What happens when a solar panel makes too many amps?

In this discussion, Horton has "the who" and the "why".
My understanding is that the semiconductor junction and all the circuits heat when a module is exposed to sunlight. The energy harvested is from the photons (not heat) going through the junction and the consequent heat is increasing the resistance of the whole.

Simplistic explanation of photovoltaic electrical workings.

howardwheeler wrote:
So it's wave theory in a wire we should pay attention to rather than visualizing particles? I thought Quantum physics taught that it's both and the observer participates in the effects.

Power as electrons moving is fine, often even preferable as it's so much easier to measure or calculate, as long as the analogy is not taken too literally or used where assumptions that permit that analogy break down (understanding antennas or transformers are common examples that totally break these assumptions and you have to move to more exact methouds).
The observer effect is for the quantum wave function, not an electromagnetic wave.

So it's wave theory in a wire we should pay attention to rather than visualizing particles? I thought Quantum physics taught that it's both and the observer participates in the effects.

Harvey51 wrote:
Perhaps the mysterious part is how current works. In the wire, free electrons push on each other kind of like cars on a road. If there is a blockage as in an open switch or an opposing voltage push back at the other end, the electrons near that end are stopped like cars at a red light or crashing into stationary vehicles. The stationary electrons push back on those behind via their electric force (like charges repell), bringing the movement of electrons to a stop in the whole length of wire just as happens to cars on a road.

The fluid/particle analogy is useful as a teaching tool for simple approximations like Ohm's or Kirchhoff's, but as with most simple analogies it is wrong to assume that is what actually happens.
The power cannot just 'stop' at the end; that would violate the conservation of mass-energy. The power has to go somewhere. If there is a wire then when too much power for the load to accept gets to the end of the circuit the power that is not absorbed is 'reflected' back towards the source. The reverse wave then limits how much power can continue to flow to the amount that can be accepted at the load. If all power is reflected by the load (as with an open circuit) then the reverse wave cancels out the incoming wave and no net power is transferred.
If you still want to consider the electron movement model as valid consider the numbers:
Based on the measured electron speeds in copper and at realistic current densities it would take hours for your light bulb to turn on after you throw the wall switch. See a sample calculation here
Calculation of electron 'drift' velocity in a copper wire.
If electrons were pushing each other it would be faster, but still far longer than anything you ever see. That delay doesn't happen does it....? The power transfer is at very close to the speed of light. It is not electrons moving nor pushing each other that causes the transfer of power. The electric field 'drags' them behind the wave, it's a result and not a cause of the power transfer. Wave theory is way too complex for this forum, but I'm just throwing it out anyway.

Perhaps the mysterious part is how current works. In the wire, free electrons push on each other kind of like cars on a road. If there is a blockage as in an open switch or an opposing voltage push back at the other end, the electrons near that end are stopped like cars at a red light or crashing into stationary vehicles. The stationary electrons push back on those behind via their electric force (like charges repell), bringing the movement of electrons to a stop in the whole length of wire just as happens to cars on a road.

1000 watts / meter sq is considered full sun and what is used for the label on the back of the panel. 160 watt panel is ~ one square meter. So 800+ watts is just making heat which wind/convection et al must try to disperse.

Would ya notice 160 extra watts of sun?

howardwheeler wrote:
Very informative. Does the panel, then, actually become slightly cooler when the "valve" is open, that is, when the circuit closes? If this sounds stupid it's only because in the fundamentals of electricity I am stupid.

Yes the panel would be slightly cooler when power gets taken out electrically. When there are more electrons at higher states less photons can captured so there is a greater chance of them reflecting off the surface, but the cooling effect is going to be a decently high percentage of the power taken out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxOTulMExWU

entertaining, watch past the ho's and thugs, @ 6:30 min mark HEAT

howardwheeler wrote:
Very informative. Does the panel, then, actually become slightly cooler when the "valve" is open, that is, when the circuit closes? If this sounds stupid it's only because in the fundamentals of electricity I am stupid.

Think "energy" instead of "power." It is all about conversion of energy. Your rock on the edge of a cliff vs the rock falling and hitting something, and all that.

The panel heats up in the sun same as anything else dark in colour, whether it is connected or not.

I don't know if when it is "running" it heats up any from that too, but you won't see any reduction in panel heat you can measure because I ASSume the sun heating is so much greater than any heating from the panel "running."

I have measured the tilted panel temp from behind it with my IR gizmo and found the temp varies across the panel and up and down it too. You have to pick a spot and use that each time to get your panel temp for comparisons. Be difficult to figure how much heat is from what.

However your electric energy is not coming from conversion of the panel heat energy as such. It comes from the way the cell is built more of a chemical energy thing set off by sunlight. The sunlight radiation energy that sets off the cells is not the same thing as the sun making the panel "hot in the sun" --but I am not too clear on that!

The joke is that when the panel heats up, it "makes" less electric power when it is connected than when it is colder and connected.

So the best thing is to lie down until the urge to figure this out goes away.

I ask about cooler temps when circuits are close because earlier someone said excess energy was thermally dissipated in the cells. I don't have to have an answer for my system to work, but it's all very interesting. I don't like "black box" systems where I have no idea what's going on inside even though what comes out works. But I just don't have a basic understanding sufficient to grasp how the electrical generation and transmission works. But thanks for all the info. I get most of it, or at least think I do.