Inverter Problems

Hello! I am setting up a solar panel system on my property but I would like to get some feedback on my system. I have 4-100 watt panels=400 watts. From the solar panel to the charge controller (20 amp MPPT charge controller) is 10 gauge wire that is buried in a conduit. The panels are on a mount facing south. From the charge controller to the batteries are 6 gauge wire. I have 2-12 volt marine deep cycle batteries wired in parallel. The wire that is connecting them is an 6 gauge. From the batteries to the 1000 inverter is also a six gauge wire. From the inverter to the breaker box is the wire that came with the inverter. (I'm not sure of the size). I have a grounding rod connected to the breaker box.  I am having problems with the inverter. It is a 12 Volt 1000 Watt. I get the same voltage going in 12V (coming from batteries) and output is also 12Volts. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong or why its not working.

Any feedback. Thanks for the advice in advance!

Hi Diane;
First 400 watts of panel may be maxing out your controller.
Next your battery's need a better connection between them.  Normally automotive cable is used between battery's and connecting to your inverter.
Is your inverter pure sine wave?  As to why it isn't working ? No way output should be 12 volt. We need better photo's of everything. including the data plate on the back of the solar panels.

You are somehow bypassing the inverter and connecting the breaker box directly to the batteries.

For now, I would test and simplify everything after disconnecting everything

1) Connect the inverter to the battery and then connect a load directly to the inverter, say a light bulb or aquarium heater, do all of this in the 'garage'. With this we can verify if the inverter is working correctly giving us 120V. Let me know if this works.

the wires that come with the inverter are generally garbage and too small
and what he said earlier about connecting the inverter straight to batteries.... with a fuse between.  load/breaker box goes to charger load.  and like he said earlier, those battery cables look too small.  2/0 gauge welding wire between them and maybe a 8 gauge going to inverter and fuse .... fuse maybe 30a?  also, fuse between panels and charger... 20amp.  and yeah, like he said earlier, you shoulda got maybe like a 40a mppt.  i just got a great deal on a renogy 40a advanced rover with bluetooth for $141 mppt from amazon.

?I would recommend (with minimal experience but a couple bad outcomes) do a bunch of research before getting a piece of equpment. There are a couple good sources but I really like Mobile Solar for specific units, the good and the bad. I almost burned down my garage with a crappy charge controller that probably reversed, and that was with a 12V battery. If you can't afford a decent unit, be careful you aren't risking your life. You don't need the gucci version, just be aware many have limitations, and some of the ebay ones are really really bad. And it had some good reviews...

Diane that is most likely a floating neutral inverter and if I'm not mistaken you have it set up as a bonded neutral inverter. So in short removed the ground wire in the ac breaker box from where it is so that the black wire is the only wire on the neutral lug. Hopefully there is an extra bus bar for the ground wire...
Start there. Sometimes the inverters short out for good when this happens...

Diane, I would like to see a better shot of the inverter ends and figure out which wires are connected to what. You could have mixed up the ac outs with the charge controller feed or the charge controller feed with the battery wires... Longshot but just in case...
David

Ok I took some videos of my set up. Hopefully its more clear what is happening with the inverter. We tested the load (input) going into the inverter and it worked fine but the voltage output on inverter is not converting. Thanks in advance.


I can't up load movies so I posted them on youtube.

This is the solar panel mount video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REIL8tyHBBs

This is the battery set up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwwBqOgzp60

This is the inverter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nsZmHFkD8I

Diane Maldonado wrote:Ok I took some videos of my set up. Hopefully its more clear what is happening with the inverter. We tested the load (input) going into the inverter and it worked fine but the voltage output on inverter is not converting. Thanks in advance.


I can't up load movies so I posted them on youtube.

This is the solar panel mount video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REIL8tyHBBs

This is the battery set up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwwBqOgzp60

This is the inverter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nsZmHFkD8I

diane, in the ac breaker box disconnect the ground wire from where it is touching the black wire that is acting as your common wire. I believe you have a floating neutral inverter they cannot be hooked up that way. Neutral and ground wire must be seperate in the ac breaker box.