series HF panels work okay

[dnix71]

I have a bunch of HF "15 watt" panels plus 3 SunElec house brand panels and got tired of my BZ 250 watt [100v max] mppt seeking all day. There is a two level relay. Click - click - click - click all day as clouds pass over and trees sway and partially shade my panels.

This is a guerilla install in the backyard, so I decided to see what would happen if I series strung my HF panels 3 at a time and strung the 3 Sun panels same way.

The BZ still seeks, with the boost current floating all over as the sun goes in and out, but the relay stays in. The loaded voltage on the input side of the BZ is 45-48v

I added bypass Schottky diodes to all the panels a year ago and checked the panels as I strung them together to make sure they all still worked. One HF panel went bad after the glass cracked and water got inside. That one was discarded long ago.

Florida is the Sunshine State in the winter when it doesn't rain much, otherwise it's really just the Heat and Humidity State. In the winter I get much better power out when the weather clears up and cools off a bit.

[tecker]

I looked at the info on the controller and noticed an Aux battery that looks like a device battery for the mppt .Do you have that installed ? Also There's a float voltage adjustment . It seems like its reacting to the input alright  Series 1amp with higher amperage panels is a bad idea , You can parallel for more amperage but the HF panels can't take the added amperage with out undergoing some over current and I think the max number of panels in a parallel string for HF is less than 10 so that may be your problem . Install the HF panels to the AUX  battery and dump load to the main bank. The thin film will take current but it's not recommended the internal wiring for  thin film panel is a mixture of surface contacts along the edge so they are set up to output to the edge and not thru put for added voltage or current.
Some other film panels have thicker surface coating the film on the HF panels is no more than a coating .Good luck

[dnix71]

The extra connection on the controller is for a light load (not an inverter). It has a low voltage disconnect circuit built-in. I don't use that. All my loads are straight from the battery bank.

I had to adjust the float level. Under high output the controller output will be almost a volt higher than the battery bank, so the recommended float level results in under charging. After upping the float to about 15.2 , the battery bank went to just over 14.2 before the controller began to back off. I have 6 large hybrid marine batteries so full power out of the controller is still only 3 amps per battery.

I also had a problem with the string of six batteries being in series. The charging was from one end but the highest load (the fridge) was on the other. I added a bridge from the charging end to the middle of the string and that balanced the charging better.

The HF panels fade badly in hot weather (meaning normal summer weather here). But I still got almost a 12 amp boost today before it clouded over at 12:30. I only have about 1/2 a day to get to float in the summer. In the winter the days are shorter but there is more sun and the cooler temps allow much better efficiency from the thin film
HF panels.

I went to two panels in series two days ago and that works better than 3.

[tecker]

I see you have a yen for experimenting with the HF panels . the Sun elec panels are able to pass more amperage . I don't think the HF panels will pass the current .

[MagicValleyHPV]

I bought one of these 45w kits also.  Since these have been out for a few years now, I'd be interest in hearing from those who have been using them long term. Amorphous modules do produce higher voltages when new, but stabilize at a reduced voltage (which is supposed to be at or near their rated wattage. That said, has anyone accurately monitored their HF modules output over extended periods (years maybe?).  With coupon, at $3.76 per watt, I'm curious if they are worth it, considering there's essentially no warranty.         

[tecker]

You can get numbers from their make up .I'm not sure the whats in the mix I 'll see if I can find out.

[Rover]

I have a set , 4 yrs old, still produces about an amp into the batteries. IMHO I would never buy them now, back then you couldn't buy a 45 W panel for 200$, now you can get a 100W mono or poly for just over 200.00$ .  I have 300 W of poly's  (3 x 100w)  and a small Siemens 55W , all of them do better than the HFs after calculating it out.