Solar Battery Problems: Helpful Solutions

We know that solar batteries are best for the environment and the most sustainable option available to store electricity. It has a ton of advantages when used correctly. But did you know that several demerits or challenges may arise while using solar batteries? 

A few of the biggest challenges faced while using solar batteries are that the solar batteries run out very quickly. The batteries used are pretty expensive compared to every other battery available in the market. The other challenges usually faced are:

• Faulty battery.
• Low battery voltage.
• Over-discharge of solar battery.
• Charging problems faced by solar batteries.

In this article, we will discuss the 9 common problems that are faced due to solar batteries and how you can solve them with ease or sometimes with professional help.

These problems are elementary to deal with, so keep reading and find out the solution to each of them. 

Common Problems Faced With Solar Batteries

Here are a few common problems faced while using solar batteries. You may or may not encounter these challenges while using a solar battery, but we have brought up all the issues one might usually face due to solar batteries. 

1. The Battery Runs Out Soon 

Solar batteries generate a vast amount of power, but still, they seem to drain faster than other types of batteries. There can be an underlying problem that’s resulting in the drainage.

It usually drains faster when you haven’t recharged it for a long time or if the controller of the battery is faulty. 

To avoid this problem, ensure that you don’t ever store a fully discharged battery as every single battery will discharge at some or other point. On the other hand, you shouldn’t also ever have little to no charge, as this can cause severe internal damages.

You must know when to discharge and recharge the solar batteries to extend their life cycle and save hundreds of dollars in the future.

Other reasons can be:

• The battery capacity design may be unreasonable.
• The battery is aging. 
• There may be a situation of the short circuit while installing the battery
• Lastly, the load power exceeds the design.

2. Battery Is Faulty At Times 

There might be times when the battery pack may be faulty. Here, faulty means damaged battery pack.

If you encounter any such circumstance, then it’s advisable to use the replacement method. Find the bad battery pack and replace it with a good one as soon as possible.

3. Battery Low Voltage 

This typically happens when you run out of battery, and the battery is sitting idle for a long time. It’s not easy to charge the battery right from the solar system. This is when you will have to check the voltage of every battery.

Check the voltages, find the battery with the lowest voltage, and fill it with a current charger. You should also definitely add a battery balancer to the battery packs. This will protect and make sure that your battery goes on for the long term.

4. Solar Battery Over-discharge

When a battery and load are connected, the load draws the current from the battery. And hence, this results in battery discharge.

Battery discharge is a situation in which the battery is depleted of the charge. When a greater amount of current is drawn, the battery discharges faster. Discharging of the battery also causes the voltage cell to drop. 

The over-charging protection takes care of the cell voltage, turns off the output when there is a drop in the voltage below the preset threshold. 

Over-discharge protection usually happens even before there is a complete cell discharge. This happens in case the power consumed by a load is exceptionally high. But not high enough to trigger short circuit protection.

Here is what you can do for over-discharge and short circuit protection:

• You will need a programmable electronic load with the help of which the resistance can be adjusted.
• To test the overcharge protection, you will require a programmable power supply.
• Get A V722 or V44 battery
• Find a way to connect the output of the battery with the programmable load.

Watch this video to find out the exact process further to test the overcharge protection.

5. Solar Controller Not Charging- Battery Treatment 

There might be situations when the solar battery will not charge, no matter how new or advanced. This is a very common issue that one might face and is quite simple to solve. Just follow these instructions, and you will be able to find a way out. 

In case you see that the solar controller is not charging, then here are a few treatments that you can perform:

• The chances are that there is a situation of open circuit or damage in the device. The treatment for this is either you can replace or repair the device.
• If you see that the sunlight isn’t reaching the solar battery, place it to absorb sunlight easily.
• If there is a scenario of voltage mismatch or processing method problem, level up the booster and add various photovoltaic panels to these series.

6. Over-Temperature of The Solar Battery

This usually happens when the cell is charged or discharged quickly. The reactions that take place during this can create excessive heat. Over-use of solar batteries can also lead to over-temperature of the solar battery.

The spike in the temperature is normally known as overcharging, and in such cases, the rate of charging must be decreased or terminated immediately.

One of the best ways is to stop the battery from charging and keep it idle for just a few hours.

7. Weather factors 

Weather plays a very vital role too in the charging process of a battery. The weather factors like having a cloudy day outside can be a big issue while using a solar battery. 

In such cases, it is advised that you charge and store the battery beforehand (a few hours before or on the previous day).

This way, you will never run out of solar power and can eventually end up with a loaded battery, even on a cloudy day.

8. Common Faults Due to Solar Panel 

Here are a few issues faced with battery charging due to a few common faults in the solar panel.

A. Damage of Hot Spot 

When a solar panel is functioning, a part of the panel is shadowed or covered most of the time. And hence, the temperature of this covered part is high compared to the uncovered part, and with time, hot spots begin to appear.

When the hot spot attains a certain level, it melts down the solder joint of the battery, the grid line is destroyed, and it damages the overall solar module.

As per the stats, the damage of hot spots highly decreases the solar panel’s generation rate and, hence, decreases the plant’s service life by 10 percent. 

In such cases, it is very crucial to save the hot spots from damage. To avoid this problem, a few solutions are:

– Maintenance of the installation regularly

– Choose the solar panels that have corner drains to prevent any dirt build-up.

The only solution to this problem of hot spots damage is choosing high-quality solar panels with in-built drainage corners and trying to avoid shadows. This will ensure that no such incidents occur and benefit from a photovoltaic system with a total capacity.

B. The Cracking Problem 

This is a problem when a tiny crack in a cell speeds up the cell power decay process and highly impacts the solar panel cell life. 

This cracking problem may keep expanding if the cell is under continuous mechanical control. This may result in open circuit failure and lead to a hot spot effect. 

The other hidden causes of cracking problems are caused by external factors, which are usually visible to the naked eye.

This damage has a severe impact on the power generation by a power station. As hidden by the naked eyes, the hidden crack can have a great influence on power generation.

The cracking problem can be avoided in three ways:

• Never use a hose to clean the panels. The glass on the solar panels is quite fragile to thermal shock, so you have to be extremely careful. Also, never wash the panel if the sun is high in the sky. This may lead to the cracking of the solar panel glass. Instead of using a hose, get professional help for cleaning the panels.
• The solar glass can also break when hit by a heavier object such as a cricket ball or a Frisbee. Also, trim down all the trees surrounding the solar panel as the falling branches may also lead to solar cracking.
• Keep in mind the damage caused by the weather while installing a solar panel or getting a solar battery.

9. Technical Challenges: 

Here are the three essential metrics that also determine the performance of a solar PV battery while also considering the cost. The three critical metrics are capacity or energy density, stability, and overall efficiency.

A. Capacity/energy density

One of the biggest challenges that are faced due to the PV battery system is the energy density or capacity.

Usually, the practical design of the integrated system is a planar architecture with various levels of battery anode, cathode, and separator, which are put together on a PV module.

In such cases, using materials with high specific capacity is a solution that can be adapted. Mostly, Silicon-NMC batteries can provide an energy density of 400 Wh kg. Silicon is a dominant PV material.

B. Overall Efficiency

In a lab-scale PV battery system, the overall efficiency is only 7.61 percent for a three-electrode. For a two-electrode integrated system, the efficiency is 0.08 percent, and it is 3.2 percent for a redox flow system.

These efficiencies are not justifying the commercial viability of an integrated PV battery. The overall efficiency is a product of the photoelectric conversion of PV and the energy storage efficiency of the concerned battery.

The modification done in the integrated system does not copy the performance of spate cells or solar batteries.

Hence, to achieve high overall efficiency, one must employ the battery chemistry and energy storage efficiency to the highest possible level.

The efficiency of storage highly depends on the battery chemistry and is highly related to the battery electrode and electrolyte type.

The storage efficiency is also proportional to the changes occurring in the solar battery’s reaction during the discharge and recharge process.

C. Stability 

Stability is another concern faced by a new energy technology. The PV battery’s stability mainly concerns photostability, environment, and electrochemical stability.

The selection of suitable material plays a vital role in determining stability. The integrated PV system usually benefits from the stability advancements in the battery and PV research separately.

Another problem related to stability is the thermal response. The thermal response is a concern due to the heat produced by the solar part.

This issue of stability can be solved by using battery chemistries that have a high tolerance to higher temperatures. For this particular case, the best option would be solid electrolytes usage.

Conclusion

Overall, these are a few problems that you might encounter with the usage of a solar battery. But every issue has a solution to fix the battery. If you face a critical problem with your solar battery, we recommend you get professional help to improve your battery. 

We hope that you found this post valuable and helpful. We have listed down the most common solar battery problems. Let’s tackle it together! Do reach out to us if you’re facing any other problem with a solar battery.