Q&A for How to Set Up a Small Solar (Photovoltaic) Power Generator

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How do I disconnect solar panels?

Community Answer

Always remove the negative pole/connection (black wire) first, then the positive (red wire).

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Question

How do I hook up a light to a solar panel?

Community Answer

You shouldn't do that. You should hook your solar panel up to a charge controller with a battery. Then hook your light up to the battery.

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Question

Can I have a solar panel with an inverter and no battery to run just during the day?

Community Answer

Yes, you can. Batteries just store energy for later use.

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When was this article written?

Donagan

Top Answerer

This article was begun in 2011 and updated many times since then.

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Question

How do you set the angle of a solar plate?

Community Answer

To set for optimum performance at solar noon, point the array South (Azimuth 180 deg). The optimum elevation angle varies with season. At the equinoxes, the sun is 90 degrees minus your latitude N. At he start of summer that angle will be about 23 degrees greater and at the start of winter about 23 degrees less. For example, at latitude 38 deg N, the elevation angle would be 52 deg Sep 21 and March 21, 75 deg on June 21 and 29 deg on Dec 21. If you're doing this manually, you're likely not going to be changing this only once or twice a month. If it's on a roof, you're not going to be changing it all.

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Question

Is it safe to connect the inverter to the DC load of a charge controller, like shown in the illustration image of this article?

Gavin Donnelly

Community Answer

Yes, you could. Because the inverter converts the DC power to AC power to be used for appliances that you plug into the inverter. You can either connect the inverter to the batteries or to the DC load on the charge controller.

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Question

How large does the solar panel need to be so as to power the inverter?

Gavin Donnelly

Community Answer

Any sized solar panel with provide some amount of power. You must decide how much power you need/want, then choose the solar panel size and inverter based on that.

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