Just installed 1 Kyocera 245 watt solar panel

[Panamajames]

This is what I did with little knowledge and at the high sun of the day getting about 10 amps on the controller. Is this good or bad?

There was a previous solar hookup with 2 old 80 watt panels (now junk) connected to a Morningstar Prostar-15 with display.

To keep the cost down on my initial install I hooked up the panel to the Prostar-15. I ran 15 ft of wire postive 15' and negative 15' number 10 copper wire bought from the dealer with connectors. I wired it in to the # 12 or # 14 wire coming from the controller that runs about 10 ft. I really don't like the smaller wire but needed a quick deal as we are sailing soon and just wanted what I could get with what I had.

I have a 8 kw Kohler genset and an Air breeze so I have plenty of power if needed. I am adding one panel now with the second one to come later in the year with an mppt controller.

My question is how am I doing with this install and about how many amps should I be seeing on the controller. I have no idea what to expect. Well I would like to expect about 6-8 amps average per hour during the sun normal sun time hours.

Any advice would be appreciated. I know I need to replace the wire from the controller to the new #10 wire but I do not have the time before we sail to mess with it. Thanks for any advice.

[BambooSailor]

What is rated voltage and amps of your solar panel? Does it match Prostar 15? I think Morningstar Prostar-15 is not MPPT so it will not be able to use higher-voltage/lower current solar panels (as some of these larger panels are).

[Bash]

At your latitude, during peak hours you should be seeing about 14 amps. Figure on getting that about six hours per day.

[bobofthenorth]

Amps x volts = watts. You'll never get the theoretical capacity of the panel but if you're only getting 10 amps at 12 volts in peak sun that close to the equator then you could likely expect to do a little better. If I understand you correctly you have around 25 feet of combined #10 and maybe #14 wire from the panels to the controller. If so that's likely your problem.

OTOH if you are charging a 24 volt battery bank then you are doing spectacularly well.

[cwyckham]

Remember the batteries can only absorb so much depending on state of charge.

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by Panamajames

...My question is how am I doing with this install and about how many amps should I be seeing on the controller. I have no idea what to expect. Well I would like to expect about 6-8 amps average per hour during the sun normal sun time hours...

We've got a page on Solar Panels you might be interested in. One of the values we worked out empirically is that if you divide the nominal wattage of your panel by 3, that's how many Amp-Hours (Ah) you'll typically get into the batteries on a sunny day in the tropics.
(tax, tip, dealer prep, & destination charges extra. Your mileage may vary. blah, blah)