I've a solar panel, a charge controller and a AGM battery.
Instructions are to connect the battery before the solar so the controller can detect the type of battery. The display on the controller says 'lit' which means it thinks the battery is lithium, is this going to cause a problem?
Yes. I'll likely cause an incorrect charge profile for the battery, potentially damaging it. Although it may be able to tolerate being overcharged by a weedy solar panel.
Theo
That was my concern, i'll dig the Chinglish manual out and see if I can set it manually.
It will have a 100w Renogy panel on it.
My ECO-worthy solar control unit is supposed to be set for battery type, but it seemed to detect the correct type straight away.
You should be able to change the battery type on the controller.
I did yes, and it went from appearing fully charged to less than half so it's probably a good job.
12v 100w is about 8A, which can murder a lead acid in short order if not correctly controlled.
That does rather depend on the size (i.e. Ah rating) of the battery.
My (quite small) boat has a total of 660Ah at 12 volts, it would take a considerable time at 8 amps to start them gassing, if it ever did.
(Admittedly it's a bit more complicated than that as the batteries are in separate banks)
obviously. Equally obviously, most lead acids will not be ok on indiscriminately delivered 8A.
State of charge of lead acids is notoriously inaccurate. The terminal voltage, and hence state of charge, is best measured some time after receiving a charge or a during a light discharge.
They type of battery and strength of acid also affect inferred charge state.
Just go by voltage, and more important, disconnect any load when the voltage goes below the requisite voltage. Usually taken to be 12.1V or so.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required