Sunday 16 June 2019

How does the maximum current of solar cells combine in series?


Say I have one 4W PV cell and one 2W PV cell (both producing about .5V). I know enough to say that maximum current of the first cell is 8A (4 / .5) and the maximum current of the second cell is 4A (2 / .5).


In series, what is the maximum current of these cells together in a solar panel?


Is it 12 (the total)? Or is it 4 (the limit of the smaller one)?



Answer



When connected in series, the maximum current is as high as that of the weakest link, so yes, 4A. The voltage will be the sum of all cells, so 1V.



When connected in parallel, the maximum current is the sum of all cells, 12A in this case. If you do this, you should only connect cells of the same voltage in parallel, otherwise you get unwanted current flows.


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