Is my solar panel kaput?

[chuzzlewit]

It looks blistered. It gives 22.5 V on open circuit in weak winter sun shine. This drops to 20V if it is shaded. It never gets the (70A.H. starter) battery above 12.5V and only manages 0.33amps against this voltage. On the panel(3ft by 2ft) is printed 'Sunware Ser. No. 119544'. The Sunsaver controller is 6A/12V. I tried disconnecting the wires from the panel to see if they would light a 2 amp bulb and they didn't.Afterwards I checked that I hadn't fused the bulb with 22V but it was still working

 

[moondancer]

That equates to a 7 Watt trickle charge. Sounds like it is working.

 

[vyv_cox]

Sounds very similar to my original panel. At this time of year in UK I would be quite pleased to get 0.33 amps from it. Mine is also delaminated and looks blistered, but it still works, up to 1.5 amps in Med in summer. I have never got the rated 2 Amps out of mine, but then it is installed horizontally so never sees full sun normal to it.

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
It never gets the (70A.H. starter) battery above 12.5V

[/ QUOTE ] It really ought to do better than 12.5 volts, at least in full summer sun but it depends on what the controller is controlling it to. Is there any possibility that the panel is OK and the controller is faulty? You'll have to disconnect it and try feeding the battery directly to see if it makes any difference. Or test the output from the controller with the battery disconnected.
In full summer sun the panel should light a 2amp bulb. I guess it's about a 60watt panel from your dimensions is that correct?

Found the details now:

69 Watt Panel
Peak Output - 69watts
Max Current - 5.0 amps @ 13.8volts
Open circuit volts - 24.0volts
Qty of cells - 39
Dimensions - 600x890mm

And the controller is here (Manual available too if you need it) http://www.affordable-solar.com/morningstar.sunsaver.6.12v.charge.controller.htm

 

[chuzzlewit]

Thanks for your help folks.