Solar Panel Charge Waveform
I wanted to see what my solar panel was doing when charging my batteries so I borrowed a single board oscilloscope from a friend and took this video. This explains why my analog ammeter doesn't show ...
Forum Discussion
DarkSkySeeker wrote:Son of Norway wrote:
OK, I have noticed the same thing with my analog meter. Can you explain to me how the waveform on the oscilloscope shows why the analog meter won't work? (I have three kids who are engineers, so obviously the apples sometimes DO fall far from the tree.)
When the charge is applied in 10-20ms pulses, an analog meter can not respond - at least mine - which is a mechanical needle in a housing. By the time the needle wants to rise as the voltage rises and current flows, the voltage drops and the current stops. The needle can't respond.
It should be responding to the average current; it's effectively a mechanical low-pass filter or integrator. My conclusion would be that the net current is quite low, basically zero, which stands to reason if the controller is having to limit the power from the panel.
