Solar quit charging
2021 travel trailer, two 100 W roof panels in parallel, 30 A solar controller. Boondocking, full sun at noon
Customer says: The solar used to keep up. Now the controller shows nothing coming in.
Tests you can run
- Read the controller display
- Battery voltage at the posts
- Open-circuit voltage at the roof junction box
- Voltage at the controller's panel input terminals
- Check the inline fuse in the panel feed near the controller
- Wash the panels
- Replace the charge controller
Repair options
The lesson behind this case
Keep going on 12V and batteries
Learn it
- Volts, amps and ohms, the simple way
- Voltage drop: the test that finds bad grounds
- Practice: find the bad connection
- Batteries: lead-acid vs lithium
- Fuses, breakers and grounds
Prove it
- Back lights are dim
- Battery dies even on shore power
- Lithium won't charge on cold mornings
- Coach is dead, battery is fine
- Batteries dead after storage