Solar charging settings, which is the most efficient?

[Habokjes]

Just got a solar panel fitted and I’m wondering which algorithm is the best for charging the leisure batteries. The standard setting is not charging the batteries to 100% when possible but takes a longer period, which isn’t really necessary for a weekend away. So any thoughts?!

 

[yossarian]

What you have posted is the Victron algorithms for the operation of the load output terminals.

Assuming you have AGM batteries the charge setting "AGM spiral cell" preset does a reasonable job.

 

[chockswahay]

I have mine set on ‘Battery life’

 

[yossarian]

I have mine set on ‘Battery life’

Do you have anything connected to the load output?

 

[Habokjes]

Do you have anything connected to the load output?

No nothing connected

 

[chockswahay]

Do you have anything connected to the load output?

No, but I notice the load output is selected to ‘on’ when I use ‘Battery life’

Tbh I only use this setting because I read it on here somewhere

 

[Habokjes]

What you have posted is the Victron algorithms for the operation of the load output terminals.

Assuming you have AGM batteries the charge setting "AGM spiral cell" preset does a reasonable job.

Thanks, reading the manual it looks like this might change the behaviour of the controller? We had a really sunny day yesterday and the batteries weren’t charged to 100%, which made me wonder…. Has this something to do with the settings.

 

[Habokjes]

No, but I notice the load output is selected to ‘on’ when I use ‘Battery life’

Tbh I only use this setting because I read it on here somewhere

The same here, just trying to figure out what is the best way to get the most out of the solar panel

 

[yossarian]

weren’t charged to 100%

What are you using to gauge how charged your batteries are?

 

[Habokjes]

What are you using to gauge how charged your batteries are?

The Victron Connect app and the display in the Cali. It was showing 70% and 12.3 Volts

 

[Habokjes]

What are you using to gauge how charged your batteries are?

 

[chockswahay]

Just checked my app….. battery type is Gel Victron deep discharge (2) and Load output is selected to Battery Life

 

[chockswahay]

I have only had the solar panel for 26 days now however the fridge is on all the time and only a few short drives…… batteries have not shown full but do stay well charged

 

[Habokjes]

I have only had the solar panel for 26 days now however the fridge is on all the time and only a few short drives…… batteries have not shown full but do stay well charged

Maybe the fridge is taking a lot of energy when the sun is shining

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

I don't have anything connected to the load output and set mine to Always Off.

 

[dspuk]

I spoke to Roger about this when I got my setup. He advised the factory setup is all you need.

 

[Habokjes]

I don't have anything connected to the load output and set mine to Always Off.

Hi, just changed this setting to always off and noticed the batteries getting more charged now. Curious to see how this works

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Hi, just changed this setting to always off and noticed the batteries getting more charged now. Curious to see how this works

I also have a Victron Cerbo GX and this allows me to monitor remotely and have different views of current flow and logs. I have 4 MPPT’s and with them all set to Battery Life I saw some strange behavior like negative power at night (small like -2 to -4 watts). Setting this to Always Off eliminated that. Was making me mental trying to figure out how it could possibly show negative watts from solar.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Habokjes]

I also have a Victron Cerbo GX and this allows me to monitor remotely and have different views of current flow and logs. I have 4 MPPT’s and with them all set to Battery Life I saw some strange behavior like negative power at night (small like -2 to -4 watts). Setting this to Always Off eliminated that. Was making me mental trying to figure out how it could possibly show negative watts from solar.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thnx, it seems that when set to always off the batteries are getting more charged. It is still on ‘bulk’ although the head up display shows 100%. Maybe the values need to be tweaked a little, but that’s something that I have to keep in mind for later.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

My settings below. Important to note, however, is that I have Lithium Phosphate batteries with a heating element to prevent any issues when it's cold in winter. If you are using AGM or Lithium without a heating element you would want to enable the Low Temperature Cutoff. And finally the settings for AGM should be fine with the default settings for AGM.

 

[chockswahay]

So then……….. out of curiosity I have set the battery to ‘AGM Spiral Cell’ and the load output of ‘Always off’…….. Also I removed the jumper ……… I dunno where any of this will get me, and to top it all the day has just gone very overcast and grey so I s’pose I won’t see any real difference for a while