It's nice and sunny here, but still only 14c Monday morning at 10.30. Interesting video Rob. We do have two tiny solar panels that we use to charge our mobile phones, tablets and torches. And it's free. Cheers Nobby
Wow Ben. That's savage !!! This doesn't seem to be widely publicised on the net, and I was very surprised at the output drop I experienced on what was still a reasonably bright day in downtown Adelaide. I expected maybe a 50% drop given the conditions, but that was nowhere near it. Cheers Rob
@@Xynudu Now its partially overcast and I am getting around 900W. Varies a lot.The rating of the solar panels is based on peak sun and temperature of 25oC + some marketing fudge. So typically it will be somewhat less...all the way to zero after the sun sets. My rule of thumb for southern Australia is you need to put out 10 times as many panels as your needs dictate to cater for overcast days. For example if your average use during the day is 50W, you need to have 500W of solar panels available. If you are charging batteries so you have power after hours you need to factor in the watts those batteries will need to recharge over and above your average use during the day. Given the sun is available for approximately one third of the total 24 hours, if your average use is 50W then you will need 10 times 150W you will use in charging the batteries and powering your load during the 8 hours of daylight. That is 1500W of solar panels. You can always limit the energy you draw from the panels, but you can't increase it over and above the rating of the panel.
Hi Rob. I was quite surprised at how much the output was reduced. Still you are still getting something and when it's free every little bit is great! Cheers, Alan.
Hi Alan. I had never actually thought about it until now. I just assumed output would drop a bit, but no where near what actually happens. So basically solar panels are pretty much useless in cloudy, wet and snowy weather. LOL. Cheers Rob
@@Xynudu Also Those are relatively large panels Rob, I would imagine the smaller panels designed to charge mobile phones would have next to no output in those conditions. Cheers, Alan.
I'm not sure how those small mobile phone panels would go. I believe they use amorphous panels (like in calculators) which work better in low/ambient light, but not sure. I have one I was sent to review by Banggood years ago and it was pretty feeble on the brightest of days. It was either crap quality or just hopeless. I think the review got canned from memory ;) Cheers Rob
I have one of those panels but I use it with a Victron MPPT solar charger as I think their software is a little better at extracting the most power from the panel. Good example though of the reduced output in less than ideal conditions. Cheers
All EcoFlow power stations have an inbuilt MPPT controller with a 48 volt DC output. The panel output degradation was more severe than I expected for those light cloud conditions. Cheers Rob
every little helps and some charge is better than none , it's also free. I suppose a generator would be the next best thing but, who wants that noise when out camping in the wild. Why aren't all new houses and buildings mandated to install solar on their roofs, It's crazy the power of the sun is left to go to wast beating down on a plain tiled roof. All the best from Sussex
@@Xynudu Would be better with amorphous panels, or more modern ones, that will actually pull out power in overcast weather better than the older panels. Efficiency in standard conditions slightly worse, but you almost never, unless you are living up north in the mountains, going to get that.
Hi Ian. There's so much solar power being put into the grid in Oz that power companies now want to charge people to do so. LOL. The grid was never designed for this application and power companies are turning off solar feeds as required to protect the infrastructure. Apparently the power companies also increase night time KWh charges when solar is fitted to recover daytime losses. I guess it's economically necessary for them. Cheers Rob
I'm no expert on solar panels, but my understanding is that amorphous panels have very low efficiency compared to the more common crystalline types widely used. I'm not up with how they perform on cloudy days. Cheers Rob
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It's nice and sunny here, but still only 14c Monday morning at 10.30. Interesting video Rob. We do have two tiny solar panels that we use to charge our mobile phones, tablets and torches. And it's free. Cheers Nobby
Hi Nobby. Free is good :) I was surprised by how much cloud cover affected solar panel output, even when the day was relatively bright. Cheers Rob
Thanks Rob.
You prompted me to check my 5.5kw roof panels just now - overcast and raining - I am getting 111W.
Wow Ben. That's savage !!! This doesn't seem to be widely publicised on the net, and I was very surprised at the output drop I experienced on what was still a reasonably bright day in downtown Adelaide. I expected maybe a 50% drop given the conditions, but that was nowhere near it. Cheers Rob
@@Xynudu Now its partially overcast and I am getting around 900W. Varies a lot.The rating of the solar panels is based on peak sun and temperature of 25oC + some marketing fudge. So typically it will be somewhat less...all the way to zero after the sun sets.
My rule of thumb for southern Australia is you need to put out 10 times as many panels as your needs dictate to cater for overcast days. For example if your average use during the day is 50W, you need to have 500W of solar panels available. If you are charging batteries so you have power after hours you need to factor in the watts those batteries will need to recharge over and above your average use during the day. Given the sun is available for approximately one third of the total 24 hours, if your average use is 50W then you will need 10 times 150W you will use in charging the batteries and powering your load during the 8 hours of daylight. That is 1500W of solar panels. You can always limit the energy you draw from the panels, but you can't increase it over and above the rating of the panel.
Hi Rob. I was quite surprised at how much the output was reduced. Still you are still getting something and when it's free every little bit is great! Cheers, Alan.
Hi Alan. I had never actually thought about it until now. I just assumed output would drop a bit, but no where near what actually happens. So basically solar panels are pretty much useless in cloudy, wet and snowy weather. LOL. Cheers Rob
@@Xynudu Also Those are relatively large panels Rob, I would imagine the smaller panels designed to charge mobile phones would have next to no output in those conditions. Cheers, Alan.
I'm not sure how those small mobile phone panels would go. I believe they use amorphous panels (like in calculators) which work better in low/ambient light, but not sure. I have one I was sent to review by Banggood years ago and it was pretty feeble on the brightest of days. It was either crap quality or just hopeless. I think the review got canned from memory ;) Cheers Rob
I have one of those panels but I use it with a Victron MPPT solar charger as I think their software is a little better at extracting the most power from the panel. Good example though of the reduced output in less than ideal conditions. Cheers
All EcoFlow power stations have an inbuilt MPPT controller with a 48 volt DC output. The panel output degradation was more severe than I expected for those light cloud conditions. Cheers Rob
every little helps and some charge is better than none , it's also free. I suppose a generator would be the next best thing but, who wants that noise when out camping in the wild. Why aren't all new houses and buildings mandated to install solar on their roofs, It's crazy the power of the sun is left to go to wast beating down on a plain tiled roof. All the best from Sussex
@@Xynudu Would be better with amorphous panels, or more modern ones, that will actually pull out power in overcast weather better than the older panels. Efficiency in standard conditions slightly worse, but you almost never, unless you are living up north in the mountains, going to get that.
Hi Ian. There's so much solar power being put into the grid in Oz that power companies now want to charge people to do so. LOL. The grid was never designed for this application and power companies are turning off solar feeds as required to protect the infrastructure. Apparently the power companies also increase night time KWh charges when solar is fitted to recover daytime losses. I guess it's economically necessary for them. Cheers Rob
I'm no expert on solar panels, but my understanding is that amorphous panels have very low efficiency compared to the more common crystalline types widely used. I'm not up with how they perform on cloudy days. Cheers Rob
Thanks for the info Rob. Australia's winter is NZs summer.
Ha Ha. It's a bit like Tasmania then ;) Not real hot down there either. Cheers Rob