solar problems/need guidance

[max2k]

found 1 hole so far. I am starting to dislike squirrels.

after I got quote for roof repairs my attitude to them changed 180 degrees and I started to think about them as 'rats with fur' instead of cute animals.

[tim a]

depends of the nature of the loss- if that voltage reading was taken under Vmp / Imp or in the area then yes, not much production loss would result. If it was Voc then panel could develop huge resistance somewhere but since voltmeter has high input resistance on its own it still shown some voltage. When put in string this panel wouldn't let any significant current through. Hopefully bypass diodes would still work.

I'd replace the thing after checking one more time and making sure it was not shaded during measurements.

thank you

[tim a]

I had to temp. fix roof. the hole is between 2 rows. strange thing the roof never leaked.

[Mike90250]

after I got quote for roof repairs my attitude to them changed 180 degrees and I started to think about them as 'rats with fur' instead of cute animals.

And Pigeons and Seagulls are rats with wings

[bcroe]

Electric fences work; simple, I put up some here. Bruce Roe

[tim a]

finally have all the panels down. found another panel with low voltage. 15v. should I just leave the two panels out of two of the strings(1 panel per string) or use them?

[Mike90250]

finally have all the panels down. found another panel with low voltage. 15v. should I just leave the two panels out of two of the strings(1 panel per string) or use them?

I'd leave them down, and balance the strings with the good panels.

[tim a]

panels are up and working. thank you all for the support. I needed it. the system really dosent have any monitoring system. what would be a good one for the spr3200 sun power inverters, and what should I monitor? amps, volts watts? should I get one that keeps totals?

[bcroe]

Note the operating voltage, which will rise predictably in cold weather but otherwise should be
pretty stable. With 2 similar strings, your clamp on ammeter should show they both put out
about the same amount of current. A significant shift could be a panel problem; I am wondering
what is with the 2 you pulled? I have nearly 2 million panel hours with no failures.

Going out to work on more electric fences now. Bruce Roe

[tim a]

can the solar panels have the correct voltage and produce none or little amps?

[max2k]

can the solar panels have the correct voltage and produce none or little amps?

if there's not much sunlight falling on it- sure.

[Mike90250]

can the solar panels have the correct voltage and produce none or little amps?

Yes, at early dawn hours, even a little bit of light produces nearly full voltage, but the Amount of light produces the Amps. So pre-dawn, when cold, panels produce their highest voltage (Voc) before the controller can awake and make use of the the power.

If that morning voltage is higher than the controller spec, the high voltage (lo amps) fries the controller. That's why most controllers have a Panel String Calculator to determine the max # of panels in a string

[tim a]

thanks foe the response. the reason I asked the question is the inverters have 250- 340 depending on the sun but with a clamp meter I am getting a very low amp reading., .04 amps and on each inverter panel it is reading( approx. - 84 watts.) the the electric meter still is going forward. this never changes always negative watts and meter always runs forward. even during the hottest time of day.

[max2k]

thanks foe the response. the reason I asked the question is the inverters have 250- 340 depending on the sun but with a clamp meter I am getting a very low amp reading., .04 amps and on each inverter panel it is reading( approx. - 84 watts.) the the electric meter still is going forward. this never changes always negative watts and meter always runs forward. even during the hottest time of day.

your clamp meter reading seems to be x7 times off: 84W / 300V = 0.28A, this is way too much for normal measurement error.

Can you provide more details how/where did you put it and post some pic/model # of the meter? Could you also clarify what did you mean by 'always negative watts'?

[sensij]

So, it sounds like the string is at heathy voltage, but the inverter isn't getting past its self test and actually making power. The -84 W on the inverter display doesn't sound good... As though it is drawing power from the grid, not generating it. All three doing the same thing is kind of weird... Could 84 be an error code? I'm not someplace I can look at the manual easily.