No power or not enough from the controller ?

[andy]

I just put together the solar kit. The meter on the controller is reading between 14 and 15. When I plug in one of the the lights it doesn't come on. How much do the panels need to generate for these to work ? I was hoping to run two small 12v DC camping fans for my greenhouse with the panels but now I am concerned that this system won't do the trick.

If anybody could help me out I would appreciate it.

Andy

[Renewable Ray]

How about the battery/batteries? What is their state of charge?

[andy]

I don't have batteries yet. I thought the panels could run small stuff by themselves.

[Hillbilly Gene]

Hi Andy,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Nope, the HF solar kit needs a 12-volt battery.  The battery drops and stabilizes the input voltage from the panels to a little above the battery voltage.

 

If the battery is fully charged, the fans will run directly from solar.

 

If the battery is not fully charged, the battery and fans will share whatever amps coming from the panels.  That sharing will not be equal; the fans will run and whatever amps are left over will go to the battery because the fans will have a lower resistance than the battery’s internal resistance.

 

No sun: the fans operate from the battery.

 

It would be a good idea to determine the total amp draw of those two fans.

 

Hillbilly Gene

.

[mike m]

or it sounds like you may have a bad bulb...or .... how far are you trying to push your dc voltage to reach the light. i.e in feet of wire

[andy]

i tried both bulbs that came with the kit. Neither work, I have not added any extra wire to the system.

In looking for an answer I found a guy (green power science) on Youtube that has the same system and he can run both bulbs or a fan off of just the panels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caeEyhJZnTs

Isn't this the same system I have ?

[terry p]

They can run from the controller, I ran mine from controller and they worked fine in strong sunlight. On a cloudy day they will flicker if the controller isn't hooker to a battery.

 

[Dale Marshall]

It is the same but they have changed the design on the controllers,..YOu must use a battery hooked to it.

[andy]

OK thanks

[andy]

HI, I got a battery, But I am still not getting any power from the controller. The meter on it read between 12.1 and 13.1.Neither the lights that cam with the kit or the small fans that I bought will work. The fans pull 500 ma

How do I trouble shoot this ?

thanks Andy

[Renewable Ray]

Silly question.....do you have the power switch in the on position. Not the display, but power.

[andy]

Yup

[Mike Koval]

4 amp fuse good?