# solar system working correctly



## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

I have a 104 watt solar system for my rabbit shed, it is shaded all day and the charge controler clicks and says charging for about three seconds and then back off for about 30 seconds and continues to do this. Is that working correctly? 

Would this make enough power to run a swamp cooler (says 85 watts) during the hottest part of the day?

I can not move the panels to a place to get more sun because I rent


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Brand and Make of CC? How many AH is the battery?

Most likely it will not produce enough power to run the swamp cooler for any length of time..


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

The chearge controler is a Sun Selector NDR-30. I am not sure about the battery, it is a deep cycle marine battery


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Simple answer to the OP . . NO
get the PV into the sun..........


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Disagree. A charge controller is designed to prevent batteries from overcharging. If the battery is fully charged (as measured by specific gravity of the acid) then a charge controller will poke a little charge in, see that the battery isn't accepting it, and disconnect the panel. 3sec/30sec seems pretty reasonable. If the battery is full, moving the panel into better sun won't do diddly.

You could... hook a 12 volt swamp cooler directly up to the panel and skip the battery. Not recommending it, but it would come on when there was enough sun, and cut-off when it got darker. In a battery charging setup there are inevitable losses. Downside of direct connections are many. I'll let others go into detail there.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Since this controller has 5 LEDs can you tell us which ones are flashing on the 3-30 sec interval. 

http://www.thoughtscreate.com/education/educ11.html



> The NDR-30 has a limited, lifetime warranty. It is a dedicated photovoltaic charge control device. It eliminates the need for internal or external blocking diodes, and provides exceptional throughout efficiency while charging lead acid batteries in a manner that will optimize the available limited charging period.
> 
> There are five LED status indicators which can give a large amount of information about the status of the PV system. These LED's are labeled as follows:
> 
> ...


Most likely the battery is fully charged and in float/PWM mode for the charge controller.

But with the panel in the shade it would take weeks for it to charge the battery back up after just a few hours of the swamp cooler running. Gary at Builtitsolar.com has a good report on how much partial shading affects his panels and it's basicly the same for all. 25% shade means basicly no current. They can reach voltage but no power to back it up. 

WWW


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## Energy Rebel (Jan 22, 2011)

Since you rent, try mounting the panel on a pole and moving it in the sun.
i agree with some other posts, it sounds like battery is fully charged. put a load on it (swamp cooler or whatever) and see what happens.


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

It is 2:00 Pm and it is in the shade, The "PV Voltage ok" light is staying on and when it clicks the "charging" light comes on for a couple seconds.

I know it would be bast to move it into the sun especially since I have a sun tracker mount I could put it on but that would invlove moving the panels 200 feet from the rabbit shed, bury a line and everything. I do not want to invest that money for wire and time into a rental that I am only planning to be at for another year and I doubt the landlord would like that idea


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