Kyocera 130TM wired wrong - damaged?

I have 2 Kyocera KC130 TM panels connected in parallel to a Blue Sky SB2000E on my boat. They were installed last year and worked great. Over the summer I disconnected the panels to do some wiring work and when they were reconnected the positive wire on the 2nd panel was connected to the diode post, not the positive post #3, for a day before the error was corrected. Once they were connected correctly they are only putting out about 11 vdc on a sunny day. I'm in Ensenada Mexico. Did I damage the diodes or panels by connecting them wrong or should I look elsewhere for the problem?

thanks,
Frank

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,433 admin
    Re: Kyocera 130TM wired wrong - damaged?

    I am not sure... As a start, disconnect both panels and measure:

    Maximum Power: 130 watts
    Tolerance: +10%/-5%
    Maximum Power Voltage: 17.6 volts
    Maximum Power Current: 7.39 amps
    Open Circuit Voltage: 21.9 Voc
    Short-circuit Current: 8.02 amps
    • Voc=21.9 volts (volt meter, no load)
    • Isc=8.02 amps (amp meter set to 10 amp scale)
    The Voc is temperature sensitive--A Hot panel may read a few volts lower.

    Isc (short circuit current) is based on the amount of sunlight... 8 amps is full noon-time sun, very clear day, pointing directly at sun... On a "typical" clear day, you may read down around (as low as) 6.5 amps and the panel is OK.

    Next--Hook up each panel to your charge controller separately--Check the output voltage/current into a partially discharged battery (to provide load). Both panels should output to within ~10% of each other if both are working correctly.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset