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Moontide · 21-07-2016, 17:54

Have seen some of the responses but not all so some of my comments might be duplicates.

Don't know the length of the runs but off the top of my head 10 AWG sounds a bit light for 15 amps if there is any distance to the run.

If anything, I would tie te 10 and 12 wires together instead of 2 separate runs, although if the tables say it needs bigger wire I would suggest pulling new ones.

Another two cents to muddie the waters.
Bill

autumnbreeze27 · 22-07-2016, 13:31

The runs are all in the 3% or less range now, so I'm happy with that.

I was going to post some full sun comparisons, but when I went out to check them I found that half my array on the bimini wasn't connected due to a wire that pulled out of a connector. So I just fixed that, but now I've got shading so oh well.

I wish there was some way to graph the Morningstar MPPT60 voltage/amps numbers during the day. I tried to setup cacti to monitor it via SNMP but found out it doesn't really support snmp that way (lame!).

I think I'm going to leave the tracer in the mix until I have some real world time on it, it's cranking away so far every time I spot check it.

Moontide · 22-07-2016, 16:50

Assuming y ou have a similiar Moringstar MPPT 60 amp model, there is a way to track the numbers. Just hook up to a the controller to a router with an ethernet cable then access from your computer. Detailed instructions and program MSVIEW.EXE are available on their web site..

Can use the logging display. Another display mode shows you the max or min value for each day. Lets you pick the items to record, the time interval and the file to send it to. Have done that to check impact of shading, time of year and tilt angel of the panesl. Very useful. Time is UTC so have to convert to your location.
Also a page that shows you min and max for selected items each day. Can download all to a spreadsheet. I can still go get records from the day I installed the panels.
Bill

autumnbreeze27 · 23-07-2016, 10:01

Thanks, I have msview but never used the logging feature before. It will do nicely.

One odd behavior that both controllers seem to do... when the sun is low or the panels are shaded, the voltage is typically higher, 16v-18v.

When the panels are in full sun, they both drop down to 15v. Is that some kind of physics issue or ??? I'd rather they run higher voltage obviously, but have no way of controlling it.

Maybe I'll try rigging a gopro to take pictures of the panels and then I could correlate the data with the shading... but I may just drink beer instead.

24 hours until we're off the dock! of course we're due for rain this week... so the sun will suck when I need it! but hey if it's a little cooler I'm all for it.