Checking the power

Carl was thinking that we weren't getting quite as much power as he would have hoped from the solar panels, so on Tuesday morning, he went up on the roof to do some measurements...

I went up the ladder to see if he needed any help -- he said that he appreciated the offer, but needed to "think" and would be better doing that on his own!

A view of him on the roof from down below - still thinking!

He took a picture from the roof too -- such pretty skies and the "mountains" to the east!

He determined that the panels were connected okay, but rewired them so they are all in serial now. The advantage to that wiring is that it pushes higher voltage into the MPPT controller so it can provide energy to the batteries even when the sunlight may be more minimal (like early and late in the day). But, it has a disadvantage that if one of the panels is shaded, it could shut down the whole string.