hardwiring equalization

[ugotdave]

Hello All,

I am putting together our Off-Grid Cabin Solar Array System and wanted to reconfirm what I think I am reading in the "Solar Secretes" book.

The book says to parallel connect the batteries at the 6v, 12v, and 18v, levels to build in battery equalization so none of the batteries fall behind or get ahead of the charging/discharging process.

Please look at my diagram and tell me if I have this premiss correct.

[Aaron Murakami]

Hello All,

I am putting together our Off-Grid Cabin Solar Array System and wanted to reconfirm what I think I am reading in the "Solar Secretes" book.

The book says to parallel connect the batteries at the 6v, 12v, and 18v, levels to build in battery equalization so none of the batteries fall behind or get ahead of the charging/discharging process.

Please look at my diagram and tell me if I have this premiss correct.

I only just saw this - that is not correct at first glance.

Let me know if you see this and I'll show you.

[Faraday88]

I only just saw this - that is not correct at first glance.

Let me know if you see this and I'll show you.

Hi Aaron,

In fact I remember reading on Hard wiring Equalization posted by you is it in one one the Bedini books series..?
Rgds,
Faraday88.

[Aaron Murakami]

I apologize, you ARE correct! If you're tapping the neg and pos from the far left and right, then yes, that is it.

The zig zagging got me confused for a moment. Here is a comparison with non-zig zagged terminals to show it - same thing but maybe easier to understand.






That's a 450ah 12v bank of Trojan T105.

Series and Parallel. Down the middle the cables might look confusing but is actually just common connecting the inner - and + of each series set. I did it redundant so resistance is same on each path since I didn't make a T. In any case, it's identical to the image directly above the photo with the common connection down the middle.

I hope that helps.

Hello All,

I am putting together our Off-Grid Cabin Solar Array System and wanted to reconfirm what I think I am reading in the "Solar Secretes" book.

The book says to parallel connect the batteries at the 6v, 12v, and 18v, levels to build in battery equalization so none of the batteries fall behind or get ahead of the charging/discharging process.

Please look at my diagram and tell me if I have this premiss correct.

[Aaron Murakami]

Hi Aaron,

In fact I remember reading on Hard wiring Equalization posted by you is it in one one the Bedini books series..?
Rgds,
Faraday88.

It's in the Solar Secrets book.

[Faraday88]

It's in the Solar Secrets book.

That's right...there you are...!!
Rgds,
Faraday88.

[ugotdave]

Hey all, yes I rear and re-read the Solar Secrets e-book but could not get my head wrapped around this battery wiring idea.
Thank you Aaron for the actual picture, this helped me understand exactly how to do this.

My S20A12-EX is scheduled to arrive tomorrow (very excited). I will take it up to my cabin this weekend and attempt to hook it up using this wiring method.

[Aaron Murakami]

Hey all, yes I rear and re-read the Solar Secrets e-book but could not get my head wrapped around this battery wiring idea.
Thank you Aaron for the actual picture, this helped me understand exactly how to do this.

My S20A12-EX is scheduled to arrive tomorrow (very excited). I will take it up to my cabin this weekend and attempt to hook it up using this wiring method.

Very cool - glad you saw it. Looking forward to your results for the S20A12-EX.

What panels are you putting on that? What is the VMP for them?

[ugotdave]

What panels are you putting on that? What is the VMP for them?

For now I am using the HF 45 Watt Amorphous rig, until something better comes along. It will be charging 4 T-105's.
The VMP for these panels seems low, the box says it's 15 Watts per panel x 3 = 45 Watts, 45w/3aH= 15V, but these panels are the ones Peter recommended for newbies to play around with. I will put my Fluke on these panels under load and see what is says, hopefully it's up around the 18.5v range.
Here is the spec sheet on the box.

[Aaron Murakami]

For now I am using the HF 45 Watt Amorphous rig, until something better comes along. It will be charging 4 T-105's.
The VMP for these panels seems low, the box says it's 15 Watts per panel x 3 = 45 Watts, 45w/3aH= 15V, but these panels are the ones Peter recommended for newbies to play around with. I will put my Fluke on these panels under load and see what is says, hopefully it's up around the 18.5v range.
Here is the spec sheet on the box.

I believe they're rated perfect. They're some of the best I've used.

[ugotdave]

Aaron, going a bit off topic, but my S20A12-EX just arrived. Nothing on it say that it's the "extreme" model.
How can I tell that its not one of the older models?

[Aaron Murakami]

Aaron, going a bit off topic, but my S20A12-EX just arrived. Nothing on it say that it's the "extreme" model.
How can I tell that its not one of the older models?

All of the solar models are the extreme model and have been so for many months.

[ugotdave]

Thank you Aaron for your quick reply!

As I mentioned before I am very excited about the Charge Controller and I am looking forward to it keeping my brand new T-105's healthy for many years to come.

[Bryan]

Aloha from Hawaii!

Please let me know if I should post this somewhere else, or create a new thread... This is about off grid, best use, and equalization of batteries.

I'm going to post photos of my simple set up. It works, and I'm hoping to upgrade my system to utilize my Tesla Charger Solar Tracker 5 12v 40amp charge controller when I upgrade my solar panels.

Currently, I'm wondering if I should incorporate this Xantrex 12v 40amp battery charger via my EU2000 Honda generator to help get to an equalization event. The best I've seen on sunny days is a bit over 14 volts showing on my MidNite charge controller. I have not seen it get to 15 volts, thus no equalization at 15.2v. I have absorb, float and equalize set to 14.8, 15, and 15.2 respectively.

Here's a quick photo review of my system:








I'm looking forward to your replies and advice of best practices. I'm frustrated with current inability to get my 4 L-16s into equalization, even with the correct wiring configuration. It sure would be nice to have 15v topped up batteries!

[Aaron Murakami]

Currently, I'm wondering if I should incorporate this Xantrex 12v 40amp battery charger via my EU2000 Honda generator to help get to an equalization event. The best I've seen on sunny days is a bit over 14 volts showing on my MidNite charge controller. I have not seen it get to 15 volts, thus no equalization at 15.2v. I have absorb, float and equalize set to 14.8, 15, and 15.2 respectively.

I'm looking forward to your replies and advice of best practices. I'm frustrated with current inability to get my 4 L-16s into equalization, even with the correct wiring configuration. It sure would be nice to have 15v topped up batteries!

Hi Bryan,

Are you able to get those panels up higher? I see it's cloudy but seems they're a bit low and would be shaded by the trees - hard to tell in the pic.