How to read the Victron Solar Controller App

HappyCamper2024

Hey y'all.  Just got a 2023 t@b. It's parked with the solar panel facing south, although we have some clouds this morning. I hooked up the Smart Solar App and this is what I see. Our battery is a single deep cell marine battery.

I don't know jack about electricity aside from having solar batteries that we use for camping in the truck.

What does any of this mean? We plan to dry camp a fair amount so I'm curious as to how our battery will fare if we keep usage minimal.

Can someone ELI5 what these readouts mean?

pthomas745

LOL...I had to look up "ELI5"! 

The Victron is wonderful and not very user friendly until you get used to it.

This link goes to a blogger who created an annotated Victron App explainer.  Scroll down to the section that says "Monitor the SmartSolar Solar Controller".

https://faroutride.com/victron-review/?fbclid=IwAR0S300K9ZY-56b-WoMT-9KFW6f3fA-LVt9MlfdN4roBTNceRj6j9Kaneig

But, with just a quick look: Your battery, if nothing is "on" in the trailer, is pretty much at a full charge.  The "current" numbers for both the solar incoming and going into the battery indicate the battery is charging...but, most likely just enough to cover the small amount of "parasitic drain" that the various devices that cannot be turned off are using: the entertainment unit items, and the gas monitor.

If you want to see the Victron react and the solar begin to actually charge the battery, turn the fan on to about a mid level setting and watch the voltage numbers and solar input change. 

Marceline

pthomas745 said:

But, with just a quick look: Your battery, if nothing is "on" in the trailer, is pretty much at a full charge.  The "current" numbers for both the solar incoming and going into the battery indicate the battery is charging...but, most likely just enough to cover the small amount of "parasitic drain" that the various devices that cannot be turned off are using: the entertainment unit items, and the gas monitor.

If you want to see the Victron react and the solar begin to actually charge the battery, turn the fan on to about a mid level setting and watch the voltage numbers and solar input change. 

I think that this isn't quite correct. Assuming that the controller is set up correctly, the "status" page shows that the controller is still trying to "Bulk" charge the battery ("State" on the lower screenshot), so the solar controller not yet reached the "Absorption" or "Float" stage. During daylight hours, the voltage reading is going to be somewhat misleading because the solar panel is sending power to the battery and this affects the voltage reading. @HappyCamper2024 would get a more accurate voltage reading from the SmartSolar after the sun has gone down. I don't know the wattage of the solar panels on this camper, but 6-7w of solar during daylight hours facing south seems pretty low.

SmartSolar manual: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Manual_SmartSolar_MPPT_75-10_up_to_100-20/29694-MPPT_solar_charger_manual-pdf-en.pdf

See Page 8 for "Adaptive 3-stage battery charging"

Victron Connect manual: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/VictronConnect_Manual/8778-VictronConnect_manual-pdf-en.pdf

HappyCamper2024

Thanks guys, I'll check those links. It's 180 watt solar, been on Float a couple of days. Good idea to do some things to imitate use and see where the battery goes.