Illumination agnostic solar panel

A method to operate a photovoltaic module, the method comprising:

• electrically isolating a plurality of photovoltaic cells and a plurality of power conversion circuits of a photovoltaic module from an external circuit including an external negative line and an external positive line respectively connected to an internal negative line and internal positive line of the photovoltaic module;
• determining a line potential across the external negative and positive lines;
• determining whether the external circuit includes a battery based on the determined line potential;
• and
• if it is determined that the external circuit includes a battery, initializing operation of the photovoltaic module consistent with the external circuit including a battery;
• or
• if it is determined that the external circuit lacks a battery:
• determining that the external circuit includes an inverter;
• and
• initializing operation of the photovoltaic module consistent with the external circuit including an inverter.