Leaving Solar Panels Disconnected

I would be more worried about the connectors of your panels when not in use accidentally coming in contact with something connecting a circuit and causing damage or a fire.

Leaving solar panels disconnected.

26 in 24 posts thanks given. Locate any water leaks in the pipes of the solar panel. Excellent question and i cannot for certain tell you the answer except to say that i leave solar panels out in the sun regularly not connected to anything and they have not developed any damage. The solar cell you have installed provides about 1 3rd of an amp charging rate.

There is not a problem. How to safely disconnect solar panels step 1. Leaving solar panels disconnected for 6 months. Disconnect all wires and let the water drain out of the panel.

Unless you have some older sunpower brand panels there is really no harm in disconnecting the panels. Turn off any pump connected to the solar panel. Older sunpower panels require a ground on the positive side to prevent polarization of the silicon cells but this rarely if ever happens on a boat. By cutting off the sunlight.

Take large opaque cloths and completely cover each solar power panel in the system. Turn on the voltage meter and set it to measure direct current voltage dc. It doesn t matter if panels have leads disconnected as the voc will be present at the shielded tips but no current can flow absolutely nothing happens.