As a homeowner who is just learning about solar energy options, it is easy to get confused with all the technical terms you might read or hear about.
Your solar installer is likely to mention different ways that arrays of solar panels are wired. And your first thought might be that it does not matter how they are wired. Likely, you just want the panels to produce the energy to power your home. However, depending on your home, how your panels are wired does matter. It impacts the performance of your system and your choice of inverter.
The better your solar system performs, the better your savings and your return on investment.
Here are answers to some of the common questions customers ask about wiring solar panels that can help you have a better understanding of the pros and cons of wiring in series or in parallel.
What does it mean to wire solar panels in series?
Wiring between solar panels (back of solar panels)
When an installer connects your solar panels in a series, he is wiring each panel to the next. This creates a string circuit. The wire running from the panel’s negative terminal is connected to the next panel’s positive terminal and so forth down the line for one path of current for a continuous, closed loop.
The important difference between wiring panels in series or in parallel is that electrically it affects the voltage and amperage of the resultant circuit.
In a series circuit you sum the voltage of each panel to get the overall voltage of the array. However, the amperage of the overall circuit stays the same stays the same.
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This is a sponsored post from SolarReviews.
have a stupid question. I connect panels in series makes the voltage go up and the amp stay the same. Question is I have two sets of panels in series and I connect those sets in parallel. Now that set the voltage stay the same but the amps on the set goes up? Like 100 watt panels X 8 at 18 volts and 5 amps each makes the series 800 watts at 144 volts and 5 amps. I make another series the same and connect these two series in parallel. Now the voltage is still 144 volts with the pair but the amps have now doubled to approximately 10 amps and the watts are now approximately 1600 watts? Correct?
It’s incomplete posts like this that cause dangerous scenarios for DIYers trying to learn about solar and battery configurations. Do us a favor and remove this post until you understand the dangers and all the multiple configurations.
Thanks, Tony. This is a sponsored post written by SolarReviews. The post continues when you click “read more. “We encourage you to reach out to SolarReviews with your concerns.
Yep, Tony should “Read More” by clicking Read More before commenting.. 😀