How To Test A Solar Panel Charge Controller

Angle the solar panel towards the sun.

How to test a solar panel charge controller.

Simply touch the solar panel leads with the multi meter probes matching their corresponding polarity red to red black to black. The next step in the process is to disconnect the positive cable that runs from the battery to the controller. Some exceptions may apply based on panel type. Solar charge controller what is it and how it works in a solar power system duration.

Set the meter to measure dc amps and make sure that the leads are in the right port to measure dc amps. You will next connect the solar panel to the controller as well as the controller to the battery. Measure the voltage between the ve and ve terminals by connecting the negative contact from the voltmeter to the negative on the panel and the positive contact on the voltmeter to the positive on the panel. Open circuit voltage can vary depending on your solar panel but the readings we are usually looking for are in the range of 15 to 23v.

Check both manuals the battery manual and the controller manual and make sure that the controller is set for the proper battery agm wet cell etc and temperature lead acid batteries are very sensitive to change voltage and battery temperature. Set the multimeter to 10 amps. It detects when to allow the maximum available charge that the solar panels can produce to be applied to the batteries and it also detects when the battery is fully charged and cuts off the charge supplied by the solar panels. How to test a solar panel voltage and current duration.

Disconnect the positive cable that is. That being done connect the solar panel to the controller and also the controller to the solar batteries. Next set the meter to 10a. Make sure that the alligator clips are in the right port to find the.

To ensure that you don t blow your device s fuse set the maximum amperage sensitivity to well above your expected reading.