Solar Panal Testing and Information

[650Skull]

Could You guys help me on how to test a Solar Panel.........I search and found this Youtube Vid and to me it seemed right......But who am i to know.........

one of the comments posted said the guy was wrong and in order to test it needed some diodes set up????

Now i need some expert opinions i can trust

I have my Volt Meter.......It will test up to 1000V DC and it is 10A Max.......

.By the vid i will have no trouble testing the Voltage of the panel, (setting my VM to the 200V setting).

Panel Detals highlighted in Blue-Red-Purple

Question is it ok testing the Amperage with my VM as the Panel is rated
8.4 max power current-Imp A and
8.8 on the short Circuit Current-Isc A,
Being less then 10A i think it should be good to go.......Need assurance/confirmation

What i want to do is build my own Hot water system by using a 12 Volt heating element running off the Panel through a 12v battery/system.....Because the Panel is rated 30.5V and 37V open Circuit, (Q; don't understand what the difference between the Voltage as 30,7V and open circuit 37.8V ??)............

The Ground/earth is done through the Panels.


I assume/think i would need a regulator and rectifier, (as per our bikes system), so as not to cook a battery and to convert to AC from DC.

Any help appreciated.

PS; Did the youtube vid post up.???........for some reason my computer is not showing and vids posted by anyone through Youtube

 

[Jim]

Question is it ok testing the Amperage with my VM as the Panel is rated
8.4 max power current-Imp A and
8.8 on the short Circuit Current-Isc A,
Being less then 10A i think it should be good to go.......Need assurance/confirmation

I'd say yes. 8.4 amps is new under ideal conditions. There's really no way a panel could get better than spec.... only worse as it degrades over time.

I assume/think i would need a regulator and rectifier, (as per our bikes system), so as not to cook a battery and to convert to AC from DC.

Solar panels put out DC. No rectifier needed. You will need a regulator to bring it down to batt. voltage, but no rectifier....
If you need to convert to AC, you'll need an inverter fed from the batt.

 

[Jim]

Just watched the vidoe Doug. Looks like a good test. Only thing I'd add is turn the meter to the correct position.... THEN turn it on. Don't rotate through functions with power going through it.

 

[650Skull]

Thanks Jim............Yea that worried me as well. I wouldn't jump from one type of testing to another without disconnecting or turning the VM off.........

The Panals are old, don'r know how old or the loos of output, (going to test them later today if the sun shines), but for $25.00 each i figure they are cheap enough for what i want and to play around with.

any idea about the regulator......I'm guessing i would need something specific to the panel or how it is set up??....haven't had to much of a look around, wanted to get some confirmation first.

 

[Jim]

I'm guessing i would need something specific to the panel or how it is set up??

A solar panel regulator that's voltage specific is what you want.
A "solar panel voltage regulator" search at Amazon turns up tons of em' starting at about 20 buck US.

 

[650Skull]

Cheers..........Suns out.

Report back what i find........

 

[Mailman]

Good luck with your solar panels. Here in sunny Arizona , they are on roof tops everywhere.

 

[Ozboy]

Hey Skull on the regulator make sure you get a MMPT type matched to output voltage.I think you have house panelsap at the voltage level diodes are used to stop current draw from the panel overnight. I have been looking into a solar and vertical wind generator combination for my bush block. Get power overnight if the winds up!

 

[650Skull]

Thanks Bob, ......Ya all over the place in Aus as well........A few years ago the gov't encouraged people to put solar on the roof to feed back into the grid..........They guaranteed, i think, 40c for every kwt over what they used and fed back into the grid), so all the rich people put panels on the roof and some were making 5 grand a year..........Course the power companies weren't making as much money so the price of power has gone through the roof and all the middle income and mainly the poor have suffered..........Enough of that.........

Ozboy......... been reading up on the regulators and and the discharge, or feed back at night was one of the things i found out.......Don't know the difference or what MPPT stands for??....If your relying on full time alternative power, (discharge of feedback at night), it will be something to take into consideration, (as well as the situation i am looking at doing), especially if your in a cooler climate area and can't rely on solar panels when it is cloudy.............When my solar hot water system was working i could turn the power off still get water warm enough to have a shower when it was cloudy for days on end in our wet season.

 

[650Skull]

Went and tested some panels........3 Panels and i got over 35v on one and over 34v on the other 2 in full sun.........That has to be the open circuit i figure. .........Open circuit rated on the Panel is 37.5 so that's all good..........
Problem was i couldn't get an Amp reading...........Turned off the VM and changed the Red, (+), lead from V - 10A, changed the Dial to 10A turned on the VM and nothing..........Same on all three panels........Now looking through Youtube diagnostics for info.............Any ideas????..........I left the leads connected to the panel the same for the Volts as well as the Amps..........

Story on the Panels...........They are a House lot that has been taken off a roof because of a problem, apparently panels, the inverter, or maybe it was the regulator, ( not sure on the full story i can find out more tomorrow or Monday), was tested and a fault was found without it being specifically specified so the Panels and the Inverter or regulator were replaced...........This is second hand news so, needs some clarification.....

 

[Jim]

Your voltage readings suggest they're working OK. Should have showed something when checking current.... at least an amp or two. Got access to another meter? Most meters that have a 10 A scale are un-fused. Perhaps that function was previously blown and not working. Sounds like a meter problem and your panels are good.

 

[650Skull]

My Meter is Fused on both 10A and 200mA Settings............yep both fuses blown........Bloody hick towns. Have to travel 120 Klm if i want to get new ones tomorrow.........50 Klm, if i wait till Monday, then there is no guarantee the Auto parts store there will have them if i wait till Monday.

Thanks for your help guys......I still want to do the Amp reading before i get them. Just to say Yay, (If it works), and pat myself on the back.

 

[Mailman]

Doug, it’s funny how you said the power companies compensated for their loss of revenue by raising the rates across the board.
Here in Arizona, there was such an explosive growth in the solar panel industry, largely due to Federal rebates, that it really put the hurt on the power companies. In the beginning it was being touted as a miracle of technology, and was praised for taking the load off of our stretched to the max electrical grid. But after it took off and started hurt their revenue, they then imposed a huge fee for maintaining the grid, thereby negating any savings they were making by installing the panels in the first place.

 

[650Skull]

Funny they used exactly the same excuse over here..........Waaaa we have to put the prices up to upgrade our broken down grid...........Funny how they didn't budget for that expense previously...........now the gov't trying to lay down the law on the power companies, (that they privatized to make a quick buck to pay for their financial f**k up and said it would make prices cheaper due to competition), to appease the masses.........A couple of years ago all families and welfare dependents, (people on the Dole), got a one off payment, (if i am correct i think it was $900 could be wrong), to help due to the stress of power prices..........If you were single you were shit out of luck........That was me........payed all my taxes though........

 

[59Tebo]

Re: flipping VOM settings before turning it on... My brother (retired electronics engineer) is fond of saying "Electronics is smoke. The secret is keeping the smoke inside the components. They don't work if the smoke gets out..." He oughta know. I saw him flip thru the VOM settings while working on a kitchen electric range. The smoke escaped, creating a most peculiar aroma.

 

[fredintoon]

My Meter is Fused on both 10A and 200mA Settings............yep both fuses blown........Bloody hick towns. Have to travel 120 Klm if i want to get new ones tomorrow.........50 Klm, if i wait till Monday, then there is no guarantee the Auto parts store there will have them if i wait till Monday.
Thanks for your help guys......I still want to do the Amp reading before i get them. Just to say Yay, (If it works), and pat myself on the back.

Hi Skull,
if you just want a quick & dirty right effin' now test, see how well the panel will glow a couple of series-connected 12V headlight bulbs.