Empty Nest, Soon wrote:
it seems like nominal 12-volt panels usually have 3 diodes dividing 4 rows of cells. Are they all this way? Or how do I tell if a panel has more or less than 4, other than contact the manufacturer?
For most panels that contain bypass diodes they are located in the junction box which is near all of the wiring on one end of the panel. Bypass diodes are then connected to every 2 rows since each pair of rows start and end near the junction box. Hence this becomes a relative simple and straight forward position/method to add the diodes.
So a 4x9 panel would have 2 diodes and a 6x10 panel would have 3 diodes.
My bypass diodes for 3 series panels (3 diodes each) work great and I've gotten charging with 2/3 of 1 panel in sun and 2 1/3 in the shade.
