1 Amp = How many watts?

[milezone]

Hi Guys,

Ok noob question here. I have my setup running and actually doing great (thanks Sunking and Nike).

My setup....

(4) 120 Watt Panels 12 volts (wired to 24 volts)
(1) Outback MPPT 60 Amp Controller
(4) 105 amp Batteries
(1) 1,000 watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter

batteries still setup as 12 volt due to the inverter being 12 volts, but as I save up more I will be getting a 24 volt inverter.

Ok all that just to get to this question. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to see what my actual wattage is coming out of the panels, not even sure the Outback will show me that? But it does tell me the amps coming in and going to batteries.
So can I use this number to figure out wattage? Keep me simple as in how many amps = 1 watt? Thanks

Milezone

[russ]

volts * amps = watts

[milezone]

Sorry Russ, really noob at this. Volts meaning if I have 24 volts for my panels x 1 amp would equal 24 watts? So if I have 10 amps coming in I would be getting about 240 watts? I actually have I think about 16 amps coming in (good sunny day) so if I am thinking correctly I am getting at best 384 watts. I have (4) 120 watt panels, so I am guessing that is a normal output?

Milezone

[The Only Sarge]

Short answer is yes. You have to compute (or figure as we say in Texas) the loss.
Heat/Wire size and lengths/panel orientation all contribute to loss.
Maximum panel ratings are at optimum in lab conditions. Perfect light angle/perfect temps etc.

[Sunking]

You need to study Ohm's Law. Power is the product of voltage and current or P = EI, I squared R, and E squared / R.