PV Gap

Byron Said:

Will too much V or A hurt a charger?

We Answered:

The question, as stated, is kind of confusing. I think you are trying to replace a charger (that plugs into the wall, and puts out 12V at 1A) with your solar array?

Also, if you're trying to use the solar cells to run something, you can't supply "extra A". Whatever you're running wants a specific voltage (in this case, 12 volts) and it will take as much current as it needs (up to 1 A). The current will vary depending on what the device you are powering is using.

Fortunately, solar cells with enough light, will provide a fairly constant voltage. If you try to pull too much current out, the voltage will drop, but if you use less current or provide more light, the voltage won't rise up. (Connect a solar cell to a meter; you'll see that at low light intensities it puts out a low voltage, but once the light gets bright enough, the voltage hits a fixed level, and more light doesn't change that voltage (not by much, anyway).

The danger is that you don't have enough light to keep the voltage at 12 volts. Extra panels (connected in parallel) will help in this respect because they will increase the AVAILABLE amperage under low-light conditions. So, a 12-volt 100A panel arrangement would power a 12V 1A device with no problems. (But would be a lot more expensive).