Recommendation on a Watt Meter?

[Crowz]

I bought one of these to do what your asking about :

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BXGS9JF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

But at $109 its not that cheap and as mentioned a volt meter will do just fine to see if its working. The reason I bought the above linked meter was the mc4 hookups which makes it easy to test panels.

 

[Samsonite801]

How has this tool been working for you? Also, is there anywhere to read more about your co-op and how you're helping people with solar through that?

The tool works great for panel testing. It can start to get hot when trying to use it for long periods (since it must bleed off and waste the excess power), after too much time of consistent use it will shut down and you have to let it cool for a bit. The is a removable cover on the back of the unit I take off (kind of looks like a battery cover plate in the middle), and it exposes the 3 transistors on the board (to sometimes blow air on them), allowing them to cool down faster so I can use it longer.

I tend to give it more resting time and run more brief tests to get my actual readings, not leaving it on constantly, that tends to work better, give it some off time in between test iterations.

On your co-op question, I'll PM you on the side and give you more info.