Question about solar and powering logic

[MyProfile]

I've built a logic system (to control solar) that works now but I think I should have not placed the solar panel with data and power on the same side.

Originally the design was powered by one of the creative nuclear devices. Now that I've gotten it working I decided to move the APC on the other side of the system with a battery behind that. I'm taking a line from the APC and feeding it back to power the logic which I suppose is creating the problem, blowing fuses.

Should I be separating power and data from the panels to solve the problem or should I be somehow isolating the power (that feeds logic) completely from the panels?

Panel - Panel - APC - Tee - Straight to battery, right leg feeds back to logic and panels... Of course that feeds back to the APC... creates short I think.

[Blueberry Muffins!]

The logic chips have separate power ports, so you can split the cycle there instead of at the panels. Panels⇒APC power in and logic data, APC power out⇒logic power. No short circuit from APC power out to APC power in, the logic chips hold the line.

[MyProfile]

Is there a fast rule as to the daylight sensor orientation with the panel orientation?

For instance, right now and working I have DLSensor output connector facing sunset (West) sitting flat down. The panels are power together data South. This is working aside from my problem burning wires building out from the panels. I thought it would be simpler to do it this way but I really believe this is the source of my problem and separating data - power on the panels will hopefully solve it.

If there's a convention for placing these it would save me a lot of times figuring the placement of the panels with power and data opposite.

I got lucky placing them to start with via trial and error.

[MyProfile]

Oh, probably pertinent, I'm using dual tracking and one sensor.

[MyProfile]

I finally figured it out but I couldn't imagine trying to draw out what worked in words as far as the wiring schematic goes.
I will say this. I am feeding power directly to my APC from panels and my APC is feeding a small transformer that in turn is feeding my logic for the solar.

The requirement behind the transformer was 60w but a setting of 70w made it work.

One other caveat. The big battery is supplied directly from the panels, tee'd off from the input of the APC that feeds the small transformer. I initially tried to tee from between the APC and the transformer... That is a no, no.

[Wazza]

1. Why not try to power the APC from a stationary battery?
2. Try to swap the APC and the transformer (there are rumors that the transformer has a higher priority in power supply)

[MyProfile]

One final question if anyone is looking.

Is there anyway to make an APC take charge primary over a large battery kit? I may be wrong but it seems that the big battery is requiring all current even though the APC comes first in line.

This is the APC that feeds the logic from transformer.

[MyProfile]

Originally posted by Wazza:

1. Why not try to power the APC from a stationary battery?
2. Try to swap the APC and the transformer (there are rumors that the transformer has a higher priority in power supply)

That might actually be the best way to go as the big battery is taking all of the current before the APC that feeds the logic.

[MyProfile]

Originally posted by Wazza:

1. Why not try to power the APC from a stationary battery?
2. Try to swap the APC and the transformer (there are rumors that the transformer has a higher priority in power supply)

That was a very easy switch to make and solved the final problem, thanks Wazza.

[hektor]

Originally posted by Blueberry Muffins!:

The logic chips have separate power ports, so you can split the cycle there instead of at the panels. Panels⇒APC power in and logic data, APC power out⇒logic power. No short circuit from APC power out to APC power in, the logic chips hold the line.

Don't do this. Take the time it takes to fix and swap to a separate power and logic network.

[Blueberry Muffins!]

Originally posted by MyProfile:

Is there anyway to make an APC take charge primary over a large battery kit?

Sort of.

My solar setup is, one-port panels, reader, writer, IC, transformer, batteries.

The panels' power-and-data net is connected to the reader and writer and transformer, also to an IC data pin. The transformer feeds the batteries, the batteries feed the IC power.

Now: the reader and writer copy the panel charge to the IC's "On" setting: when the sun comes up, the logic turns the IC on.

The first thing the IC does when it wakes up is, it turns on the transformer. Which opens the circuit to the battery charge ports. Which starves the wakeup logic: it gets no power during the daytime unless the batteries are fully charged (and so that power'd just be wasted anyway).

The *last* things the IC does at night, after the panel charge reaches 0, is to turn off the transformer, turn *itself* off, and yield. Ta-daa! Zero power draw at night, only the IC drawing power during the day, the panel-powered wakeup logic uses power for like five seconds at dawn, just long enough to wake up the IC.