Best of luck with it.

Tom

[Westbranch]

Further to Toms loose connection, in addition to the Voltage are you able to read the amps into and out of the CC?

[dgd]

Further to Toms loose connection, ...

I've been caught out with the dreaded tight connection into breaker that came loose gremlin. If you are using the screw down type breakers at the PVs or before the Classic then its always a good idea to recheck these. I have seen wires not just go loose but spring out of the breaker after  day or so. Worse with fine multistrand cable but still applies to few strand type cable.
Just an idea 
dgd

[zoneblue]

If you vmmed after firmware upgrade then all settings are lost, down to and including battery voltage.

[boB]

You have modbus access to this site I know.  So, if it is not a bad PV or battery connection, and it probably
is not, you could try setting the mode for the solar controller to Legacy P&O instead of
solar.  That might do it.

You can also adjust the low-watts cut out for solar/legacy mode to be less than
20 watts but I bet you get more than 20 watts out if the other PWM controllers are
doing 20 so that is probably not going to be a problem.

Yes, try Legacy mode to start with.

VMM (factory default) from the MNGP on site should not be a problem either because you would have
adjusted the important settings at that time.

boB

[Halfcrazy]

Must be less cloudy today. it is making power. 19 watts right now but I am watching it and it is working though.

Ryan

[devo]

Ryan,

I changed it to legacy mode to get a few watts out of it until we can get there to investigate. Today is actually a bit worse than yesterday, with some snow falling.

I'll be sure to post an update when we find the issue. Perhaps someone else can benefit from the experience.