Solar Panel Diodes. I found the problem (for a moment)...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 เม.ย. 2021
- Finally some results about the panels. I can measure a reverse current across some of the diodes. Does that mean they are faulty? Yeah, well, I managed to find 2 panels where the diodes measure OK. Let's put them in series and to the test! I'm excited. For a moment...
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There was a commercial solar array that uses a thermal camera. By feeding power into the panels at night, the shorted diodes actually heat the panels. They just look for the hotter panel and know the diodes are shot.
Good idea. Just apply the revise voltage at night. if the string has current then meaure or checked by thermal camera for that
Or just measure them at the Sunlight without load. If the diode is faulty, that will generate some amps and heat up the cells.
Good morning Andy, I know this video is 2 years old. But it's today for me and your Joy is infectious. Your your Joy and perseverance is infectious, thank you
For the moment, test all the other panels one by one with the two panels so you can sort the stack of panels that you have into good and bad panels. Then install the good ones on the roof again and worry about the bad ones later. No need to open the good ones.
Lessons learned: Always watch Andy's videos until the end! :-) just love it!!
OMG, the ending... your killing me!
Yeah, to have a definitine answer about the diode problem, one must unsolder one of the problematic diodes and check it off circuit... Judging from my previous experience with diodes, 99% of the time they fail shorted. What you are measuring there probbably comes from faulty cells which is a bad thing unfortunately... You probbably realised that ath the end of the video :) Either way, kudos for the effort! Oh and an I-V curve tracer instrument would be great to test individual panels for problems like that! You would see the problem immediately on the characteristic curve. I am building such an instrument right now as my Master's degree thesis!
I'm glad I watched to the end because through it I was thinking "I don't believe it is the diodes, 200mV one way and 1.4V the other doesn't indicate faulty diodes!"
You're probably one of the three people watching until the end so far 😉.
Yes, that is very suspicious to start with, right.
@@OffGridGarageAustralia it's a PID problem
Always a great moment when you figure out such annoying, confounding problems.
As the conductor areas are large inside the box and you know their layout you could just drill small holes in the cover in the correct places and push the cable probes through. Afterwards just seal up the holes if the panel is good.
The other observation is that the panels themselves might allow reverse current. You would need to disconnect the diodes to check. Diodes don't often fail closed circuit.
In my own experience repairing electronics, semiconductors almost always fail shorted unless the overload is large enough to blow them up.
I thought the same thing about drilling holes for testing. A dab of sealant afterwards.
Fantastic tip
I am glad I am not the only one having problems with Solar, I have done a massive system at my home to take me off grid with 40 x 330 Watt panels, 2 x 250/100 victron M
PPT, 1 x 15 Kw Victron Quatro, and originally 20 x 225 Amp AGM batteries. The batteries only lasted 1 year even though I only discharged to 50%. Replaced with 6 x 4.8Kw Lithium Phosphate packs.
But I made one fatal mistake. The Lithium Packs came with Copper Lugs which I replaced with Tinned Lugs on 5 but forgot the 6th one. Struggled to get the 6th one to work until I found that the Copper connected to my 50mm x 50mm x 5mm Aluminium bus bars had corroded within 1 week and that battery was no longer in circuit, due to corrosion with dissimilar metals. Moral of the story DIY works but simple mistakes can be made. By the way I am in South Africa where we have rolling Massive blackouts almost every day. But I am now completely off grid :).
Thanks for sharing Julian. Great to hear your on lithium power too now.
There are always these nasty little things in your project which can completely throw you off. And everything takes forever if you need to search for your own mistakes...
Great News !! Love watching and learning from your experiences. Thx
Maybe try using a hot air gun on the back boxes to soften the glue before trying to open them it may help?🤔
I think that sounds like a good idea
I am very glad that I found the reason well done Ser
This is the biggest cliffhanger video you have put out. I can't stop thinking "if it's not the diode, what else could it be?" Eagerly awaiting the next video Andy.
Hahaha, sorry for that 😉 But thanks for watching until the end. Most here haven't...
PID Potential Induced Degradation
@@OffGridGarageAustralia is the next video here tomorrow? I cant wait lol
@@OffGridGarageAustralia I usually watch til the end but not always. I do however watch individual videos multiple times just to check the comments and reply if I might be helpful. I suspect that just clicking on the post will bump up TH-cam's watch count and help boost income from them.
Oh no, I gave a celebratory thumbs up before , "it's not the diodes". What a rollercoaster of emotions. :)
Good content as always. I found a faulty diode when a 100w panel should provide 21v voc and I was getting about 9-10v dc. One panel had a faulty diode and the second panel has a lifted solder joint. In both cases this saved me $$ each time and the fix was less than 50 cents.
Thank you very much for sharing the knowledge.
Having a good Ole fashion Diode replacing Party!!!! Wait WHAAAA😮😏
Thanks for watching until the end! 😳
@@OffGridGarageAustralia Always!!💥🤘
Well done. I should check my panels more thoroughly after this.
Good job. You’ve taught us a bunch! Thank you.
If you suspect a bad solder joint. You can buy a can of "cool spray for electronics". Spay on the solder joint while using the diode check meter to check for a bad intermittent solder connection.
Congratulations Andy, great to learn all of this from you! Thanks
But wait a minute... its not???
Thank you so much for doing the video ☺️
Brilliant video again Andy looking forward to the next video to see what else you've found
Congratulations Andy love your videos
Way to go! I feel your happiness.
I am happy that finally you opened the connection box on the panels. So soon you will be back with full panel power.
Great accomplishment. Well done.
so happy for you and i have learned something new!!! :)
Congrats!!
That is so great that you found the problem but better yet I have also learnt something thanks!
Unsolder them then check hehehe and yes i watched until the end too!!!!
I'm so happy for you you fixed your panels I bet you that's what's wrong with mine
Thank you for the series on the panels . You have answered my question for the panels here in my area as well. Now for the work to check and replace DIODES.
You should watch until the very end!
It's not the diodes
Great Job... love the humor..lol
Thank you Andy, I now have something to test :)
Please keep us posted on replacement diode source and cost. Great videos and quite entertaining. I hope you work out a maintenance plan to keep an eye on panels and find problems shortly after the occur.
I'm cracking one with you!
Another in Kentucky with you guys. Mine is bourbon.
This channel is like the tv show Survivor but for geeks. I love it. Keep it up Andy.
Hi Andy. It would be great if there was some way to test the diodes without opening the connection box. Surely there is a way. What about a few strategically placed holes drilled in the box that can then be sealed after with silicon or tape.
There is actually a diode tester out there for solar panels. Well, diodes is only one thing it measures, also does isolation and performance I think. Costs around $1600 though.
@@OffGridGarageAustralia wow that's lot.
A simple way to test diodes is to use a bench power supply: set the current limit to 3A, set the voltage limit to panel open-circuit rating or whatever your power supply can output if it does not go that high, then connect panels in the bypass direction while fully dark. If the diodes are good, the diodes' forward voltage should be around 2V (3 x 0.5-0.7V + wiring losses). If the voltage is much higher, one of the diodes is open-circuit and current is leaking through the array. If the voltage is much lower, at least one of the diodes is shorted.
Great to see you got to the bottom of it! Your sharing and documenting this adventure should help in testing the 22kw used solar panels I've accumulated;)
Just finished to watch all your videos 🤪
What a journey Andy 😅
Keep the good working and solar info.
Greetings from Portugal 👍🏻
glad you found it, valuable lesson :)
oh dear, should have watched till the end, which is, as they say "less than ideal", now you've got in my head wondering what it actually is
Thanks for watching until the end 😂
Best cliffhanger ever !!!!!!!!
You made my day again Andy. I haven't seen anyone this happy for a long time. Have a great day. "Its not the diodes" ?
Great Diode discovery Andy and April's fools, jajaja or not maybe cell damaged if your measuring voltage. Apply the Diode reverse voltage and see if it blocks the current.
If it's not the diodes, then it must be a faulty/shorted cell in the same string the apparent faulty diode is across. Did you de-solder a diode to test it at the component level, outside of the circuit? Can parallel a few common 1n1004's as a temporary diode substitute to test the difference on a single panel to rule it out.
Well done
I'm interested to see the next video for what you find next. I'm wondering if you took some diodes off and tested directly and found they are actually working, but maybe the reverse voltage you measured is making its way through the solar cells somehow. Is that possible? Really thought you had something there, but you'll get it.
Nice work mate... panels that would of been taken to the bin .... now have a new life of making free energy....
another great video andy
Andy, 5 seconds into your video there is a clip of your panels on the roof. The left hand one shows some diagonal cracking in the cell at the bottom. I have experienced this myself and it generally leads to lower output depending on how many of the cells are cracked. Just thought I would mention it as it was just like the cracking I saw on one of ours (also in Brisbane area). Not suggesting this is your current problem but I think it will get worse and as you have spare panels maybe this one should be pensioned out.
Cheers Allan
Awesome! Finally fixed! Good job. I’d absolutely help you fix the rest of them if you didn’t live across the ocean
excellent video 🌞
wish i could go back in time and open more electrician books than plumber and car mechanics... !!!! i think i lke it!!!! with my character i could be completely bald due to stress but i love it some how!!!
Eine Achterbahn der Gefühle!
Also ich würde ja Löcher in die Deckel bohren um die Dioden zu testen. Man weiß ja jetzt wo man messen kann.
Aber jetzt bin ich erstmal gespannt was nun wieder is.... Mann! Du machst es spannend!
Huch, wo ist denn dein Englisch hin? ☺️
Es ist alles Mist und geht nicht voran. Was einfach aussieht dauert alles ewig weil man ständig neue Probleme findet oder selber macht. Ich hatte einfach neue Panels kaufen sollen...
@@OffGridGarageAustralia Och, es war einfach noch zu früh for english.
Ja, diese Probleme sind schon blöd. Aber es ist auch super für deinen Kanal! Das hilft garantiert vielen Leuten. Ich schaus mir jedenfalls gerne an! :)
@@MrMalzbie Du bist der Beste!
Amazing job. Totally impressed. You should be able to test without disassembling junction boxes by shading each section covered by a diode while a load is applied. Voltage should change drastically depending on if a diode has failed or not. I bet you could also put a reverse voltage on the panel(or even use meter diode checker) and get a consistent 1.4V per section that diodes work.
Andy: We've got him! We've got him! Uh-oh, false alarm. What a bummer
Good work Andy,Solar is addictive, they always think am not well upstairs always thinking and doing solar system every now and then
Great job ;)
Awesome good job 👍
Well he didn’t show in this video but I heard him between 11.05 and 11:40 !!! Keep up the good work! Fried diodes.
Well done Andy! Every panel in your west array must have most diodes faulty! So there is a fair chance they may have hotspots as well? So you still need to test each panel before you put it up on the roof even after repairing the diodes. If the panels are also faulty you would need to de-solder the suspect diodes and check them separately and then check the current through each string of cells on the panel in both directions. You probably should do this test after removing the diodes for replacement and repair.
You are an electronic wizard!
Your DAKINE!
Best way to test your diodes is under load, use a 12v battery and a car headlight bulb (50W) gives a better result.
Mission accomplished!!! 👍
ahem... watch the video first, ey?
@@OffGridGarageAustralia 11:30 Mission accomplished again...😌👍 4.3Ah oho..... You made it Sir!
Edited: 16:34 I didn't expect that. :(
Lol, you'll get it I'm sure you will
Meatless BBQ sounds good, same beer that I drink - great, nice small panels - count me in!
Would be a fun trip in the Leaf from the North side.
Difficulty is organising farm sitters for us.
Can't wait to see you solve this mystery.
I would unsolder one leg on the diodes and re-measure. It could be a cell string short circuit and not the diodes but unlikely. This is new territory for me and been off grid for years.
You're spot on Dave!
✓^^^^
Wow Never Give Up... Great...
Great work son
Andy, drill 4 little holes in the cover to put the test probes in for testing. Then if OK, you can just silicon the holes.
When is this time be continued?! I spent 16 minutes of this video so happy that you had found the problem, then you pulled the rug out at the end 😂
Very good found this is big for the secondhand solar community. ! Love your vids! Plant some new trees and get ths big one a bit down. then your shed is not any more in the shadows. Congrats man!
Life is good!
You look so good.. nice person...
Hi Andy, I'm always happy when you publish a new video in YT with your humour and good mood. Your troubleshooting is a bit like a serial thriller :-)
I can't explain myself why so many diodes should be defective. I'm curious to know what the cause really is in the end..... was the last sentence a joke?
Manny diodes will be killed by lightning ! They only can be killed when they are connected!
I'm not making jokes! ☺️
No, unfortunately it wasn't a joke.
Well done Andy but, with all this (well working) panels on the roof you´ll need a bigger or 2nd battery
incoming...
@@OffGridGarageAustralia of course you must have enough wage , to pay the bill and tax ;o) greetings to silke ;o)
Lov a good ending !!
Can you show what a diode looks like as I fear I have a similar problem !!
Yeah !!
7:11 shows the diodes
Awesome troubleshooting Andy! So good to see. I just bought a ticket to Australia so I can drink a good cold beer with you and help take off all the other bad panels on your house! Hahah.. kidding of course. Keep up the good work my friend!
Take a panel with bad diodes and run it in series with the diodes removed.
That will definitely rule out micro cracks.
What clamp meter are you using, and do you recommend it?
As you will change a lot of diodes try to get some with higher current and voltage rating, otherwise the same thing will happen again.
Could have been lightning in its past life.
Gratulation aus Brandenburg! (es lag doch nicht an zu wenig gekühlten Bier :)
Congratulations from Brandenburg! (It was not because the beer was not cooled enough :)
Average Joe brought me here, I always watch till the very end, Great content and fault finding, Keep up the good work Andy :)
Its like you just won the lottery ... good job
... until you watch the video until the end!
@@OffGridGarageAustralia Yes I know ... commented during the video
People not watching the video til the end: yay let's crack a beer. All the others: oh no, what a cliff hanger... greetings from Germany.
Great achievement! Can you measure the diodes from the mc4's in a diode check when the panel is not illuminated? Maybe with a small 9v battery you can measure the voltage drop accross the reverse diodes, the voltage should be 9v in the end. But it will only show if 3 diodes are broken. Can you replace the diodes yourself? It saves the panel.
I knew you would figure it out. I can't help but think, if you weren't on the metric system you would have found it sooner!😘
We were wrong. Nice
i share your joy😀
You remind me of the back to the future movie.
How comes?
Well done, the Diodes are half wave rectifiers.
There are different rectifiers depending how many and how they are configured of course.
Half wave on AC. On DC one direction.
@@michaelbouckley4455 Normally AC, but maybe it clears up the DC signal for transience.
Find all the ground faults before committing to refitting the panels. The old one from the house from your description likely has a ground fault.
Good that it works with two panels, but connecting the three panel strings was always the problem. You're running test software on the charge controller because the original 150/35 was locking up at 132v every few days. A 3 string can exceed this, 2 will not.
I would be looking at the controller and be asking how Victron resolved the lock up issue.
Well done Sir, well done.
The installers who replaced them may have shorted them out when they cut the cables? Very Possible
Easy to diagnose - get one good panel, connect another panel which is under test and connect to solar charger. If it works well, panel under test is fine. If not... that other panel has an issue.
Instead of breaking open all the panel connection boxes, you could just test each panel individually to see if it produces 'normal' power (same as a panel with 3 good diodes). If so, it is good. The panels with 1 or more bad diodes will produce less power.
Now you know the layout of the box make a drill template. Then check through small drill holes. Then seal with silicone
Bonjour, if it's not the diode, may be a corrosive contact between line or busbar. in this case, the diode is working well on direct direction, but the résistance is bad on reverse direction.
It's something like this. My bet is on micro cracks in cells across these panels.
You not must the open junction box. If you connect in serial resistor (R=U/I) then voltage must be 36V. If you have less then is one string on panel in short. So.. 36/5 is arround 7.2 ohm.
Heat and overvoltage would be my guess I would actually go with a little bit higher voltage on the replacement
Hi glad you have sorted it at last! Can you help with another issue, When the BMS cuts off the power itleaves the inverter switched on? also the charge controller is still getting power from the solar array, will that fry the charge controller, and when the BMS comes back on the inverter will restart under full load and take that out as well?
You should have watched until the end...
Friends on your charger controller. I can turn my battery of and the SCC keeps powering the inverter.