Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2020
- Messages
- 21,809
Three 415W panels mounted on a 2007 Ford Econoline E250. Getting ready for the mini split on the rear bumper.
Are those half-cut cells in panels?
Each diode-bypassed second would act like two panels in parallel.
How is the array wired?
The rack has vertical pieces in the corners. At some sun angles, one of those would heavily shade one or two cells, causing loss of production from that portion of the panel. Depending on array wiring, it may cut in half output of that one panel. In a series-wired array, depending on MPPT algorithm, these panels can also cause reduced production from others in the array because at some voltage the panel delivers half current not zero, and algorithm stops.
To test without waiting for a particular sun angle while electrically loaded, when powering load at any time of day, you could cover a single cell and observe how volts/amps are affected. Give it a number of minutes for any slow algorithm to respond, not just fast power-point tracking.
If shadows significantly reduce output you may want to cut those posts.