Datasheet

(the short circuit current is bigger) but the voltage of the cell is fixed at 0.5V open circuit -

it's just part the physics of the cell. However, you can connect a bunch of cells in series to

add them up. A 6V panel has 12 cells (12 * 0.5V = 6V)

Now you can see what happens if you connect a 6V solar panel to a lipoly charger. As long

as the current being drawn by the charger is less than the panel's short circuit current at

that light condition, everything is peachy. The moment the light changes even a little, and

the current the lipo charger wants is higher than the short circuit current, the charger

becomes unstable: it will draw too much current, which will cause the voltage to collapse,

which causes the charger to turn off, which reduces the current draw, which makes the

panel voltage recover, which turns on the charger again, which then draws too much

current, and the cycle repeats.

You can see this happen in the image from my scope below:

The scale is 1V per square, and the 0V point is one square above the bottom of the display

(see the 2-> on the left) The open circuit voltage of the panel is about 6.5V, the lipo

charger draws some current and quickly the panel voltage collapses. After 250 us, the

charger tries again, but fails again. The lipo charger may seem to be charging because