RENOGY 100a Charge controller

[benneufeld]

hello i recently just purchased a renogy 100amp rover charge controller.

the controller is wired in parallel with two 455 watt panels. everything seems to be working fine. however the display screen tells me it is charging with 30w of power not at a total of 600+watts (which is around 330w/panel as each panel has a nominal power rating of 339w on a cloudy day nevermind a sunny day)

can anyone tell me what i did wrong or how i can wire this properly, thanks the help is much appreciated.

photos of the controller and panel ratings are attached below.

 

[solarman]

hello i recently just purchased a renogy 100amp rover charge controller.

the controller is wired in parallel with two 455 watt panels. everything seems to be working fine. however the

I think you meant to say "the panels are wired in parallel" not the controller..

display screen tells me it is charging with 30w of power not at a total of 600+watts (which is around 330w/panel as each panel has a nominal power rating of 339w on a cloudy day nevermind a sunny day)

the first thing you "did wrong" was believe that 455 watt panels will produce 339 Watts on an overcast day.. not going to happen dude..
best you might see in cloudy conditions is 25% of rated output..

can anyone tell me what i did wrong or how i can wire this properly, thanks the help is much appreciated.

photos of the controller and panel ratings are attached below.

View attachment 169758

You have the controller set for "sealed" so If you have AGM then then 98 to 100% SOC is going to be close to 13.1 to 13.2 Volts.. your system will not charge because your bank is full.. !


however, i did notice the "solar output" as 13.8 Volts.. that's not right , those panels have a Voc of some 48 Volts.. so unloaded your controller should report close to that., I would suggest you double check the panel connections and that they really are in parallel and connected positive to positive and neg to neg.. if you have a DVM then you could check the Voc by disconnecting the controller and measuring the panel voltage it should be close to 48 V.. I'm not familiar with renogy controllers, never recommended or used them, so cant help you there..

check those panels first, then perhaps reset the controller and verify the setttings..

 

[benneufeld]

I think you meant to say "the panels are wired in parallel" not the controller..




the first thing you "did wrong" was believe that 455 watt panels will produce 339 Watts on an overcast day.. not going to happen dude..
best you might see in cloudy conditions is 25% of rated output..



You have the controller set for "sealed" so If you have AGM then then 98 to 100% SOC is going to be close to 13.1 to 13.2 Volts.. your system will not charge because your bank is full.. !


however, i did notice the "solar output" as 13.8 Volts.. that's not right , those panels have a Voc of some 48 Volts.. so unloaded your controller should report close to that., I would suggest you double check the panel connections and that they really are in parallel and connected positive to positive and neg to neg.. if you have a DVM then you could check the Voc by disconnecting the controller and measuring the panel voltage it should be close to 48 V.. I'm not familiar with renogy controllers, never recommended or used them, so cant help you there..

check those panels first, then perhaps reset the controller and verify the setttings..

You have the controller set for "sealed" so If you have AGM then then 98 to 100% SOC is going to be close to 13.1 to 13.2 Volts.. your system will not charge because your bank is full.. !

my battery is currently a 12v lithium battle born. idk what SOC means.

but what setting should the controller be on when charging a lithium 12v

also if a panels ratings are 455w at NOCT
and on cloudy days it’s 25% efficiency
am i to assume on non cloudy days or even slightly sunny parts of a day. that the panel will even come close to 455W as advertised? sounds like it’s not happening.

 

[benneufeld]

i’m gonna check the connections and make sure everything is hooked up right, what do you recommend for wiring panels and controller of this size in parallel or series, i’ve heard that series makes the controller work more efficiently right?

 

[Ray-IN]

SOC =State Of Charge. You need to change that setting from "sealed" to Lithium, which requires a higher voltage and charge rate than sealed lead acid batteries.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I'll just re-emphasize a couple of the excellent points made by others.

• The charging watts is simply the voltage applied at the battery x the amps the battery is accepting. When the battery is near fully charged, it can only accept a mere "trickle" of amps, so the charging wattage is tiny. You should see a much higher charge wattage when the batteries are in a more discharged state.
• SOC means State Of Charge and is usually expressed as a percentage of the fully charged state, e.g. an SOC of 50% means the battery is 1/2 charge, 75% is 3/4 charge, etc.
• The battery type setting is crucial to establishing the proper charging parameters, i.e. voltages and amp flow management. The "Sealed" setting is for sealed lead acid batteries. That's different than for Lithium batteries. You need to change the setting.
• Solar panel ratings are established in a laboratory under ideal conditions that are rarely achieved in the wild. Some things that have a dramatic effect on output include the angle of the sun rays striking the panel and even a wisp of shade anywhere on the panel (less than 100% direct sun). Think of the rating as something you may get at high noon in a desert during summertime.

 

[solarman]

i’m gonna check the connections and make sure everything is hooked up right, what do you recommend for wiring panels and controller of this size in parallel or series, i’ve heard that series makes the controller work more efficiently right?

parallel will suffice for those panels.
as others have stated, SOC = state of charge
455 watt panels will produce something like 80 to 100 watts in cloudly conditions
in full summer sun then expect at least 400 Watts when bulk charging.

 

[benneufeld]

I'll just re-emphasize a couple of the excellent points made by others.

• The charging watts is simply the voltage applied at the battery x the amps the battery is accepting. When the battery is near fully charged, it can only accept a mere "trickle" of amps, so the charging wattage is tiny. You should see a much higher charge wattage when the batteries are in a more discharged state.
• SOC means State Of Charge and is usually expressed as a percentage of the fully charged state, e.g. an SOC of 50% means the battery is 1/2 charge, 75% is 3/4 charge, etc.
• The battery type setting is crucial to establishing the proper charging parameters, i.e. voltages and amp flow management. The "Sealed" setting is for sealed lead acid batteries. That's different than for Lithium batteries. You need to change the setting.
• Solar panel ratings are established in a laboratory under ideal conditions that are rarely achieved in the wild. Some things that have a dramatic effect on output include the angle of the sun rays striking the panel and even a wisp of shade anywhere on the panel (less than 100% direct sun). Think of the rating as something you may get at high noon in a desert during summertime.

I'll just re-emphasize a couple of the excellent points made by others.

• The charging watts is simply the voltage applied at the battery x the amps the battery is accepting. When the battery is near fully charged, it can only accept a mere "trickle" of amps, so the charging wattage is tiny. You should see a much higher charge wattage when the batteries are in a more discharged state.
• SOC means State Of Charge and is usually expressed as a percentage of the fully charged state, e.g. an SOC of 50% means the battery is 1/2 charge, 75% is 3/4 charge, etc.
• The battery type setting is crucial to establishing the proper charging parameters, i.e. voltages and amp flow management. The "Sealed" setting is for sealed lead acid batteries. That's different than for Lithium batteries. You need to change the setting.
• Solar panel ratings are established in a laboratory under ideal conditions that are rarely achieved in the wild. Some things that have a dramatic effect on output include the angle of the sun rays striking the panel and even a wisp of shade anywhere on the panel (less than 100% direct sun). Think of the rating as something you may get at high noon in a desert during summertime.

hi gary, thanks for the reply.

however from what i can tell the company who manufactured the panels is FINNING
who makes CAT construction equipment
i know their testing process and team reasonably well. and they seem to test the panels under quite difficult conditions unless i was lied to for an easy sale.

also perhaps i am reading the page for the panels wrong and the online info is lying about testing the panels to endure conditions that would break other company products 9 times out of 10.

This was the reason i was very interested in their product. but what company isn’t bragging about how good they are at their job either lol.

parallel will suffice for those panels.
as others have stated, SOC = state of charge
455 watt panels will produce something like 80 to 100 watts in cloudly conditions
in full summer sun then expect at least 400 Watts when bulk charging.

solarman when u say parallel will suffice

are u saying u prefer series otherwise? as it’s just easier for the charge controller?

i live in vancouver bc Canada so i’m hoping to maximize the charging power especially going into the winter months.

also have each panel mounted and angled to the optimal degree for best solar consumption. if theres any other tips you have i would highly appreciate it as i really thought it described on the chart below what the ratings will be under the worst of conditions maybe i misread it thanks

also for more context i have decided to return the 100amo river charge controller and replace it with a better model with split phase technology which is the 48v 3000w 120v/240v split phase solar inverter growatt 80amp hybrid controller, in which will powell recommends going the series hookup route, i assume everyone on this forum agrees with him. or maybe not idk.

 

[solarman]

hi gary, thanks for the reply.

however from what i can tell the company who manufactured the panels is FINNING
who makes CAT construction equipment
i know their testing process and team reasonably well. and they seem to test the panels under quite difficult conditions unless i was lied to for an easy sale.

also perhaps i am reading the page for the panels wrong and the online info is lying about testing the panels to endure conditions that would break other company products 9 times out of 10.

This was the reason i was very interested in their product. but what company isn’t bragging about how good they are at their job either lol.


solarman when u say parallel will suffice

are u saying u prefer series otherwise? as it’s just easier for the charge controller?

In off grid stationary applications that are open and have no shade, series is the preferred method of operation, especially for higher wattage applications ( > 3000 W ). series allows for higher voltages and lower currents, enabling thinner conductors and longer distances. for RV or mobile installations, parallel is preferred if there is a chance of shading, panel output degrades rather quickly when shaded, even in full sun, so for maximum harvest, parallel is the better choice with a small number of panels.
IF you can guarantee no shading then series is an option..

i live in vancouver bc Canada so i’m hoping to maximize the charging power especially going into the winter months.

also have each panel mounted and angled to the optimal degree for best solar consumption. if theres any other tips you have i would highly appreciate it as i really thought it described on the chart below what the ratings will be under the worst of conditions maybe i misread it thanks

also for more context i have decided to return the 100amo river charge controller and replace it with a better model with split phase technology which is the 48v 3000w 120v/240v split phase solar inverter growatt 80amp hybrid controller, in which will powell recommends going the series hookup route, i assume everyone on this forum agrees

I have no idea who will powell is...
secondly, it's unlikely that anyone would agree with your current proposed system without further knowlege of what your goal is here.. you have gone from a 100 Amp 12V system to a 48V split phase system... these two systems are entirely different beasts..

let's look at what you have so far...

A 12V 100amp controller with 910 PV watts and a single 12 Volt lithium battery...

then you switch to a 48 Volt hybrid system with 80 Amp mppt, split phase 120/120 inverter that requires a 48 Volt battery bank..

I suggest you take a step back here before you buy anything else, let's take a look at what you are trying to achieve here.. more information is required so that we can help you make better decisions...

I'm not trying to be difficult here, I just need to know what you actually want from a system.. then I can give you advice.

with him. or maybe not idk. View attachment 169794

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