Solar panel

Figuring out if your solar panel is pulling its weight is key. ?? Here's the deal: if you've got a 200 watts solar panel, there are a few easy ways to check if it's doing the hustle.

First off, keep an eye on your battery. If it's charging up like a champ and holding a solid charge, that's a good sign. A working solar panel should be giving your battery a nice boost.

Second, take a peek at your charge controller. It's like the solar panel's personal traffic cop. It'll show you how much juice your panel is sending to the battery. If the numbers are dancing around that 200 watts range, you're golden!
Another sneaky trick is to use a voltmeter. Check the voltage of your battery before and after the sun does its thing. If it's higher after, your solar panel is pulling its weight.
And don't forget the sun dance! Seriously, if your panel is in the sun and you're not seeing any action, that's a red flag. It's like a sign saying, "Hey, something's not right here!"
So, there you go. Battery charging, charge controller info, voltmeter readings, and the sun's approval. Keep an eye on these cues, and you'll know if that 200 watts solar panel is the superstar it's meant to be. Stay sunny!

Make sure you turn off all loads before trying to measure to see if the panel is working.

I thought a picture might help, if you have a DC clamp meter you can monitor the output to your batteries from the wire that attaches to your battery hopefully if you have enough room.

Link to pic of my setup

Make sure your clamp does DC.

While measuring volts may give you an indication it is doing something, it could well be delivering charge current with almost no increase in voltage. In order to know if it is doing anything useful, you need to measure the current from the panel. A clamp on amp meter is the best way to see what it is really delivering. Clamp it on the positive lead coming from the panel.

Okay, a 2.5' square panel can do some actual good. The little 12" square ones and smaller are basically worthless. Yours is good enough to keep a small change on a a small system but don't expect it to run large items.
You should have a charge controller somewhere, hopefully with a display. If there is no charge controller then it's possible the panel isn't even hooked up. If it is hooked up with no controller it could potentially overcharge your battery.
If there's no display on a controller to show watts, amps, or volts then you need a way to read battery voltage. A portable volt meter will work or you can buy a panel mount voltmeter and install it. If you have greater than about 12.7 volts your are charging the battery. A good charge would be up above 14 volts.
However, voltage is a poor way to tell what is happening. It's possible for a load to be using more power than the solar panel is producing. You could easily have low and dropping battery voltage even thought the panel is producing really well. Getting a good battery gauge with a shunt will show you amps in and out of the battery but again, a load could make it show negative even though the panel is contributing.
This is why a controller, showing actual watts or amps produced is so valuable. If your controller doesn't have a display you may be able to purchase an optional display for it.
Post back if you can find the controller and what model it is.

Nevrdun wrote:
05 Lance 1030 w solar panel. Panel is about 2.5’ square. I’m simply interested in knowing how to tell if it is recharging as it should. Thank you.

Use a multimeter and measure the voltage at the battery when the sun is out, and you're not hooked to shore power. if it's over 13V your panel is working. a 2.5' square isn't going to be a high wattage panel but it should be good enough to keep lights going.

05 Lance 1030 w solar panel. Panel is about 2.5’ square. I’m simply interested in knowing how to tell if it is recharging as it should. Thank you.

KD4UPL wrote:
Going to need a lot more information than that. What's it's job?

Generating power would be my guess :R

OP use Voltage meter