Forum Discussion
BFL13
Feb 22, 2014Explorer II
Yes, you have the two wires from the panel and short them with the meter, one meter lead on panel pos and the other meter lead on panel neg. Aim the panel at the sun when the sun is fairly high and you should get an amps reading (called Isc) near the panel's rated Isc.
It could be less than that for various reasons- low light, etc.
Now you can also switch the meter to DC voltage (probably have to use the 200 because Voc can be over 20v) and read that too. Your panel might be rated for 22v Voc but you might only see 20.5v---this is normal! When the panel warms up in the sun it loses some voltage, but amps stay ok. (coefficients per temperature are opposite direction for V and I )
But that does not tell you what amps you are getting at the battery. The panel might be doing 8 amps but the almost full batteries might only take 2 amps.
When that is happening, you can get a freebie! Run a 6 amp load like a laptop on inverter, and you still get the 2 amps to the battery plus run the 6a laptop from solar to use up the 8a.
It could be less than that for various reasons- low light, etc.
Now you can also switch the meter to DC voltage (probably have to use the 200 because Voc can be over 20v) and read that too. Your panel might be rated for 22v Voc but you might only see 20.5v---this is normal! When the panel warms up in the sun it loses some voltage, but amps stay ok. (coefficients per temperature are opposite direction for V and I )
But that does not tell you what amps you are getting at the battery. The panel might be doing 8 amps but the almost full batteries might only take 2 amps.
When that is happening, you can get a freebie! Run a 6 amp load like a laptop on inverter, and you still get the 2 amps to the battery plus run the 6a laptop from solar to use up the 8a.
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