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I have actually repaired a solar panel well I had three and managed to repair one of them but they were BP panels and you could see where the joints were so I carefully drilled holes into the rear and located the faulty joints and then opened up the hole and resoldered and in one out of three I was succesful. Not I think an option for you.
Just to give you confidence that I'm not spinning a yarn and my long distance fault finding isn't misleading I've just googled and found this >here<
______________________________________________________________ Regards Frank - - Denn wir haben nichts in die Welt gebracht; darum offenbar ist, wir werden auch nichts hinausbringen.
RIP Peter and Fiona Our thoughts are with you Chris and Graham. Fighting with Mavis and Ray
Plusnet, Safari 5, G5 PowerPC iMac running OSX 10.5.8, Salisbury UK : Get behind early - it gives you more time to catch up.
I'm in a bit of a rush but here goes. Obviously your panel's faulty so you can go down one of two routes the way I see it. Either buy new or have a closer look at the panel & see if a repair can be effected. Probably not cost effective to have anyone else do this but it may be an interesting project to have a look at yourself. Frank's done this before but for me & probably you it would be the first time. I'd definitely have a closer look & possibly destroy the panel in the process rather than write it off without looking. Nothing to lose etc.
As for the wiring Well, I could only go as far as describing it as shoddy. The split corrugated sleeving is a legitimate way of protecting wires where you can't thread the tubing over the wires.
The soldered joins well, I'd personally eliminate as many of them as p[ossible & I'd also have staggered them so there was no possibility of them ever coming into contact.
If you're going as far as replacing the panel. I'd also replace & optimise the wiring. Maximise the cross section of the wiring wherever possible & eliminate as many joins as possible. Cover all the connections in glue coated heatshrink & sleeve everything that's exposed.
Good post so far & an excellent future reference for peeps with similar problems.
Yes, I'm trying to get RoadPro to help with this panel, as they were the Alden importers and reps until not so long ago, ie When the panel was supplied. The panel has a 20 year guarantee so should be an easy issue. However, as always this is complicated as the fitter, Brownhills, are no longer Brownhills (if you know what I mean ) and the importer is no longer the importer. SO I'm left with a broken expensive panel that everyone says is someone else's problem. I can't afford to just forget it and replace it, I just don't have the Ł500-600 for a new panel.
I have tried to find a contact for Alden but so far no luck. I just keep finding resellers of Alden equipment. The only website so far that I think is Alden is http://www.alden.fr/index.html , but my french is pretty poor so I'm not sure if this is the right place for solar panels.
I have spoken to Eddie from Vanbitz, the current Alden importer, and although very helpful and would have replaced the panel immediately without question, he did not supply the panel so would be seriously out of pocket to replace and then challenge Alden.
So as you can see, I'm stuck in the middle. I called RoadPro this morning and they have said they are going to call me back, so I'm hoping they will help. I will let you know what happens.
A couple questions please,
1) what the difference between a blocking diode and a bypass diode?
2) and, what exactly is the problem when you say Frank,
"but more worrying is the length of the cable compared to its thickness. Although difficult to tell from a photo it looks less than 2.5mm˛ and must be over 5 metre long, perhaps more like 8m."
What should the wire be and why?? However, you are right when you say the cable length from the panel to the regulator is about 8m.
The blue Alden cable says "05VV-F 2X4 mm2" on it, but the black cable says nothing but each wire is about the same thickness.
Davesport, I agree about not just throwing the panel, but I don't want to drill any holes in it or pull it apart just yet, as its supposed to have a 20year warranty. Also I agree about all the wiring joints and will replace the black cable with more blue Alden cable connected with a single connection. Whilst appart I will thread some shrink rap and seal each connection.
I think there are two solder joints within the junction box that are not visible from the top. These are the ones where the terminal block solders to the printed circuit board. When you screw the terminal screw, it puts a big strain on these joints and it may be that one of the joints has cracked, giving a high resistance joint. Try connecting your ammeter across the two solder pads above the terminal block. If the full power is then produced, it will show that the terminal block needs re-soldering on the rear-side.
I think there are two solder joints within the junction box that are not visible from the top. These are the ones where the terminal block solders to the printed circuit board. When you screw the terminal screw, it puts a big strain on these joints and it may be that one of the joints has cracked, giving a high resistance joint. Try connecting your ammeter across the two solder pads above the terminal block. If the full power is then produced, it will show that the terminal block needs re-soldering on the rear-side.
Good luck
Kees
Kees could have a point. Better still though connect your ammeter to the two flat tinny looking strips coming out of the panel.
A bypass diode is in parallel with the panel and prevents broken or shaded panel dragging other panels in an array down. In a single 12V panel application it could if you wished be removed without affecting the circuit.
A blocking diode is in series with the panel and prevents the battery discharging back through the panel. These days they are often omitted completely because the regulator has other components that do the same job or the blocking diode is at the regulator end.
If your cable is 4mm˛ then it is marginal at 8 metres for voltage drop. I'm not sure what your max short circuit current will be as I don't know the exact size of panel so my calculations have an element of guesswork. Some regulators are cleverer than others in compensating for voltage drop but still losing more than 4% over the run is bad practice
______________________________________________________________ Regards Frank - - Denn wir haben nichts in die Welt gebracht; darum offenbar ist, wir werden auch nichts hinausbringen.
RIP Peter and Fiona Our thoughts are with you Chris and Graham. Fighting with Mavis and Ray
Plusnet, Safari 5, G5 PowerPC iMac running OSX 10.5.8, Salisbury UK : Get behind early - it gives you more time to catch up.
Yes tried that. I connected the multimeter directly to the tinny strips coming directly from the panel and before the PCB. Unfortunately, got exactly the same results. Thanks for the further idea though.
I read this as 1.7milliamps connected directly to the tinny strips in bright sunlight. (Ignore the white cable connected to the terminals. Its not connected to anything, I just used it to make some of the testing easier.
Frank
I think I understand what your saying now regarding the cable thickness. If I'm right, your pointing out that 8m of 2.5mm2 cable would cause large resistance losses (and hence a voltage drop), and therefore would be considered poor practice and is inefficient.
8m of 4mm2 cable would have exceptable resistance losses and interestingly is about the limit for 4mm2 cable.
Hopefully once this is sorted, I will replace the black cable with some more blue Alden 4mm2 cable and will create a single connection under the van, as opposed the farce that Brownhills made under the van.
Also, thanks for the explanation regarding the diode's, very interesting.
Mark from RoadPro rang this afternoon and informed me that they do not deal in Alden products anymore but will be asking Alden to call me tomorrow regarding the panel 20 year warranty. Hopefully positive news.
Interestinly, he is going to show them this thread as explanation of the problems. Lets hope Alden join MHF, as it would be excellent to have another manufacturer on board. I hope they see the positive outcomes from being visible on a site such as this.
Only two things I can add to this:
1. Our Alden panel was wired Blue positive, Brown negative. That caused me some problems
2. Alden´s phone number is 0033388747940. Claire usually answers the phone in French but is actually English. Sabastien Schrick is their techy and speaks pretty good English.
Regards
Patrick
Just a point about multimeters. The 10A range will have its own internal fuse and it is easy to blow this. If you passed 1A or more through the smaller current ranges, then these may have been damaged and will give incorrect readings. You said earlier that you had connected a 5W bulb across the panel as a double check and the volts dived to 0.1V - was this via the terminal block or directly across the foil leadouts from the panel? Sorry to keep on about this, but I've still got my money on a broken joint under the terminal block!
Just a point about multimeters. The 10A range will have its own internal fuse and it is easy to blow this. If you passed 1A or more through the smaller current ranges, then these may have been damaged and will give incorrect readings. You said earlier that you had connected a 5W bulb across the panel as a double check and the volts dived to 0.1V - was this via the terminal block or directly across the foil leadouts from the panel? Sorry to keep on about this, but I've still got my money on a broken joint under the terminal block!
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Germany
Our thoughts are with you Chris and Graham. Fighting with Mavis and Ray 
so you can go down one of two routes the way I see it. Either buy new or have a closer look at the panel & see if a repair can be effected. Probably not cost effective to have anyone else do this but it may be an interesting project to have a look at yourself. Frank's done this before but for me & probably you it would be the first time. I'd definitely have a closer look & possibly destroy the panel in the process rather than write it off without looking. Nothing to lose etc.
Well, I could only go as far as describing it as shoddy. The split corrugated sleeving is a legitimate way of protecting wires where you can't thread the tubing over the wires.
I can't afford to just forget it and replace it, I just don't have the Ł500-600 for a new panel.
