Ezbagr
Illinois
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Joined: 05/16/2004
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Have a new 220 watt solar panel-I want to check output-can I do this with a multimeter and if so could you give me instructions.
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LittleBill
Scranton, PA USA
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Joined: 08/29/2003
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Ezbagr wrote:Have a new 220 watt solar panel-I want to check output-can I do this with a multimeter and if so could you give me instructions.
wire the meter in series with panel and battery, use the 20amp amperage mode
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MrWizard
Van Nuys, Ca
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Joined: 06/27/2004
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you need a meter that can check DC amps Not milliamps
you need a 10amp setting, usually a seperate spot to plug in the red/positive lead on the meter
first check voltage set the meter on DC set in on the scale higher than the 20+v voc of the meter, 200>300>600 whatever is the next higher scale
point the panel at the sun and read across the leads
for the amps you will select the 10amp meter mode, and again connect across the leads, do this quickly, do not hold for more and a few seconds, you are doing a dead short reading of the panels amps, in good sun this reading will be higher than the rated charging amps, it should equal or be close to the short circuit amps listed on the panel specs
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bananadanna
Cambridge, MA
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Joined: 11/30/2005
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Could be a good use for a clamp-on ammeter.
Not terribly expensive for a useful addition to the toolbox.
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KD4UPL
Swoope, VA
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Clamp on ammeters are excellent for this but a meter that will measure DC current is rather expensive.
By the way, it doesn't matter how long you have the leads shorted when measuring current. You could leave them like that for years and it would be fine. It's not like a battery that flows hundreds of amps. A solar panel will put out Isc and nothing more. They are designed to handle that amount of current.
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