WHY IS MY SOLAR PANEL NOT CHARGING THE BATTERY: CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS

What happens when you buy a solar panel, connect it to your battery to charge it up, but realize that the solar panel isn’t actually doing anything like it’s supposed to? Sound familiar to you? It could be that your battery is not getting charged properly which tends to be a common problem. Although the reasons may vary, the solutions are usually simple.

In this article, we will discuss ways to check if your battery is getting charged, why is your panel not charging your battery, common mistakes with system wiring, faulty battery and charge controller settings, and how to fix each of them in detail.

How To Check If Solar Panel Is Charging Battery?

Step 1: Buy a multimeter and connect it to your system. It can be used to measure the voltage of your panel. Be sure to conduct your tests on the solar panel under ideal sunlight.

Step 2: Measure the voltage of your battery. If your voltage is way too high or the opposite (too low), your battery will face issues while charging.

Step 3: Next on to Solar Charge Controller. Check the controller’s terminal voltage. The terminal voltage should be within range. If the voltage output is odd or undefined, there could be a problem with your solar charge controller.

Step 4: Double Check your Equipment. Broken alternators, regulators, solar panel defects, delamination, bad battery, broken charge controller, and broken diodes in panels must be double-checked.

Step 5: Assess your environment. Ensure the placement of your solar panel is set up in a sunny location. Extreme temperature, overcast, shading, etc. could also cause problems.

Now that you ran a general diagnosis on your system you are ready to fix your problem.

Faulty Solar Panel

One of the most obvious reasons is that your solar panel may be broken. Thus, it is unable to provide you with enough voltage to charge the battery.

Hot Spots: If you’ve had your solar panel(s) for a long-time hot spots are likely to appear. It damages the solar module and grid line, and soon your solar panels lose efficiency.

Cracked Panel: Cracks in your solar panel could have several effects on its overall efficacy. It may not be easily noticeable; however, cracks cause mechanical failures and reduce power output to the solar panel.

Broken Diode: If your panel has a broken diode and you are connecting your panel directly to your battery, the current flow will reverse at night and drain your battery.

Faulty Battery

Trying to charge a broken battery will not work at all. Don’t try to charge incompatible batteries with solar panels. For ex. Car engine starting battery. Ways to identify a faulty battery is to look for leakage, discoloration, budge, etc.

Broken Equipment

Most commonly, the culprit here is either your inverter or the charge controllers. This doesn’t exclude other components and/or accessories. Be sure to check all the equipment related to the charging system needs to ensure its fully functioning.

Wrong Setup

Without a proper setup for your solar panel, you’ll end up with a non-functioning system. One common mistake users make is that they connect their panels to the batteries directly. Improper connections and polarity mix-ups also cause problems with the overall system performance. It’s highly recommended to use a solar controller to regulate the amount of power being produced by the panels.

Another key part of the Wrong Setup is the environmental factor. Your solar panel won’t work in extreme weather conditions or without proper sunlight. Trees and other like objects can affect the amount of voltage your panel produces.

Faulty Solar Charge Controller

Another common issue might be that your solar charge controller is broken. In that case, your battery won’t get charged. Usually, low-quality charge controllers have this problem. Sometimes the charge regulator gets damaged and needs replacing. Solar Charge Controller can have various problems like moon error symbol, display freeze, or even no power which will in turn cause problems charging your battery.

How to Solve Solar Panel Not Charging Battery?

Well, now that you know why these problems occur, it’s time we explain how to fix each of these problems below:

Correct Setup Guide

Here is a quick setup guide on how you can charge your battery with a solar panel.

Step 1: Connect your solar charge controller with the battery. Do not connect the solar panel yet! Connect the battery to the solar charge controller.

Step 2: Make sure you connect the positive and negative poles properly. (Positive Wire on Positive Terminal, Negative Wire on Negative Terminal)

Step 3: Now check the voltage of the solar panel in sun. The voltage of the solar panel must be greater than the voltage of the battery.

Step 4: Connect the Panel to the solar charge controller. Don’t mess up the positive and negative sides.

Step 5: Now your Solar Charge Controller should indicate both battery and panel have been connected.

As with any electronic resetting works like a charm. A quick restart can easily resolve the solar panel’s issues with not charging the battery. In most cases, a soft reset is enough, however, if it is not working, attempt a hard reset. Resetting a solar charge controller is one of the most common solutions if your solar panel is not charging the battery.

Conclusion

Batteries not being charged can be very frustrating. Fortunately, it can be solved if you have proper knowledge on how to check and diagnose it, the reasons why it happens and ways to fix it. Not only knowing it will solve your problem but it will prevent you from other future problems.

Key takeaways - Faulty solar panels, broken batteries and broken equipment can all impact the battery from getting charged. So, take care of your equipment!

Incorrect system setups and problematic solar charge controllers can also contribute to this issue. Be sure to check your system wiring and if you suspect something is wrong with your charge controller reset it.

In summation, with routine care and knowledge of your battery, solar panel and other equipment, maintenance and troubleshooting become much easier.

For more information on all things solar, check out https://www.newpowa.com/a/blog