diy solar

diy solar

Most reacted posts

  • Post in thread: Newbie with a container needing advice

    Given the amount of solar (2835W) and the size of the inverter (5kW) you will probably want a 48V based system. With 9 panels you could do 9P, 3S3P, or 9S. If you use just 8 of the panels you can do 8P, 2S4P, 4S2P, or 8S. With 9 panels you have 2835W. On a 48V system that would mean up to 60A...
  • Post in thread: Van solar system - does this make sense?

    I have support for 30A shore power at 120V. With two different plug adapters I can plug into 15A/120V or 50A/240V. I don't know what would be needed to allow a 120V connection to work with something that needs more like 230 or 240V. But, in the last three months of living in my trailer...
  • Post in thread: Solar Panel Config Oddity

    2P1S is just two panels in parallel but you list four panels. Can you please clarify how exactly the four panels are connected? Also note that panel wattage is Vmp x Imp. Neither Voc nor Isc are used in determining panel wattage.
  • Post in thread: LG leaving the Solar Panel market this year.

    At least solar panels don't need security or firmware updates, unlike phones.
  • Post in thread: What size class T fuse do I need ?

    I have no idea what the efficiency of a Growatt inverter is but 85% seems like a good conservative value when working out the details. I'd rather end up with a slightly oversized wire and fuse to avoid hot wires or overstressed setups.
  • Post in thread: Can I wire AC-DC Charger to bus bar instead of direct to battery?

    It's not ideal to wire for what you think you will use versus what is actually available. You might forget it's only wired for 2000W instead of 3000W. Or maybe someone else tries to use it and doesn't know. If you keep the 2/0AWG then I would use a 250A fuse. This way if you attempt to use the...
  • Post in thread: MPPT 100/50 charge controller on the edge?

    The calculation is vastly simpler. Assuming a 12V system there are 2 320W panels for a total of 640W possible. 640W / 12V = 53A of possible charging current. The SCC can provide up to 50A of charge current. That's close enough. It will be rare to get the full 640W from the panels. Even if that...
  • Post in thread: Is it okay to exceed max V on an MPPT by 1.2v?

    Ignoring timing of cold fronts or whatever, in most cases the coldest time of day is just at sunrise. A solar panel can reach full Voc in the earliest morning light when it happens to be the coldest.
  • Post in thread: 40amp mppt, battery max charge current 30amp - A problem?

    The OP will have up to 33A of battery charge current. The input voltage and current are not the same thing as the output battery charge voltage and current that the MPPT SCC produces. The max possible battery charge current is total panel wattage divided by battery charge voltage.
  • Post in thread: Panel issues..

    It looks like the 4 batteries are wired for 12V based on the VictronConnect screenshot. You have 1600W of solar on a 12V system. That would be up to 133A of charge current. At best you get 85A with the 150/85. So at best you can get about 14.6V x 85A = 1240W out of your 1600W of panels. So you...
  • Post in thread: Running new wiring circuits along side existing RV wiring(?)

    I have an enclosed cargo trailer that I converted to a camper so I have been through this myself. What I did is to completely leave the stock trailer electrical system in place. I have a dual-axle trailer with electric brakes and a small battery on the tongue for the emergency brake. The trailer...
  • Post in thread: My solar board....so far

    Please, please find a way to redo your negative bus bar. It is very important that the wire lugs are flat and tight against the bus bar. The nuts, bolts, and washers must only be used to keep the lugs against the bus bar. They are not meant to carry any current. What size wire is being used by...
  • Post in thread: FULL system failure!

    What kind of battery is it? If it's a LiFePO₄ battery then the BMS probably shut down on low voltage disconnect and it needs to be woken up.
  • Post in thread: How to connect my solar panels?

    You do not want to wire the panels in 10P. But if you did you wouldn't need 83A MC4 connectors since you would have a big combiner box next to the panels so no MC4 connectors would be needed. 6AWG wire is way too small to run 83A 270 feet (round trip) at such low voltage. Even with 4/0AWG wire...
  • Post in thread: Pros & cons: watts vs amps?

    I honestly can't tell if the OP is simply unclear or it is already April Fools' Day where they live.
  • Post in thread: Does an MPPT solar controller, turn excess voltage into Current/Amps?

    No. The charge controller takes the input voltage and amps (which equals some number of watts) and it outputs the same number of watts (minus any conversion losses) at the battery charge voltage. The resulting amps are simply the watts divided by the battery charge voltage. They are correct...
  • Post in thread: Boondocking Camper set up

    Something to keep in mind with your battery bank and solar panels. 3 12.8V 300Ah batteries is 11520Wh. You are planning 600W of panels that will likely be flat mounted on the roof. On a good summer day you might see 500W. 11520Wh / 500W = 23 hours. That might be 4 or 5 days in the summer to...
  • Post in thread: Impress your friends by using correct units and abbreviations

    While I don't personally like a space between a value and its abbreviated units for aesthetic reasons, the use of a non-break space eliminates the issue you mention. When typing a document in a word processor you should be able to enter a non-break space. On a Mac this can be done with...
  • Post in thread: 220 Volt Panels. How to convert to 110 AC?

    20 440W panels is 8800W. You do not want a 12V system with that many watts. You want a 48V system. But otherwise the general idea is correct. The SCC converts the panel power into battery voltage. Then the inverter converts battery power into 110VAC. You would need 3 of the suggested Victron...
  • Post in thread: 40amp mppt, battery max charge current 30amp - A problem?

    400W of panels on a 12V system can be up to about 33A as you say. With a charge voltage closer to 14V you'll only get 28A. So you will never get the full 40A out of the SCC unless you add more panels. But 33A is more than the battery maximum of 30A. I wouldn't exceed the maximum unless you want...
  • Post in thread: Distance from batteries to inverter charger

    Just make sure you use really high quality marine-grade wire (pure copper, optionally tinned, very high strand count, 105ºC rated). Be careful with wire on Amazon. DO NOT end up with aluminum clad wire.
  • Post in thread: Busbar stacking wires question?

    When you do put two wires on one stud, put on the wire that needs the most amps first, then the wire needing fewer amps. And this might be overkill but I even put my higher amp-needing wires on the studs closest to the battery and the lower needing wires farther from the battery. The idea is...
  • Post in thread: Inverter input breaker question

    2AWG wire is currently safe because the 100A breaker is well below what 2AWG can carry. But 2AWG wires are very, very undersized for a 3500W inverter at 12V. Please note that 2/0AWG is not the same as 2AWG. 2/0AWG is a lot bigger. Edit: You don't need dual-2/0AWG to the charge controller. Just...
  • Post in thread: Do half-cut panels out-perform on overcast days?

    I believe you are referring to this part of the post by @fafrd : This needs to be taken in the context it was posted. This is in a heavily shaded setup. So on a sunny day there is a lot of shading. The half-cut cells do help improve output in such a case. Then they claim that on an overcast...
  • Post in thread: Is this possible with 2 arrays and 1 timer/switch?

    Use a 2nd MPPT SCC for the second array. Aim one array more SE and the other more SW and get good solar all day.
  • Post in thread: Rate my setup please!

    Something like that. Just make sure you choose the correct sized holes for the terminals on your fuse block. I doubt the fuse block has 5/16" screws on it. The smallest I see on that link is 1/4" holes for 2AWG lugs. The fuse block might have #10 or #8 screws which will make it very hard to find...
  • Post in thread: How can I run 6 security cameras using solar power?

    6 5W cameras for 24 hours is 720Wh (watt hours). You need a battery to power the cameras and then the solar can be used to recharge the battery. 720Wh would be a 60Ah 12V battery. But since you can only use 50% of a lead acid battery you would need twice that, or 120Ah. This would be the...
  • Post in thread: Gut check - am I crazy?

    Have you worked out a rational plan for when you have no solar for two days due to bad weather? What about a whole week of really poor solar conditions?
  • Post in thread: Ethics and policy - would it be fine charging your 5kwh battery at a school/public library?

    I would be more worried about being SWATed for bringing in a large strange suitcase that buzzes when plugged in. That could freak some people out.
  • Post in thread: measurement unit consensus.

    I'm all for the USA going metric. In 1972, as a 7-year old kid, my teacher told us that by 1980 the US would be fully metric. I think we missed the deadline. We got as far as selling soft drinks in 2l bottles, the speedometers of our cars are still in mph but they also show (in much smaller...
Back
Top