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Thank you for responding. I agree with your assessment as it seems logical, but also, since last June when I put the panels in service we have gone through the 1st winter. They surely do love the cold. On cold days with even low sunlight they charge at between 19 & 20 volts. Much better than I ever expected. The panels are made of wood with heavy white paint. Clear plexigass is adhered with screws & the best silicone sealant I could find. Then I sealed all edges with exterior aluminum duct tape, covering all exposed wood even though it's well painted. Overkill perhaps, but I didn't want any leaks. After 10 months in service they look like new and thankfully no leaks. Each panel contains 36 cells. 4 rows of 9 soldered in series. Each of the 5 panels has it's own wiring running to buss bars. Then 1 positive &1 negative wire running into the house. A total distance of 15 feet. not much voltage drop for a 12v system. Anyone else find that matching the latitude where you live doesn't work? At my latitude,41 degrees, I could only get 14v. But at 13 degrees it jumped up to 18v. All the info I've read said you need to match your latitude. Why do people say that? Are they just repeating what they heard? I wonder if they played with the angle would their panels work more efficiently. I wonder if anyone has tried. My system is small for now, until it pays for itself, then I'll upgrade. I have $1200.00 invested and produce 300watts. $4.00 per watt. Not bad I think. Can't wait to add more panels & batteries. Right now I can run a t.v. for 6 hrs. on a full charge. but then it takes 2 or 3 days to fully recharge. I noticed recently that if i only use it 2 or 3 hrs. a day it recharges faster & I can use it every day. In the 10 months it's been in use my electric bill has decreased each month over last year even though the rates have increased. Solar isn't really cost effective but if you comparison shop & do all the work yourself you can actually make it worthwhile. I have no regrets so far. It's kinda fun too. Built a small wind turbine using a 12v treadmill motor but pushing 12v from the back of the property where there are no wind obstructions to the house is just too far for 12v. Got the motor free. Guess I'll have to invest in a 24v motor. I believe wind is much more efficient than solar. I also raised a bicycle on a stand & mounted another treadmill motor beneath the back wheel. Pedalling slowly gives me as much voltage as I need. If I really push it I can get 35+v. The panels run through a charge controller but the bicycle is hooked directly to the batteries. {when in use} Somehow. when the panels are charging the batteries & I pedal at the same time the batteries actually lose some charge. Don't get that. The faster I pedal the worse it gets. It's hard to pedal at an exact speed for a sustained period. I have voltage meters connected to everything so I can watch solar output, bike output, & battery voltage simultaneously.. At night when only the bicycle is in use it works great. Don't really need the bike just wanted to try it. Don't really want to do the pedalling either. lol. Comments, please. Thank you.
This could directly be related to the fact that solar panels will lose efficiency as they heat up. The cloudy days may be cooler and therefore allow the panels to work better than when the sun is shining on them directly and heating them up.
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