How You Maintain Check Your Solar Panel Battery

If you get an alert from your solar panel system that a battery is low or your solar panels aren t working right your batteries may need to be refilled.

How you maintain check your solar panel battery.

The more batteries equal more connections each connection increases resistance and resistance can cause uneven charging. For example if your panel is rated for 20 volts your multimeter will need to be set to read higher. How do we tell if the solar panel is charging the batteries on our 2002 motorhome. Try to limit the number of batteries in the bank.

Most batteries require addition of water every 6 to 12 months. Distilled water should be added into the cells so that no metal lead surfaces are visible. Simply touch the solar panel leads with the multi meter probes matching their corresponding polarity red to red black to black. Open your battery cap and look inside.

Limit your bank to 16 batteries or less if you can. The first and easiest way is to rinse of dust with a standard garden hose. The plates of every cell in your battery bank must be submerged at all times. Gary bunzer aka the rv doctor re.

Use a hydrometer to assess the electrolyte levels in your battery cells. 2 use a high quality battery hydrometer. How to check the fluid level you only do this for unsealed batteries fla these are the flooded lead acid batteries. If the panels seem to need a little more cleaning than the hose offers a soft spongy squeegee on a long pole like the ones used to wash tall windows can be used along with some soapy water.

There are a few ways you can clean your panels. By doing this you can be confident that you will get an accurate reading. Undertaking regular maintenance will ensure your solar panel system is operating safely correctly and efficiently. Open circuit voltage can vary depending on your solar panel but the readings we are usually looking for are in the range of 15 to 23v.

To inspect the charge in your batteries get a hydrometer. Never add any fluid to a battery except distilled water deionized water or very clean rainwater collected in plastic containers. If you have a large bank of batteries rotate the batteries within the bank periodically. Some exceptions may apply based on panel type.

Check to ensure that you are measuring at a level that is higher than the volts the solar panel is rated for. 1 make sure you are in a properly ventilated area and that you are equipped with safety equipment such as gloves and eye protection. Over time dust and debris will build up on your solar panels which may compromise the performance of your solar panel system.