<span class="highlight">Solar</span> panel lightening strike

I would say if the regulator caught fire you'll definitely need a new one!

The panels are another thing, disconnect them, place them in the sun and see what
your getting out of them, you may find the open circuit voltage is ok, if not then look inside the terminal blocks and see what condition they are in, if the connecting tape is ok but the panels reading zero vaults in the sun then try cutting on wire going to the bypass diodes if it has one and see if you get any voltage then?

If the panels are producing reasonable volts a new regulator should get you going again.

220w output new regulator depends what current output is all specs should be on back of panel on a sticker est of 20 amps minimum

Wow that would have been super scary. Glad to hear that you are okay.

Obviously the panel that is shattered and the regulator are damaged beyond repair.

You will have to test the other panel by disconnecting it from the damaged one. The plastic covers where the wiring comes out have two tabs on the side and can be opened.

Put the panel in the sun and a check of the open circuit voltage and the short circuit current should indicate if the panel is ok. Also as mentioned before also check the diodes.

Just as a side note, the regulator that was destroyed says MPPT. Sorry to say was not actually a MPPT regulator. There are plenty of YouTube videos about this.

A good quality PWM regulator such as the EP Solar series would be a good compromise between cost and performance.

Cheers,
Mal

-
Lightning (not lightening) is insidious. When entering appliances it gets everywhere. You see the obvious but even though the second panel may seem to be unharmed, it could have suffered and fail later.
Adding replacement panels and a new controller to the remaining panel is unlikely to be cost effective. You would do better to replace the whole system.

Gday
Gee , that would make your pacemaker rev pretty high, glad to hear you are ok .

Was this at Jingellic ?? If so, we were at the other end of the campground. Glad everyone was OK after getting checked out.

WOW!

What an amazing story and glad you are okay.

Did you buy a lottery ticket...? Would be first thing I'd do, then I would replace the whole solar system.

Good luck, Cheers, Baz - The Landy

To see if your panel is OK, separate the two panels. Connect a current meter across the output terminals. The short circuit current should be around 6.5 A. The open circuit voltage should be around 21 - 22 V. Both tests should be done with the sun well up and face the panel directly at it. Adjust the panel angles until you get maximum readings.

Mixing white paint into black paint is Lightening. ie Grey.

I didn't want to ask how you were after this event, and from what been mentioned by others damn lucky to be with us - asking people how they feel etc after such event can make it worse for some people so I don't get nosey

that amperage i worked out was based on a total wattage 220 around 18 amps so close to 20 amps per earlier response.

It maybe easier and safer to replace whole unti than to stuff around replacing glass sheets (expensive) and sourcing correct regulator. Know with company i worked for (radio comms industry) we used plasmatronic PL20 for the small trailers and PL60 for the bigger units but hefty price to pay for them.

I have converted my own 80w foldout to mppt (according to GSL spec sheet) but wiring it up and attaching etc was a time consuming job in itself -reason being left it on charge into evening one night out bilyn pool (north of meekatharra) looked briefly at battery LED gauge was below safe level in red and just managed to start next morning -little bit of investigation with OEM supplier sure enough no blocking diodes to prevent back current into panels at night