How To Tell Which Wire Is Positive Solar Panel

Extend the output wires of the solar panel the positive wire of the solar panel is terminated with an mc4 female connector marked.

How to tell which wire is positive solar panel.

With parallel solar panels the positive terminal from one panel is connected to the positive terminal of another panel and the negative terminals of the two panels are connected together. Another way to find the polarity of the solar panel is to check with a volt meter. There is no color code standard for solar pv panels like there is for ac systems. The bare end of the positive extension wire will now be of positive polarity.

Set the volt meter to read dc volts. Only your volt meter will tell you the truth. Wiring solar panels in parallel causes the amperage to increase but the voltage remains the same. Actually there is a color code standard for dc pv systems and as the nec code book does not specify ac or dc the color code applies equally to both such systems.

A simple voltage reading will show you the polarity of a solar panel even when inside. Connect the negative wires together in the same fashion and the wires off the last panel in the parallel circuit are connected to the battery. When stringing panels in series each panel additional adds to the total voltage v of the string but the current i in the string remains the same. Make sure that the locking tabs snap in for a firm connection.

Connect this cable to the mc4 male adaptor.