texag
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Post by texag on Jul 2, 2017 15:07:27 GMT -8
Thank you for the reply. It is too late in the day to do any meaningful testing. I'll re-test mid-day tomorrow. Panel #4 seems fine. I'm not so sure about #3 and especially #2. Can you explain the current drop on #2 and #3 (especially #2) when compared to #4? They were all measured in identical sunlight conditions this afternoon. I expected all of them to be supplying > 250 ma when the Sun was greater than 70 degrees above the horizon in sunny conditions. I took a close look at the second image in my original post. Is that rust in the circles I've supplied as annotation? Perhaps moisture has compromised the panel? Regards, Kevin Attachments:
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texag
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Post by texag on Jul 2, 2017 13:56:46 GMT -8
I've had my GroveWeatherPi up are running for about 5 weeks. Starting about 2 weeks ago we had about 8 days of cloudy and rainy weather. During that period, there was not enough sunlight during the day to recover what was lost over night. Every couple of days, I plugged a wall-powered USB power supply into the SunAirPlus to help recharge the batteries. Five days ago the Sun came back but each day the solar charging could not keep up with what was expended. During this period I rarely saw more that 580 ma coming from the solar panels (I have 4 x 6V 330ma panels in my installation). Each panel is connected to a Multi Solar Panel Connector Board which is in turn connected to the SunAirPlus. This configuration produced as much a 800 ma on similar sunny weather conditions 4 weeks ago. Additionally, I have not seen the solar power above 3 Watts in the last two days (as recorded in the PowerSystem MySQL table). Today (a sunny day) I tested each Solar Panel by covering all of the panels except one. I used the data in the MySQL table, PowerSystem, to record the solarCurrent and solarVoltage of each panel. Additionally, I measured the voltage on the back of each panel. Following are the results: Current Voltage Voltage (measured on back of panel)Panel #1 0.8 ma 4.152 v 4.9 v Panel #2 59.6 ma 4.618 v 5.25 v Panel #3 165.2 ma 4.663 v 5.25 v Panel #4 272 ma 4.692 v 5.3 v
To rule out a faulty Multi Solar Panel Connector Board I swapped the connection of Panels #1 and #3. I re-tested Panel #1 and it still came up at 0 ma. I believe the Multi Solar Panel Connector Board is OK.
This data sample seems to indicate one dead panel, two partially functional panels and one fully functional panel.
I did nothing to weatherize the panels prior to mounting them. Should I have? If so, how is that done? I've attached pictures of my panel installation (top left - Panel #1, top right - Panel #2, bottom left - Panel #3, bottom right - Panel #4).
I've ordered a 9 Watt panel from VoltaicSystems as a replacement. www.voltaicsystems.com/9-watt-panel I'll re-purpose the remaining functional panel for the power for an aspirated radiation shield I'm designing.
Any thoughts on the short-lived panels?
Regards, Kevin
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texag
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Post by texag on Jun 23, 2017 11:40:58 GMT -8
I should have been more clear with my question. I think the JST connector will be fine. My concern is the very thin 26 AWG wire attached to that connector. Can 26 AWG wire be used safely with the SunAirPlus?
I've seen as much 700 mA pushed into the 6600 mAH battery when charging on a very sunny day (as reported in the batteryCurrent column of the PowerSystem table in MySQL). Is 700 mA too much for a 26 AWG wire? The 6600 mAH battery has 24 (maybe 22) AWG wire.
Thanks, Kevin
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texag
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Post by texag on Jun 22, 2017 14:46:40 GMT -8
I purchased a JST-PH 2-pin cable ( www.adafruit.com/product/261) from Adafruit. According to the JST documentation, the connector can handle a 2A load. The Adafruit cable has 26 AWG wiring. My new battery comes with 20 AWG wiring. My plan is to solder the cable to the existing battery wires but I'm now concerned about the load capacity of 26 AWG wire. Note: The 6600 mAh Adafruit battery I'm currently using appears to have 24 AWG wire. Do you know if it is safe above configuration is safe to connect to the SunAirPlus? Thanks Kevin
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texag
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Post by texag on Jun 4, 2017 3:40:16 GMT -8
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texag
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Post by texag on Jun 3, 2017 16:56:28 GMT -8
I'm looking to replace the 6600 mAh battery with something that has a larger capacity. Would the following work with the SunAirPlus? www.tenergy.com/31059Regards, Kevin
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