FrogBro Upgrade Solar Panel Tester Meter Photovoltaic Multimeter 800W, Solar MPPT Meter with Large Ultra Clear LCD, Smart MPPT Open Circuit Voltage Troubleshooting Utility Tool for Solar PV Testing

Nice solar panel education tool. Comes with standard connectors that match the connectors on solar panels. Allows you to face panel at different angles to the sun to see the effects on wattage output. Allows you to test a very dirty panel and then clean the panel and see how much difference a clean panel outputs versus a dirty panel. Allows you to put a leaf or several leaves on the panel to see how many leaves it takes to significantly cut solar output. Allows you to take different unmatched panels and check for voltage differences as tightly matching voltages is important for panels for maximum solar gain when wired in parallel and matching maximum current is important for maximum output when panels wired in series. But overall, when panels are same models and brand and wired in parallel like mine, you could take a clamp meter to measure current output of each panel and find a bad panel. But clamp meters are not very accurate and hard to tell which panel is under producing the rest. But they say to never disconnect panels from an MPPT Charge Controller when panels during the daytime when they are outputting power as disconnecting can cause a surge spike in voltage causing a spark that can damage sensitive electronics in the MPPT Charge Controller. So use this meter with caution for things like testing what appears to be a panel that is not working properly or as a tester for panels not currently part of your array. Only improvement for this tool is if it could come with the that cheap plastic spanner tool that makes it easier to unplug the mc4 connector as those connectors are often hard to disconnect without a tool, but most people already have a few of those laying around. Overall, this a very nice to have tool that measures a lot of information accurately where a DC clamp meter is a must have tool that only gives a rough estimate of amps and does not require disconnection of any wires. This tool does not use any batteries as it is powered from the solar panel that is exposed to daylight or sun. You can just take a fresh new solar panel out of the box and connect to this meter and take it out in the sun and get accurate readings of lots of information. It is designed to use for a solar panel not electrically connected to anything else besides this tool. I would never use this tool for my solar array when operating, but would use a DC amp clamp meter to check each panel wired in parallel to make sure they all output about the same amps per panel. But DC amp clamp meters are very inaccurate when currents are less than 5 amps. Overall, the FrogBro tester is a must have tool for those who want or need to know how a particular solar panel is really doing as it tests many things that a DC amp clamp meter can never do. You can also use it to find solar noon to face the panels into the sun for maximum wattage at exactly solar noon if you don't know exactly which direction is south. Lots of things you can do with the FrogBro tester you can't do with a DC clamp meter.

I used to work in the solar industry, when we found a bad PV module(s), we had to set up this elaborate test kit to document the under performing ones. Now retired I started some PV charging. Now I saw this ( yes we know ) inexpensive meter that can analyze individual ( modules = panels ) in seconds. The instructions don't tell a lot, but you will need a hand-held pyranometer. Maybe they are inexpensive now too, however I already have one. When the pyranometer gives the reading of how many watts per square meter, you can apply that to what the Solar Panel Tester displays. So at 1000 w/m2 you should be seeing the same display data that is posted (name plate rating) that is on the back of the module. At 500 ww/m2 you'd see 1/2 of the Imp, basically 1/2 power. Anything under 200 w/m2 is kinda mute. So, I am ready to buy an Ecoworthy 195 watt module, but first I bought this PV tester! I tried it on an older tech 12v Siemens SR 50 and got accurate data from the meter! Next an Ecosonique 60 watt portable I had for a few months, and it was slightly over ( they say that in their ad ). Today's temp was 26 F with bright sun with passing clouds. Now that I had confidence in the meter, I tested the newly delivered Eco-195w. By that time the best irradiance the sky would give was about 900 w/m2. And the meter ( see photo ) showed 181 watts. Further, ( 195 w * 0.9 ) = 175.5 watt. This was all I had to see! I installed the module knowing it works. Of course, the next sunny day, I'll measure it at 1000 w/m2 with moderate temps, to get repetitive data. I have read module reviews where folks said it does not have rated output. Well this is a GOOD way to find out. I will update this post if the meter disappoints in the future.

Worth every penney! With only 30 days to test, much easier with a tester. First set of panels were duds, but without a dedicated test took me over 3 weeks to get weather and time off to coincide. Easy to use and NO batteries!

This is my second. They are easy to use, accurate and reasonably priced. I mainly use it for maintenance around the house, such as voltage, resistance and battery checks, and it's working well so far.

I’ve had two of them so far. First one had worked fine until it went over 60 amps. It popped like a fuse and stopped working so I purchased a second one. It gives reading that are over 200w more than actual outputs.I’ve checked it with 3 other meters. So I can’t trust the readings to be accurate. On watts or amps.It’s a paper weight as it is. Can see if panels are At least giving output but that’s about it. Hope they see this and send me a replacement. They did react to my feedback and sent out a replacement. Wish other company’s had this great customer Service. Thanks guys very honourable

It does only 1-thing - but it does it well...it's a unitasker but I feel a necessary one - these are hard measurements to take easily with just a voltmeter - knowing 'no load' voltage is helpful but this is nicer - and it's important to just test panels when they arrive shipped knowing you may not get to using them beyond return periods. No batteries uses the solar power...so that's a dead giveaway of a dead panel.wish it had some way to 'check' or confirm the status of diodes - had one blow once and didn't even know they existed; so it was a learning experience.It's a 'tester' - and if you've got nothing to test it's somewhat useless but if you've got solar panels to test this is a nice choice.