My Cell Testing

[Mike90250]

..
And yes, I'm aware of the electron 'skinning' effect, so maybe a braided conductor.

"Skin Effect" is only applied to AC circuits.

You can do nothing with .5V, except light a lightbulb. To power a dc-dc step up converter, you need at least 3V. Generally, 12V is the lowest useful voltage.
But, feel free to build as you see best, learning by doing is a good way.

[longwolf]

"Skin Effect" is only applied to AC circuits.

Thx, I learned something new. Nix the braided then.

You can do nothing with .5V, except light a lightbulb. To power a dc-dc step up converter, you need at least 3V. Generally, 12V is the lowest useful voltage.
But, feel free to build as you see best, learning by doing is a good way.

This has nothing to do with how the panel is assembled.
From what I've seen, all solar cells have about the same voltage, around 0.5 volts.
Something like the way each cell of a dry cell battery always gives 1.5 volt, or a wet cell battery gives 2 volts per cell.
In all three cell types increasing the the cell size boosts the amperage, but does nothing for the voltage.

So if you're making a 36 cell panel, you're going to get more power out of higher amperage cells no matter how you put them together (excluding making dead shorts, etc).

[longwolf]

Well, some good news and some bad news.

I got to check my meter against a 'known good' tester and got expert instructions on how to read amps (the same way I was doing it).
And tabbing the cells did raise the amperage, but not nearly enough.

I made a bad crack in the 1st cell I tabbed, about halfway across it.
It's best reading was 4.2 amps.
I tabbed a second cell and it turned out very well, but it still only got 4.33 amps.
According to the eBay ad, they should be getting 8 amps.

With both cells I took short pieces of 14 awg wire and alligator clips and tied the two negatives together and the two positives together to make sure and get the highest reading I could.

I'm not happy.
Before I call this guy, I though I'd better ask if there are any other things I should check or know.
Might save me from making a fool of myself

[longwolf]

I should make it clear that in my last post, I did not tie the two cells together.
Each was tested singly.

So I called the folks who sold me the cells and was told that you must tab 3 to 4 cells together before you'll get a good amp reading.

It doesn't make sense to me, all amps should be the same in a series circuit, but I didn't want to start trouble with out being sure.

I managed to complete my first 4 cell string just before noon here.
It tested out at 7.6 amps.
Not 8 but a whole lot better than 4.33
Hopefully it will get even better when the rest of the stings are all tied in.