Playing With Solar

Friday - I had to renew my passport as it was expiring in around five months. A couple of weeks ago, I used the online renewal process and the site indicated that I should receive the new passport book by 12/1/2025. I assumed that the current government shutdown could push that date out even more. The replacement showed up in today’s mail. I guess that part of the government is still working and, it’s working well! 

Saturday - This morning, I tilted the solar panels roughly south to see if it makes much of a difference. While up on the roof, I checked the output of each panel. Open circuit voltage on both panels were 22.5V, so good. The short circuit current was not as good. One panel was 7.6amps and the other was 6.3amps. When they are wired in series, the lower current kind of determines the max current of the string. On both the class A and class C, I’ve noticed that the max current rarely goes above about 7amps. 

Sunday - This graph was generated today (with the panels tilted to the south at about the optimal angle. I would’ve expected something closer to 10amps. Though I may need to have the inverter/charger disabled so it would stay in bulk.