Someone called me?
Thanks [MENTION=44484]icebags[/MENTION] for calling me.
Usually TDF notification mails have been reaching me late by around a week or so, but this time, it has reached promptly. [MENTION=266361]kunalgujarathi[/MENTION], why not change the topic, if you still can, to something encompassing everything related to solar power generation? We can use this thread to discuss our Solat Energy Projects, queries and requirements, and showoff also.
I've been learning about panels for a long time now. One thing I can say is, though building your own panels is a novel idea, it needs us to do a lot of work. Imagine wiring up and soldering those 36-72 cells based on your needs. One thing good about this idea is you can make your own design of solar panels. The drawback however is it's tedious work. Plus, it won't turn out to be as good as the readymade ones are.
I recently bought a panel to test my dual-axis tracker, which is still in works. In the past few days, I have killed an almost dead 12v ups battery because I directly hooked it with the panel.
Then I got a novel idea of connecting the panel output directly to my presumably dead UPS. But the problem here were many. The panel is 12v and the peak output is reaching ~20volts, while the UPS is a double battery one, and needs atleast 24-25 volts. Still I opened it up only to be shocked that the batteries seem to be still okay, after more than 1 year of being unplugged, they still had 12.1volt each. So, there goes my novel idea.
Anyways, to measure the output, you will need a multimeter. a digital one will do. you can get one for as low as 150 bucks around your local electronics repair shop, and expect to pay ~250-300 online for the same thing.
Ideally the panels do have a sticker mentioning the technical details at the back, like Max Voltage, Max Current, Short Circuit Current, Max System Voltage, etc. refer to that if available, or go the multimeter way.
