When my solar panels are sitting in the sun all day but the battery is full, where does the extra power go?

Question

Edit: I should mention it’s a boat system so it’s not grid tied

In: 510

Answer 1

When sunlight hits a solar panel, it pops an electron off of the molecular structure. The free electrons usually travel through a wire. That movement of electrons is the usable electricity you think. If there’s nowhere for the electrons to go, they just reattach to the molecular structure and the extra energy is converted to heat.