diy solar

diy solar

Lean-to Shed Solar Power for Year Round Use

I think the concern expressed is that 20a (16a in your case) is significantly more amps that 8a. My point is that as long as the wire is OK then it's OK. If you were to do 3p and have 24a or 4p and 30a then you get to a level that might melt the wire. :) But 16a won't hurt 10awg wire.

The other concern expressed is just that any electrical current >40v or so carries the risk of shock that can harm you - so the same respect you would use for 120v or 240v home wiring should be employed / respected. DC can be just as deadly as AC in shock terms.
 
Thank you both... I spec'd the wiring to handle the wattage coming off the panels in the configuration I'm using, so the wire should be sufficient. And I'm pretty careful in general, but I take your points. More than anything, I just needed a sanity check that, in principle, doing the short circuit on an array to test current was OK, so long as you are careful. I realize this is not a great test anyway (as opossed to the Imp).

I've done enough stupid things with 120 V AC in my day to know it's nothing to mess around with. I feel moderately comfortable installing dimmer switches, garbage disposals, and and the like, so I've been applying the same basic principles this whole time. Gone are the days of stripping old Christmas lights with my teeth when they are plugged in (nice one, 8 year old self).
 
Got my panels connected and it's been producing power for about 8 hours. I was seeing about 400 W when it was hot and overcast. Now I'm on battery only. Super happy things are all connected and working.

I want to connect the PIP to a permanent ground, but I'm having a hard time figuring out the best way to do this. And what gauge ground wire to use.

On this forum, there's quite a bit of discussion about lack of good docs about grounding charge controller/inverter all in ones. Since my LV2424 is not mobile, I should be able to connect to a good ground. The thing is, the only ground point on the LV2424 is located near and used by the AC output.

Do I use this ground screw for the permanent ground the manual mentions on page 1 understand safety instructions? What size wire is required?
 
I want to connect the PIP to a permanent ground, but I'm having a hard time figuring out the best way to do this. And what gauge ground wire to use.

On this forum, there's quite a bit of discussion about lack of good docs about grounding charge controller/inverter all in ones. Since my LV2424 is not mobile, I should be able to connect to a good ground. The thing is, the only ground point on the LV2424 is located near and used by the AC output.

Do I use this ground screw for the permanent ground the manual mentions on page 1 understand safety instructions? What size wire is required?
I saw this video recently.


Explains grounds with solar systems nicely. It looks like I might not need to ground my LV2424 (assuming the AC input ground is connected to true earth ground) aside from the AC grounds I've already connected with AC input/output.

Which brings up the question: how do I test the earth ground on my main panel or on outlets throughout my house?

 
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