Thread: Solar dilema

thats exactly right.

if you join all the positives to all the positives and all the negatives to all the negatives then its all in parallel

if you go positive of one to the negative of the next then from positive to negative and make a big long chain then thats in series.

try these for the basics in batteries

Battery Wiring
Learn how to wire solar panels and battery systems

panels work on the same basic principales but need extra care when it comes to where the regulators and/or blocking diodes go.

Originally Posted by adonuff

It does I have 10 amp outlet, fiddling about under the flouro lights at the moment, its telling me I;m getting 7.5 volts and .1 of an amp, bit inconclusive will try it with sun in the morning

Thanks Andrew

That would be about right.
You cannot get anything worth while from a solar panel under artificial light.

Dave.

Thanks everyone going out to try it out in the sunlight, Learning lots, going to eventually set up the caravan with batterys and solar panels. Soon as funds become available.

Andrew

when it comes to buying panels ebay and auction sites are your friend be wary of panels that are over about 3-4 years old.

FME its at about that age that they start to degrade, they still work, just not as well.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

the panel may still be outputting 5 amps but the one thats fallen over will now be drawing current.

if you think of it like a pair simple permanant magnet generators in parralell while both are being driven your getting power out of both of them. If you remove the drive from one it will carry on spinning becasue its gone from being a generator to a motor. The output from the generator thats still being driven goes to making the undriven generator turn instead of into the batteries.

a blocking diode also forms the simplest form of charging regulator because it stops the battery from discharging into the panel when its not providing charge.

Dave,
I have to disagree here. I have just tried this;

I connected my two panels in parallel. I put a huge load on my battery to make sure panels would work to full capacity.

Total current into the battery was 8.6 amps. I then turned one solar panel face down and placed a blanket over it.

Charge into my battery was then 4.1 amps. The other panel was not taking the current.

Dave.

Originally Posted by Mr Whippy

Dave,
I have to disagree here. I have just tried this;

I connected my two panels in parallel. I put a huge load on my battery to make sure panels would work to full capacity.

Total current into the battery was 8.6 amps. I then turned one solar panel face down and placed a blanket over it.

Charge into my battery was then 4.1 amps. The other panel was not taking the current.

Dave.

If you put them in series and try it, without bypass diodes you will get a very different result, give it a try!

Originally Posted by fraser130

If you put them in series and try it, without bypass diodes you will get a very different result, give it a try!

This may be correct but in Daves(blknight) post on this he was talking in Parallel.

Dave.

Originally Posted by Mr Whippy

Dave,
I have to disagree here. I have just tried this;

I connected my two panels in parallel. I put a huge load on my battery to make sure panels would work to full capacity.

Total current into the battery was 8.6 amps. I then turned one solar panel face down and placed a blanket over it.

Charge into my battery was then 4.1 amps. The other panel was not taking the current.

Dave.

ummm yes it was...
assuming you used the same panels

8.6/2=4.3 the blanketed panel was pulling down 200ma.