Do Solar Panels Put Out Very Little Amperage

Ask someone who knows and they should tell you that for a small setup like 150watt system a mppt is a waste of your money.

Do solar panels put out very little amperage.

I had the exact panel op did and in direct summer sun the highest i measured off the back of the panel was just over 7 amps. Measure the battery voltage. For example if the solar panel is rated at 175 watts and the maximum power voltage vmp is given as 23 6 volts then calculate the current as 175 watts divided by 23 6 volts which is equal to. Solar panels usually range in wattage output from around 250 watts to 400 watts but some panels exceed the 400 watt mark.

To test solar panel amperage output put your solar panel in direct sunlight set your multi meter to the dc amps setting. Connect the ve solar controller output lead to the ve. Not a very good chance at a 150watt panel putting out 10a. Hopefully it is less than the solar panel controller output voltage.

To ensure that you don t blow your device s fuse set the maximum amperage sensitivity to well above your expected reading. If it is proceed. Measure the solar panel controller output voltage try to get maximum voltage by angling the panels. Solar panel voc at stc.

It may be that you can never get more than 12 13v. The solar panel with the highest watt is the sunpower e series a commercial solar panel line. The top panel in the e series comes out at a whopping 435 watts. This is the open circuit voltage the solar panel will produce at stc or standard test conditions stc conditions are the electrical characteristics of the solar panel at airmass of am1 5 irradiance of 1000w m 2 and cell temperature of 25 o c.

A panel can only put out so many amps so while the voltage is reduced from say 33 volts to 13 6 volts the amps from the panel cannot go higher than the rated amps so with a 175 watt panel rated at 23 volts 7 6 amps you will only get 7 6 amps 12 volts or so into the battery. The size of this fuse is dependent on how many solar panels you have and how they are connected series parallel or series parallel. This information can be found from the solar panel manufacturers data sheet please see example here. If the panels are connected in series the voltage of each panel is added but the amperage stays the same.

In order to benefit from the cold temperatures which raise vmp you will need an mppt controller.