Solar Power Information

SOLAR POWER BASICS:

Fundamentals in electricity:  Electricity flowing along a wire consists of negatively charged particles called electrons. The electricity flows only if there is pressure to force it to travel along the conductor or wire. This pressure is called Volts. Resistance in the conductor will cause less flow or amperage. Volts= resistance times amperes or V= IR. With constant voltage, as the resistance increases, the amperage decreases.  
Batteries

 

Batteries are designed to store direct current by converting electric energy into chemical energy by a chemical reaction. They can be recharged either by solar power, battery charger or a generator. A battery should never be overcharged or allowed to fully discharge. The charging current to the battery is adjusted by a regulator. The current from the charger transfers electrons from the battery plates into the electrolyte to produce energy. The charge must have a higher voltage than the battery when fully charged. A typical solar panel will procuce 16 volts which is sufficient for charging a 12 volt battery.  Fully charged batteries have an AH(amp-hours) rating of different values depending on the batteries capacity. A battery having 100 AH rating will deliver 100 amperes for one hour or realistically 5 ampere for 20 hours.. Batteries are constructed to convert electric energy into chemical energy by a chemical reaction. The common batteries used for storing solar power are the lead-acid automotive batteries.

Circuits

An electric circuit starts with VOLTAGE from a power source flowing through a conductor(AMPS) to a load such a light bulb(RESISTANCE)  then back to the source or generator.

Series Circuit-Batteries are connected in series by connecting the negative terminal of the first battery to the positive terminal of the second battery and connecting the negative terminal of the second battery to the positive terminal of the third battery and so on.  If two 6 volt batteries are connected in series, the voltage is increased to 12 volts and the current remains constant.

Parallel Circuit-In a parallel circuit the positive terminal of the first battery is connected to the positive terminal of the second battery and the negative terminals are connected to each other.  The voltage remains the same in this  case but the amperage doubles.Additional batteries can be added increasing the amperage.
TESTING AND MEASURING DEVICES

multimeter,solar power Meters show how a solar power electrical system is performing by indicating amperes(current flow)resistance and voltage(power)

Ammeter: The output in amps coming from the power source is displayed. The analog type of meter operates by a magnetic field moving a needle on a guage. As the current increases, the reading will increase.

Voltmeter: a voltmeter shows the state of a solar power battery in volts.  To measure the small voltage changes in a battery from fully charged to total discharge a digital meter is necessary.

Ohmmeter:Shows the resistance in the circuit in ohms and determines continuity.

Multimeter:Shows a combination of volts, amps and ohms.

Hydrometer:Measures the sulfate content of the solar power battery electrolyte and gives a specific gravity reading.