Try towing a van with an EV, page-69

About a year ago I saw a pile of 255W panels at a Gold Coast recycling store. I grabbed my multimeter and pulled out the 20 in best condition that still had the connectors intact, found that all of them still produced their labelled open circuit voltage and short circuit amperage and bought them for $20 each.

A few weeks later (also on the coast) I removed a 5kW system with racks and inverter from a house about to be flattened for redevelopment. I gave the developer 2 cartons of beer. One of the 26, 195W panels was dead and some of the others have some corrosion underneath the glass so may not last much longer.

Then my father in laws 30kW system had been producing less power than it should and all the panels were replaced under warranty. I collected all those panels, about 6 of them were dead or dying and some others may drop off the perch soon. That cost me a carton of Bundy & Coke cans ($80) but the reality was the installer was only too pleased to not have to take the panels away.

Now everyone has to be careful with high voltage, it can be lethal and if connected together it doesn't take many working panels to produce a dangerous voltage. Checking a single panel is easy and reasonably safe with a multimeter, look on the back panel for Voc (open circuit voltage), in full sun the voltage between the two output wires should be close to this figure (about 40 to 70V).

Then put the meter on its 10 amp position and move the red multimeter lead to the correct, dedicated 10A socket then find Isc (short circuit current) on the label. Once again if the panel is in full sun the amperage between the 2 output wires should be similar to this figure (about 3 to 5 Amps), don't leave the meter connected for too long it stresses the panel a little and will eventually over heat your multimeter as well.

I do not have the roof area to mount all my panels so I have set up a ground array and connected groups of approximately 5 kW up in turn to the inverter from the wrecked house to make sure it all works under load but at present the power isn't connected up to anything, it is just being wasted.

Now I already have a 6kW PV system with a 51c FIT so I can't connect anything else up to the mains without tearing up that FIT agreement. However it is mounted on a shed on a separate circuit beside the house so I plan on switching off mains power to the house and running it on my 2nd hand panels combined with the Red Earth battery. If the battery ever goes flat I will just turn on the mains again.

When the M3 arrives I will not accept delivery unless Tesla has enabled V2X then I will never run out of home generated power, ever. After the high FIT expires in 2028 I will be able to sell power back to the grid from my 2nd hand panels and wind turbine (or several) using the Red Earth battery and M3 battery as short term storage.

Hope that has been of assistance to you and maybe others as well.