Solar winterisation

[alahol2]

I have a small 30W solar panel with a cheap controller. During winter it lives under the boat cover but can still produce a higher voltage in the system during bright days.
I'm convinced that the panel + controller uses more power than it creates over time. I think it killed my house battery during lockdown.
Can I just pull the fuse between controller and battery to switch it all off for the winter or do I need to do anything else? Disconnect panel from controller?

 

[Minerva]

I’d disconnect PV panel from mppt charger and then the charger from the batteries if you were concerned.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I have a small 30W solar panel with a cheap controller. During winter it lives under the boat cover but can still produce a higher voltage in the system during bright days.
I'm convinced that the panel + controller uses more power than it creates over time. I think it killed my house battery during lockdown.
Can I just pull the fuse between controller and battery to switch it all off for the winter or do I need to do anything else? Disconnect panel from controller?

Yes, pulling the fuse will be fine.

 

[[70521]]

Why not place the panel in a position to generate some power, say from the morning light, through the winter?

 

[neil_s]

To switch off - the process with my controller is to diconnect the panel from the controler first and then pull the fuse.

 

[alahol2]

Why not place the panel in a position to generate some power, say from the morning light, through the winter?

It's CT1'd to the deck. It does generate a tiny bit of power but I think the controller uses more than it generates.
I'll disconnect the PV panel as well as pulling the fuse.
Thanks all.

 

[PaulRainbow]

It's CT1'd to the deck. It does generate a tiny bit of power but I think the controller uses more than it generates.
I'll disconnect the PV panel as well as pulling the fuse.
Thanks all.

That's pointless, with the fuse pulled there is no positive connection to the batteries so the panel cannot charge and neither can the controller draw any current from the batteries. I doubt the controller would draw current from the batteries anyway.

 

[peteK]

Some of those mppt controllers draw up to 60ma from the batteries,used a pwm which used only up to 15ma,my previous controller was powerd by the solar panel so didnt use any power at night.

 

[alahol2]

I pulled the fuse between the controller and battery. The controller stayed on but with a fault light on. I'm assuming it is getting power from the solar panel (there's nowhere else it can get it from...). I'll probably leave it at that for now.

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

I pulled the fuse between the controller and battery. The controller stayed on but with a fault light on. I'm assuming it is getting power from the solar panel (there's nowhere else it can get it from...). I'll probably leave it at that for now.

Cover it with a black bin bag?