electrical newbee here please help

[rakedfront1]

I just bought a little 5 w solar panel and as I took out of the box I tested it with an voltmeter. I was getting -ve 20 V in bright sun light. Is this wired backwards? It is after all made in china. The red terminal that comes out of the solar panel clips to the +ve terminal of the battery the book says. But like I said when I tested it, that was actually the -ve terminal .I am afraid to hook it up to the battery, I am pretty sure I can damage it with that little 5w if I hook it up the wrong way. Thank you in advance for all your help........Constantin

[nimblemotors]

Are the leads on your voltmeter connected right?

[Wyoming pirate]

connect your voltmeter to a battery and see if it still reads the same, correct polarity of course...then you will know the rest of the story.

[jongleur]

It is believable. The very first solar panel I bought
25 years ago (still have it, still works), was wired
backwards out of the package.

Yes, make sure you have it correct before you wire
it to your batteries.

[rakedfront1]

Yes the leads are connected right and I did test the voltmeter on a car battery. I just want to make sure that the +ve of the solar panel goes to the +ve of the battery. I know that you connect the +ve of one battery terminal to the -ve of another battery when you hook them up in series and I want to make sure that is not the case for solar panels. ...thank you again.....