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diy solar

Can't get enough power from my newpowa panels

Abby Smith said:
@Newpowa_Jarad

Thanks for the response, but I want to see how your panels that are same technology (poly) compare to same rated panels like renogy, windynation, RichSolar,.. etc.

Also, can you publish STC test results and who/how they were done for your panels?

My apologies in advance for being so straight forward, but how do I know that these are not just some made up numbers?
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How about posting your test results? Set your multimeter to DC Amps (usually 10 A DC range with a separate socket for the red probe) and measure the short circuit current. Do this on a crisp clear day, manually point the panel to the Sun until the current maxes out. It should be close to the panels Isc value printed on its nameplate.

Starting Sunday & for several days, the weather in Seattle is expected to be partly cloudy with some opportunities for clear skies. Isc measurement should not take more than 10 mins. There are no other components involved to make data interpretation difficult - just the panel & a reliable multimeter.
 
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Abby Smith said:
@Newpowa_Jarad

Thanks for the response, but I want to see how your panels that are same technology (poly) compare to same rated panels like renogy, windynation, RichSolar,.. etc.

Also, can you publish STC test results and who/how they were done for your panels?

My apologies in advance for being so straight forward, but how do I know that these are not just some made up numbers?

View attachment 6833Anyone interested in my Oreo cookies ice-cream, absolutely sugar free, fat free, and zero calories, YUM!!!
Click to expand...
Good to know that you bought more panels, i am looking forward to see your results.

I want to do the test as well, but with all the things going on around everyday, didn't get a chance to pull the trigger.

@Will Prowse But anyway, Will's video from last year is very popular. And in the final statement, Will states that he prefers the smaller size panels although it lacks a little at output. Thats one of the reason i want to make the panel smaller but with higher efficiency cells.

In real world testing, i'd keep the finger crossed until you have a results.

Make sure you run the battery to low for all the testings. Controller is the key to release the maximum power from panel.
 
Abby Smith said:
I've alreayd bought some other panels, 4 to be exact, and I'm gonna test them and compare.
I'm not as confident as will is, so I won't be posting any videos, but I'll let you guys know the results.
Jared from Newpowa, where are you located? Are you in Asia or in the US?
Click to expand...
I am in California office btw.
 
Abby Smith said:
I've alreayd bought some other panels, 4 to be exact, and I'm gonna test them and compare.
I'm not as confident as will is, so I won't be posting any videos, but I'll let you guys know the results.
Jared from Newpowa, where are you located? Are you in Asia or in the US?
Click to expand...

This will hopefully be an important lesson for you.
 
Abby Smith said:
Hello everyone,
Just a quick background about myself, I'm 20 years old, i go to UW and I live in a trailer with 1 other girl bc housing is expensive here lol. For the most part, I love it because I'm outdoors type of person, and I come from utah, so i'm not super into material things. Currently, im on my 2nd year as an engineering student.

I watched some videos of Wil from youtube and based on that, I purchased 4 newpowa panels, but they looked a bit different and I can't come close to generating more than 240 to 250 watts max on a sunny cold day facing the sun. I read a bit about solar panels, and i learned that typically they are 36 solar cells connected in series to generate the necessary voltage to be useful, however, the panels are igot are more like 72 cells. It looks like they connected 2 of them in series to get the voltages, but why are they so different than the ones wil tested? Why do they generate so much less energy? I'm really really disappointed tbh.
Click to expand...

Probably should just MESSAGE YOU but wanted to say HI ..its nice to see another girl here ... What type of Engineering are you studying? I did EE at University of California - LA ... Class of 2018 ...
 
Abby Smith said:
...I want to see how your panels that are same technology (poly) compare to same rated panels like renogy, windynation, RichSolar,.. etc.
Click to expand...
The California Energy Commission has a database of over >24k panels here: https://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/equipment/pv_modules.php

I saw some Renogy panels in there, but not NewPowa. California only adds the results if they're from laboratory-tested data (information on that is near the bottom of the page).
 
ghostwriter66 said:
Probably should just MESSAGE YOU but wanted to say HI ..its nice to see another girl here ... What type of Engineering are you studying? I did EE at University of California - LA ... Class of 2018 ...
Click to expand...
HIiiiiiii,
Yes its definitely nice to see another girl in here. I'm doing COMPE, little less semiconductor stuff than you, a bit more programming lol.
 
Abby Smith said:
What are you getting from your panels?
Click to expand...
they are at my cabin.i am not.but a month ago they worked as should in the winter light here in the mid-atlantic.
i also have renogy 100 watt panels too,they generated about the same.ran them in series to my MPP 5048.
 
Abby Smith said:
HIiiiiiii,
Yes its definitely nice to see another girl in here. I'm doing COMPE, little less semiconductor stuff than you, a bit more programming lol.
Click to expand...

Excellent - just hang in there .. lol ... we had to take a lot of coding/programming but that was just to really make equipment "things" work ... fortunately doing allot of energy related stuff now its pretty hands on ... good luck with your solar cells - I have no idea if anyone after 136 posts actually answered your question or not -- hopefully they did -- there are some pretty smart ppl in here and they are the ones that give the short - concise answers .. Like Einstein said "If you can't answer a question in less than 30 seconds - then you don't know the answer" .. :) .. Hopefully see you around the board .. I have learned quite a bit ...
 
Abby Smith said:
Anyone interested in my Oreo cookies ice-cream, absolutely sugar free, fat free, and zero calories, YUM!!!
Click to expand...
Hmmmm, zero calorie ice cream... ? ?

fat_old_sun said:
It should be close to the panels Isc value printed on its nameplate.
Click to expand...
Only in ideal conditions. As @Newpowa_Jarad says, you will only get the rated Isc at 1,000W/m² at 25oC etc. Facing the panel to the sun, for example, will definitely optimise your output but doing so doesn't make more photons.

I can't actually remember now if we've answered OPs question? Is this array's output per expectations for solar radiance at her location / time of year or are the panels buggered? Or is the jury still out?
 
tictag said:
Only in ideal conditions. As @Newpowa_Jarad says, you will only get the rated Isc at 1,000W/m² at 25oC etc. Facing the panel to the sun, for example, will definitely optimise your output but doing so doesn't make more photons.
Click to expand...

You're correct. A workaround is to measure the level of sunlight and the Isc at that light level and see if that is close to what the panels should produce at that light level.

@Abby Smith, download a couple of pyranometer apps to your phone and measure the light level around noon on a crisp, clear day. Measure Isc. Scale Isc by the ratio of the light level that you measure to 1000 W/m2. If you're not within 10%, the panels are not working as specified.
 
Hi all,
I wasn't able to do my testing like I would've liked because i havn't recieved some of the panels I ordered yet. Hopefully this upcoming week.
The panels I bought were 2x Renogy 100 Watt Polycrystalline and 2 LightCatcher Solar Panels.
I got the Renogy panels in and OMG they look so much higher quality. 36 cells, much bigger and thicker panel.
Once i get the LightCatcher solar panels I will do the tests and see how it will work out.

We are probably going to power up my boyfriends workshop with the Renogy panels, so I think we might just keep everything but I'm not sure yet.
 
Abby Smith said:
I've alreayd bought some other panels, 4 to be exact,
and I'm gonna test them and compare.
I'm not as confident as will is, so I won't be posting any videos, but I'll let you guys know the results.
Click to expand...
Do you have any results?
 
I have preliminary results and I can tell you, Newpowa isn't producing the power that other panels are. I'm waiting for a nice sunny day (In Washington) to do a more comprehensive test and post the results with pictures of all the readings as well.
 
Side by side comparison, Newpowa was producing about 20% less than Renogy solar panels using the victron MPPT controller. Newpowa also got hotter and the steady state was lower by about 20 to 25% less than Rnogy. I want to do this on a sunny day so I can take few pics and show you guys but i haven't had the time nor the weather. I'm hoping on a sunny day the difference won't be as dramatic. I now have a much deeper appreciation for what Will does.
 
I live in Arlington Wash and have 2 120 watt Ecoworthy panels with epever mppt triron 4215n SCC and yesterday March 3 I got a max output of 223 watts in the afternoon hours at the solar controller , at the panels I was getting slightly higher output. It was a vary nice day and I was vary happy with that output it was consistently between 195 and 215 watts for hours
 
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