Alright everyone, I need electrical upgrades, time for ALL NEW! Suggestions needed!

[Dano]

That's exactly what I saw and exactly what he said they were when I called however Blue found the sticker I have on my panels which shows the 16.0V rating! On the phone now to Renogy will post results shortly...

[chin_k]

30 minutes on the phone just to get a rep? Nice customer service.

[Dano]

Actually got through with no wait this time, so all's good. Spoke with Tylor in tech support and he assured me the correct specs are on the U.S. site and 17.x is correct. He said what what we have here is the wrong stickers. We tested it with a meter in the weak afternoon Sun and it created 19.2V out of the box. Now, the down side was, I tried my meter on the Amp reading and it only produced .22 at best and it did the same on both panels so not sure if my meter isn't working correctly but he said no way way it was .22A if it was making 19.2 volts. He confirmed the Amazon information was also incorrect which showed the 16.xV rating. I asked him if he felt comfortable mentioning his name and me putting this information on our website here with the 17.V rating and he said absolutely, it was correct. So, I guess, we trust. I will be following this up closely to make sure all is well. Can anyone explain why I am only producing .22Amps? Is the Sun not strong enough...

[caconcourse]

Can anyone explain why I am only producing .22Amps? Is the Sun not strong enough...

I don't think you will show any amps unless there is a load to consume the power. The amps on my controller readout will go up when I open a cabinet and the lights go on, for example, because there is a place to "spend it".

[Blue~Go]

I'm having a hard time believing the "wrong sticker" excuse. Before they had these "compact" panels, they had other ones called "Slim" panels that were also the unusual 19.6" width, looked exactly the same (not the usual square cells) and were ALSO 16 volts. Also ON THE STICKER spec on the panel (they were longer - same width and slightly unusual cell design though).

Open circuit voltage is shown at 20 volts, but I believe that is at like 77ºF. If the panels/air is colder, the OC voltage will be higher. That's the reason why you have to be careful about zapping certain solar controllers if your voltage is too close to their max rating: On a cold morning just before they start reacting to a load they will reach an open circuit voltage that is higher than the rating.

So if panels are at 77ºF, I'd expect to see close to the OC rating. If colder, higher voltage. Morningstar has a string calculator that helps see how much it varies, but off the top of my head you could add 2-3 volts at around 40º or so.

Can you measure the open circuit voltage and tell us what you get?

[Blue~Go]

PS: By the way, if it's a "misprinted" sticker, then they have left it that way since at least LAST spring, which is when I saw some of the Renogy "slim" panels of the same basic design and voltage. Why am I skeptical...

[Dano]

So, if they are really 16.xV and not the 17.xV we WANT them to be, what is the real world difference? Do they both not generate 50 watts ? Are we not getting something and is that a negative or are we buying something sub standard?

[Dano]

Thanks Hoosier, that makes me feel better. I wish I knew a way to show the amps it was creating. With all this sticker confusion, I'd kind of like to find a way to test them before putting them on the roof and finding out they were bad...

[caconcourse]

Thanks Hoosier, that makes me feel better. I wish I knew a way to show the amps it was creating. With all this sticker confusion, I'd kind of like to find a way to test them before putting them on the roof and finding out they were bad...

When you have an opportunity to test them, you can clip the output to your battery with a jumper cable and turn your refrigerator on in DC mode. That will probably suck every available amp out of them. If you're reading 19.2V output however, I'd say they are working. Solar panels are passive devices (no moving parts), and I suspect they rarely fail, if they pass the factory test, and get past the infant mortality stage.

[Dano]

Thanks Clay; I figured if they were producing 19.2 in poor, low sunshine, whatever amps that weren't showing on my tester was some kind of error I was making. Even the tech guy said if they are making 19.2V, they cannot be making .22 amps...Does that make sense? To Hoosier's point, I guess there was no load to create an accurate reading? So much of this is out of my wheelhouse! On a positive note, everything looks GREAT, it's Christmas. AGAIN! (I wish winter were over). (Seriously).