#ICIRCUIT SOLAR PANEL SERIES#

Too much) now touch or connect the other multimeter lead to the battery terminal that has nothing on it, then you’ll have yourself a reading. Then disconnect either the positive or negative alligator clip from the battery, and connect that to one of the multimeter leads, ( doesn’t really matter which one…. Make sure you have it on 10 amps and the leads in the amp slot. Connect everything up panel, battery, controller. ( ILL MAKE IT SIMPLE FOR YOU AND OTHERS).

#ICIRCUIT SOLAR PANEL SERIES#

YOU NEED TO HOOK THE METER IN SERIES WITH THE BATTERY. Amps mean current if you are not putting any current in anything you get no amps. the way you are doing it will show 0 amps because you are not checking anything. Your problem is the way you have your multimeter setup. Once the battery is charged, having what is known as a 'trickle' charge ( solar output just above battery voltage) will maintain battery at peak level, if it is not being used for long periods of time. Ideally to effectively charge a battery such as you have in the video, the output from the solar controller needs to be in the range 13.5 - 14V. This may occur if a cloud obscures the sun for instance, and the solar voltage output falls. Most controllers also have 'reverse voltage protection' which stops current flowing back from a battery into the controller if the battery voltage is higher than the controller output voltage. The charging voltage always has to be higher than the voltage of what is being charged otherwise the current will want to flow back the other way. If not and it is a fixed 12 - 13V output, the charging current will always be small as long as the battery that you are charging has a voltage close to the output of the controller. Just a point to check.Ĭheck to see if you have an adjustable voltage output option in the controller. In most meters the 0-200mA ranges have a fuse in the meter (to protect it in case of higher current flow) but the 10A range does not. Check the user guide of the meter in case there is a fuse (in the meter) on the 10A range. If you do not get a reading this way, (check the solar output voltage again to make sure it is more than the battery) perhaps then your multimeter may be faulty when reading current. If your reading is less than 0.2A (<0.2A) change your meter range to the Amp/DC 200mA range and change the lead from the 10A terminal to the other terminal on the meter to get a more accurate reading. Your meter is in series with one output lead from the solar controller i.e solar controller +ve output - meter in - meter out - battery +ve terminal.ħ. Connect the other lead of your multimeter to the +ve terminal of the battery (the meter should be set up to read Amps/DC range 10A, the leads in common and 10A terminal - as you did correctly in the video)Ħ. Connect the +ve solar controller output lead to one lead of your multimeter. Connect the -ve solar controller output lead to the -ve battery terminal.ĥ. hopefully it is less than the solar panel controller output voltage.Ĥ. It may be that you can never get more than 12 -13VĢ. Measure the solar panel controller output Voltage - try to get maximum voltage by angling the panels. The way to test the output current that is charging your battery is as follows:ġ. Note: If your solar panel controller also has a regulated Voltage output (Voltage is never more than 12-13V DC) then the current supplied to the battery may depend on the voltage that the battery has.e.g if the solar output is 12.3V and the battery is 12V then the battery is only being charged by 0.3V and the charging current will be small.įirst make sure that both solar panels are connected from +ve panel output lead to +ve controller input terminal and -ve panel output lead to -ve controller input terminal (as you probably have) That is why there are controllers in between the panel and the output. You need to protect the panels and the equipment that they are connected to. This is OK if you want to check the panel is capable of supplying maximum current, if you think that it is faulty but it is not how it works in real situations. They tested directly from the panel output itself. In the 'How to test Solar Panels ' video that you posted, there is no controller connected to the panel. That means that when there is a short circuit across the output it will shut down to protect the solar panel, the equipment that it is supplying from further damage and itself.Ī multimeter set up to read current (A) is effectively a short circuit, but when it is set up to read Voltage (V) it is a high resistance. It probably has what is known as 'short circuit output protection. Looking at your video, (very good by the way) I think that the problem is that your Solar Panel 'controller' is probably doing what it has been designed to do.

Icircuit solar panel