Got up early this a.m. and caught the clicking sound of my Outback Power FM80 charge controller on video.
https://youtu.be/QdRzyt5W5Yc Note the first of 2 clicks in this video occurs at around 1:20, at the transition from "snoozing" to "wakeup" (if you watch closely there's a very short "sleeping" interval in between these), then the display shows a silent transition to "tracking", then a final click at "low light", then another silent transition to snoozing. If this sound isn't a relay then I don't know what it is.
Note the cycle I caught on video was the second one I witnessed this a.m., and there was a third cycle after this one. I'm certain this cycling occurs every morning and is normal for my equipment. I suspect it's also normal for other manufacturers' MPPT devices at wakeup.
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Mike Curran
Retired from (dare I say it?) Fossil Plant Mgt.
joacchim57@gmail.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: Mar 12, 2021 02:59 PM
From: Marc Schiler
Subject: Photovoltaic Clicking Sound
I have an Aurora power one PVI 3.6 OUTD-S-US synchronous inverter with 14 Canadian panels for 3.8kW of power. Every morning when the sun rises, the inverter starts clicking LOUDLY at about 1 second intervals. Either it gets quieter or the background noise gets louder, but there just the faintest hint of it once the sun is up and hitting the panels at a better angle.
Is that my imagination? Does anyone know what is going on? My understanding of solar angles and Architecture is pretty good. My understanding of the quirks of particular pieces of equipment is nil.
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Marc Schiler
Professor
marcs@usc.edu
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