waphals
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2021
- Messages
- 12
I am working on a Ford Transit van conversion and have yet to install my solar panels. I've done a lot of designing to find the best configuration for my roof space which has 2 AC units and best option I've found would be to use (10) 75W panels. Am I dumb for making myself connect 10 panels together or should I just have less power and an easier time installing? The alternate options are either less watts total or rely on mixing panel sizes. I've done an energy audit and we could get away with less than 750W but we could also put the energy to use if we have it
My main question is which option would be best?
Option 1: (10) Newpowa 75 W Solar panels panels in parallel with a Victron 250 / 85 SCC
Option 2: 2 arrays of (5) Newpowa 75 W Solar panels panels in parallel with each array having its own Victron 100 / 50 SCC
With the 10 panels in an array I would only have one point of entry into the van.
With the 2 arrays of 5 panels I would need two points of entry, but I would also be able to start off with 5 panels and then add the second array down the road after living in the van for a bit. Two of the smaller SCC's are cheaper than the 1 SCC.
Additionally, would 8 awg wire work for both options if there is a 26 foot run from the farthest panel to the SCC? That alone might force me to do the second option.
Also for fun, here are all of my games of tetris I played with my roof. I was just playing around seeing how much I could cram into each iteration. The Rich 200W panels don't quite fit my roof rack which was the main reason towards not using that option.
My main question is which option would be best?
Option 1: (10) Newpowa 75 W Solar panels panels in parallel with a Victron 250 / 85 SCC
Option 2: 2 arrays of (5) Newpowa 75 W Solar panels panels in parallel with each array having its own Victron 100 / 50 SCC
With the 10 panels in an array I would only have one point of entry into the van.
With the 2 arrays of 5 panels I would need two points of entry, but I would also be able to start off with 5 panels and then add the second array down the road after living in the van for a bit. Two of the smaller SCC's are cheaper than the 1 SCC.
Additionally, would 8 awg wire work for both options if there is a 26 foot run from the farthest panel to the SCC? That alone might force me to do the second option.
Also for fun, here are all of my games of tetris I played with my roof. I was just playing around seeing how much I could cram into each iteration. The Rich 200W panels don't quite fit my roof rack which was the main reason towards not using that option.
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