How To Check Solar Panel Efficiency

Step 3 measure current.

How to check solar panel efficiency.

Divide the name plate rating by the square meters at 1000 w m to get the solar panel efficiency. If your solar panels continuously output 5kw of power for a whole 60 minutes you will have produced 5kwh of energy. Attach the meter to the positive and negative terminals on the solar panel and make sure the panel is properly exposed to sunlight. The older generation of inverters may use yellow light to indicate a fault instead of a red one.

As long as the amp meter is rated higher than the solar panel you will be able to measure the output effectively. Then touch the multi meter s black negative lead to your solar panel s negative wire. Check for shading on panels. A green light on your inverter means your system is working perfectly.

A red or orange light during daylight hours means there is a system fault. Using a multimeter for solar panel tests step 1. Energy is measured in kilowatt hours kwh. Power is measured in watts w or kilowatts kw.

The volt reading on your multi meter should be close to or just under 60 volts. Accessing your solar output data online. The converter box is located on the back of the solar panel. A simple health check for your solar is checking the light on your inverter is there a red light or a green light.

In our example for the sw 245 mono 245 1 676 67 14 61 efficiency remember to look at the power tolerance as although the name plate rating might be 245w the power tolerance will tell you how many more or less watts a the stc the panel produce. Touch the multi meter s red positive lead to your solar panel s positive wire. Note positive negative connections.