In preparation for spending the upcoming winter in Baja boondocking on the beach with my little travel trailer and the pooch, I JUST finished putting together my very first solar panel - 100W Renogy with a same brand (although looks very generic and inexpensive) charge controller.
It was fun putting it together. Here's the rub...
Took the panel out in the sun today, along with the controller - all hooked up directly with no jumpers or extensions. The LED for the "battery" indicated no load (which is correct - I had not connected the battery) by FLASHING RED.
However, the LED for the solar panel remained unlit.
In my mind, the solar panel must be working because the LED for the battery was flashing red.
Is it possible the El Cheapo controller is bad? Or might I have done something wrong?
I took the back off the box on the back of the solar panel and stuck my multi-meter to the screw connectors - it read 29. The spec for the VOC is 22.5.
Sigh.
As a side note, I am a recent widow, so all of this is VERY new to me! Your patience is appreciated! :)
mitch5252 said
09:28 AM Sep 9, 2013
I think I may have come across the answer - the battery much be hooked up first. I can't be sure I did that. And now I have to wait until the sun's up to try it!!
In preparation for spending the upcoming winter in Baja boondocking on the beach with my little travel trailer and the pooch, I JUST finished putting together my very first solar panel - 100W Renogy with a same brand (although looks very generic and inexpensive) charge controller.
It was fun putting it together. Here's the rub...
Took the panel out in the sun today, along with the controller - all hooked up directly with no jumpers or extensions. The LED for the "battery" indicated no load (which is correct - I had not connected the battery) by FLASHING RED.
However, the LED for the solar panel remained unlit.
In my mind, the solar panel must be working because the LED for the battery was flashing red.
Is it possible the El Cheapo controller is bad? Or might I have done something wrong?
I took the back off the box on the back of the solar panel and stuck my multi-meter to the screw connectors - it read 29. The spec for the VOC is 22.5.
Sigh.
As a side note, I am a recent widow, so all of this is VERY new to me! Your patience is appreciated! :)