- Mar 7, 2023
- 10
- 42
- Funster No
- 94,448
- MH
- Iveco Daily 70C17
This is an interesting one that may help other MH users in the same situation. Over the last 4 days I have dawdled down from Bilbao to Tarifa, ready to get the ferry to Morocco tomorrow morning. I noticed today that I was getting no charge from the solar panels (3 x 200W Renogy) even though the sun is very bright and hot. Went into panic mode - no chance of expert help in Morocco - I'm doomed, so had a glass of very cold white wine to think about it.
I managed to get up to a point above the van to study the roof with binoculars - no sign of physical damage to the panels or wiring, but the panels were very dusty (having been cleaned before leaving home last week). Another clue came from the Victron solar controller app, which showed the solar power falling from 360Wh on Saturday, at a max voltage of 23.29V to 0Wh at max voltage of 13.93V over the last two days - no gradual reduction, just a step off. I think the supply voltage (13.9V in this case) has to exceed the system voltage by 5-6V to produce any power, so this at least confirmed the system was undamaged, but not achieving a high enough voltage to produce power.
Having borrowed a ladder from the campsite owner, and mopped down the panels to get rid of the dust (which was quite stubborn), I am now getting power again, at 21.49V - its 8:00 pm local time and the sun is on the way to setting. Smiles all round and more white wine consumed. I am guessing that the plume of Saharan dust that is passing over Spain and France was to blame - it is quite thick and apparently quite sticky.
So the moral is - don't panic like I did, drink some wine and wash the roof, in that order. Then drink more wine.
Happy trails!
I managed to get up to a point above the van to study the roof with binoculars - no sign of physical damage to the panels or wiring, but the panels were very dusty (having been cleaned before leaving home last week). Another clue came from the Victron solar controller app, which showed the solar power falling from 360Wh on Saturday, at a max voltage of 23.29V to 0Wh at max voltage of 13.93V over the last two days - no gradual reduction, just a step off. I think the supply voltage (13.9V in this case) has to exceed the system voltage by 5-6V to produce any power, so this at least confirmed the system was undamaged, but not achieving a high enough voltage to produce power.
Having borrowed a ladder from the campsite owner, and mopped down the panels to get rid of the dust (which was quite stubborn), I am now getting power again, at 21.49V - its 8:00 pm local time and the sun is on the way to setting. Smiles all round and more white wine consumed. I am guessing that the plume of Saharan dust that is passing over Spain and France was to blame - it is quite thick and apparently quite sticky.
So the moral is - don't panic like I did, drink some wine and wash the roof, in that order. Then drink more wine.
Happy trails!