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Connecting panels on East and west of home

Austint

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Aug 1, 2021
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Hi ,
I have 4 panels on the East and 4 panels on the west of my home . I would like to connect them and run them into one of the mppt inputs of the inverter . All panels have a ts4-a-0 optimizer . Should I

1) connect them all in series ?
2 connect the two groups of 4 in parallel ?
3 connect them in parallel with a combiner box that has blocking diodes for each string in string
Thanks
 
What is the amp size of your controller? What is your max wattage rating of your controller?
 
As was stated more details are needed to give a answer like
Panel spec sheet
Your general location(for temperature)
Charge controller make and model
Inverter make and model(if its all in one).
 
run them at the highest voltage you can while staying 10% below (protect inverter on cold days) the high VOC callout on the side of inverter or in your manual.
 
Wires from the panels go to the solar controller not the inverter. Don't get the man confused. He needs to know his solar controller specs not inverter specs.
 
Wires from the panels go to the solar controller not the inverter. Don't get the man confused. He needs to know his solar controller specs
We dont know what he has...seperated components or all in one, i have learned that being specific cuts down the back and forth.
 
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We dont know what he has...seperated components or all in one, i have learned that being specific cuts down the back and forth.
"I would like to connect them and run them into one of the mppt inputs of the inverter" . By this statement he is definitely confused. You don't hook your panels to the inverter.
 
The information specs are on the side of the inverter if it an all in one...sorry
 
One thing I learned was it does not matter what a panel is stamped as to its wattage. The controller looks at what the panels are producing not what they are rated at. When I built my first setup, i used a 40 amp mppt controller with a max of 1050 watts at 24 volts. So I bought my panels hooked them up using 3-305 watt panels making it 915 watts. I wanted to be on the cautious side. In actual operation, i was only getting in the neighborhood of 600 to 700 watts at peak periods. So I added a fourth panel. Hooked up 2P-2S, I kept it below the 40 amps. This should have put me in the 1220 watts, right? No it got me between 800 to 900 watts so it really does not matter what you think a setup will put out. It is about what it will really put out on an actual setup. I have two identical systems. Each 4 - 305 watt panels, 40 amp mppt controllers, 4000/8000 watt inverters, 6 -100 amp Battle born batteries, all on 24 volt systems. These setups are generating in the neighborhood of 6 to 7 kilowatts daily each. These setups may be able to actually have 5 -305 watt panels instead of 4 but I will still stay on the lower side of the equation.
 
I would put 5 panels to the east, one to the south and two to the west. :cool:
The reasoning being: Early morning, the batteries are at the lowest charge. The east-facing panels will give them the needed boost.
Middle of the day, hopefully they're doing OK, but the south-facing one will give them (along with the others) whatever they need.
Evening, the west-facing ones... the batteries should be in as good shape as they get - depending on cloudiness, obviously, but on the average - they'll just do "upkeep". Along with the others, as they will charge a bit even without any direct light.

[EDIT] See? You wrote East with a capital E and west with a lower-case one... twice... subconsciously, you just knew ;)
 
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The inverter is a Deye 8kw it has two mppt inputs that will accept a pv voltage of 100-500 vdc , the mppt range is 125-425 vdc . One of the mppt inputs will connect to an array of 8- 370 w panels . The other input will be used for the two groups of 4 panels
 
The inverter is a Deye 8kw it has two mppt inputs that will accept a pv voltage of 100-500 vdc , the mppt range is 125-425 vdc . One of the mppt inputs will connect to an array of 8- 370 w panels . The other input will be used for the two groups of 4
You can wire the 8 panels on each mppt in series make sure voc totals less than 450v, since your using optimizers you dont have to worry about one gettin and shaded bringing your voltage right down.
 
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I am about to install ten 530 panels on each mppt of my 8k
 
Much better if you put a separate MPPT controlllers for each panel group in same direction. Paralleling two different direction facing panels into one MPPT controller will result in not getting optimum MPPT point for either array.

Other option is using a DC optimizer on each direction group but usually the net cost is same or higher then two separate MPPT controllers.
 
Much better if you put a separate MPPT controlller for each panel group in same direction. Paralleling two different direction facing panels into one MPPT controller will result in not getting optimum MPPT point for either array.
Yes i forgot to clarify that point to them...since he sounds to be doing a east and west use one mppt channel for each direction
 
Thank you all for the great replies . I have a total of 12 panels on the east ( 1 group of 8 and a second group 6 feet away of 4). On the west I have a group of 4 panels that are just over the ridge line from the group of 4 panels on the east . On the south I have another group of 8 . I was actually going to put the two groups of 4 , one on the east and one on the west into series into a mppt input .
 
"I would like to connect them and run them into one of the mppt inputs of the inverter" . By this statement he is definitely confused. You don't hook your panels to the inverter.
I don't see the confusion.

I have two inverters, one grid tied which has 11kW of PV connected to it's two MPPT inputs, and an off-grid inverter which has 2.2kW of PV connected to it's solar input (a PWM in this case). Not all inverters are "just" inverters. Many are multifunctional.
I have a total of 12 panels on the east ( 1 group of 8 and a second group 6 feet away of 4). On the west I have a group of 4 panels that are just over the ridge line from the group of 4 panels on the east . On the south I have another group of 8 . I was actually going to put the two groups of 4 , one on the east and one on the west into series into a mppt input .
The inverter is a Deye 8kw it has two mppt inputs that will accept a pv voltage of 100-500 vdc , the mppt range is 125-425 vdc . One of the mppt inputs will connect to an array of 8- 370 w panels . The other input will be used for the two groups of 4 panels

There is nothing wrong with paralleling arrays with different orientations, you just need for each string to have the same number and rating of panels. If you are looking at an East + West combination then you don't want the tilt of the roof to be steep. A shallower tilt the better in this instance.

Better combinations for parallel arrays would be E+S or W+S.


Just clarifying:

Do you have:
E: 12 x 370W panels
S: 8 x 270W panels
W: 4 x 370W panels
Tigo optimisers on all panels
1 x DEYE 8kW inverter, with 2 x MPPT inputs, each with a 22A limit and Voc limit of 500V (MPPT range 125V-425V).

Is that correct?

370W panels are probably going to have a Voc of ~40V, call it 45V for a bit of low temp headroom. 8 panels per string will be fine. 4 panels in a string operationally is going to be ~135V, so at the low end of the MPPT range, but it's in range.

If it is then this is what I would suggest:

MPPT1: 8S + 8E
MPPT2: 4E + 4W

That said with the optimisers you could try running the E+W as a single string in series. The optimisers will be made to work harder in that configuration (it's what they are for), but I think I'd be inclined to stick with 4+4. If there's any way to make that MPPT's input a 5+5 configuration it would be better to help get the voltage up a little more. 4 panels in series is on the low end.
 
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