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>> 1) These Controller+Inverter combo units require a battery to turn on Which is why you want to install disconnects between your battery bank and the electro
by sandworm101 5y ago
>> 1) These Controller+Inverter combo units require a battery to turn on
Which is why you want to install disconnects between your battery bank and the electronics. In a worst-case scenario of total discharge you can then bypass the dead batteries, hook the control electronics up to car batteries if necessary (be careful about voltages) and perform some diagnostics or at least read the logs of what went wrong. But the controller+inverter should be running if supplied with voltage from solar/wind/generator regardless of how the batteries are doing.
- Syonyk 5y ago> But the controller+inverter should be running if supplied with voltage from solar/wind/generator regardless of how the batteries are doing. Most of them don't operate that way. They need the battery bank connected first, and run off the battery bank side, while controlling the panel side. Some may tolerate that sort of recovery from deep discharge, but it's not a safe bet, and some controllers are pretty clear that if you connect the input side before the batteries, you'll damage the controller. A dumb PWM controller stands a better chance of doing this, but something like an MPPT controller, unless it's explicitly designed to fail into a PWM configuration at low battery voltage, won't - they need power to drive the buck converter circuitry (the controlling ICs and oscillators and such) in order to get power out of the panels.