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I am testing the efficiency of solar panels in different temperatures with a multimeter. I am testing for voltage and amperes. However, how do I connect a solar panel to a multimeter to test it? From past recent experience I'm pretty sure you just connect the red and black wires to the multimeter, but when looking at solar panels it asks if I would like diodes and wires, and I don't know what those are. Please respond with links for a small solar panel, a multimeter for me to buy and how to test a solar panel with it. Please don't go over 25 CAD with the multimeter and 10 CAD for the solar panel. I would like a small one please, I'm open for a suggestions.

Solar panel link that confused me: http://store.sundancesolar.com/3-0v-100ma-round-solar-cell/

Proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e7Qd1Mnc-bzLgHIJ-wEY_OkftLELLZ2ulFH57DwvS3I/edit

Joshua
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I believe the term you need to look for is MPPT - maximum power point tracking. Connecting the multimeter (in current mode) with the solar panel will show only the SC current(short circuit). For the given lumens you need to adjust the impedance to extract maximum power out from the solar cell. Then from the lumens provided, you need to calculate the efficiency.

Few pointers.
  1. Distance to the lamp will vary the lumens reaching the cell
  2. solar cells have a low efficiency of ~15%. you might get a low amount of power from the cell (in milliwatts?).
  3. Incandescent lamps tend to emit lot of heat. pay attention to temperature rise because of the lamp
  4. The lamp emits 450 lumens, but how much will the surface area of the cell receive.

The Diodes help to protect the solar cell when a you connect to another power source. given that the cell voltage is 3v, adding a diode will still lower the output voltage. The wires, well can help you in connecting the cell to rest of the circuit.

edit: the answer in Measuring output of solar panels for science fair project provides the correct setup to measure the maximum power. vary the pot and plot a voltage vs current graph. Once you find the maximum power output for a certain lumens, vary your temperature. you will have to again vary the pot because temperature change will change the internal resistance of the solar cell.

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A Father
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