Pointless solar panel question

[Pants]

I have two solar panels. One is connected to nothing and the energy is going nowhere, the other is connected to an electric heater.

Would there be any difference in the temperature or any other aspect of the panels? Surely there has to be some kind of difference as the energy has to come from somewhere?

Random thought inspired by building this little robot thing with my daughter...

upload imagem

 

[Pants]

I get his point - two panels receiving the same amount of solar radiation, one is connected the other isn't.

The panel that is connected is converting some of the solar energy to electrical energy. The disconnected panel isn't converting any energy into electricity - given it receives the same amount of energy - what happens to equivalent energy the other panel converts? It is either reflected back or absorbed and turned into heat.

Therefore the disconnected solar panel either is more reflective or gets hotter.

Found the same question on Reddit:

https://m.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/ye346/when_you_complete_a_circuit_with_a_solar_panel_it/

Seems to be an agreement that the disconnected panel is hotter.

Thanks, that thread seems to mirror what I thought, that the same amount of enrgy is going into each panel, but more coming out of the connected panel, therefore the connected panel being cooler.

 

[Pants]

sorry off topic : What kit is that ? I'd like to play around with solar panels , but need something light (inexpensive) to try out a few projects.

Hopefully OK to post here: http://www.red5.co.uk/14-in-1-solar-robot-kit.aspx

You can get them in loads of high street shops.