Help with Landscape lighting system.

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  • pb4sc
    Junior Member
    • Oct 2022
    • 4
    #1

    Help with Landscape lighting system.

    Hi Everyone,
    I hope someone can help me with some issues I am having with my Solar panel setup for my outdoor landscape lighting. This is my first experience with Solar, so I am a newbie. I have 12 low voltage lights. Each light is 5 volts for a total of 60 volts. I have two 100 watt panels connected in series. The charge controller is a 10 A controller. I have two 12V, 35 Ah Sealed Lead Acid Batteries connected to a 1000 watt inverter. The lights are on about 12 hours per night. With a full charge the lights work perfectly on night one. On night two, the lights work for about 10 hours before the controller detects a low battery, and triggers off. I have to turn it off on night three, since the batteries do not have a full charge. What options do I have so that the batteries fully charge each day? I am in Southern California, so I have about 10+ hours of sunlight. Any help will be appreciated.

    Phil
    Tags: None
    • SunEagle
      Super Moderator
      • Oct 2012
      • 15126
      #2
      Hello pb4sc and welcome to Solar Panel Talk

      I guess my first question is what are you using that inverter for if those lights are low voltage? How are they wired to the batteries?

      Next what is the amount of amperage are you getting from the panels to charge those batteries?

      And finally I think i understand that your 2 batteries are wired in parallel but depending on how the circuit is set up they may not be properly wired to get the full charge from your panels.

        Comment

        • pb4sc
          Junior Member
          • Oct 2022
          • 4
          #3
          Hi,
          Thanks for taking the time to look at my question. I appreciate it. I have the Transformer with the light sensor plugged into the inverter. It came with the lights I bought. The batteries are wired to the inverter, then the plug for the light sensor is plugged into the inverter.

          The specs on the panels are
          Maximum Power Output: 100W

          Maximum Power Voltage (Vmp): 18.78V

          Maximum Power Current (Imp): 5.32A

          Maximum System Voltage: 1000V DC

          Open-Circuit Voltage (Voc): 22.64V

          Short-Circuit Current (Isc): 5.7A

          (Here is the kit I bought off of Amazon) I have two panels.

          Here is a picture of how I have everything wired.
          IMG_20221101_093112.jpg

          Any suggestions or improvements, would be much appreciated.

          Thanks again,
          Phil

            Comment

            • SunEagle
              Super Moderator
              • Oct 2012
              • 15126
              #4
              Well that inverter will use power from the batteries as long as it is on. So they may be draining all day long even while they are getting a charge from the panels.

              I also don't trust "kits" because usually they have issues and will not perform as indicated. That may also be part of the problem.

              And finally that charge controller may not perform as indicated which could be another part of your issue.

              Try turning off the inverter during the daytime and hope your batteries will get charged up.

                Comment

                • pb4sc
                  Junior Member
                  • Oct 2022
                  • 4
                  #5
                  Thanks so much for all your help. Sounds logical that the inverter is the issue. I am going to try turning it off, and see how it charges over the day.
                  Thanks again,

                  Phil

                    Comment

                    • pb4sc
                      Junior Member
                      • Oct 2022
                      • 4
                      #6
                      After a bunch of trial and error I was able to find the sweet spot of 6 hours of light per night. As long as it is sunny, the batteries will fully charge during the day, for the next night.

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