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diy solar

Wire Trough Wireway for multiple 18kPV Inverters

EastTexCowboy said:
Nice! I like that it does up to 4" holes, although the largest I've needed so far is 2.5", but it's there if needed. I've been using a hole saw but this is way ahead of that. This goes on my "what I learned today" list. Might be a little hard to justify considering the small scope of work I'm doing on solar but I can see some other uses with some sheet metal projects down the road.
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Yea When I got mine I had a lot of electrical work to do. I actually used the 4 inch for a nipple into a transfer switch.
 
Nobodybusiness said:
I know a lot of folks have advised using Hole saws and punches.

I bought this and it has paid for itself many times over.

For 1/2 inch you can probably just just a Step drill but for 1-4 inches these make perfect cuts with little effort.

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A punch is much preferred over a hole saw. If nothing more, there is less worry about metal shavings getting into places that cause problems.

However, buying a punch kit for one or two holes can be expensive. A trick for cleaner holes using hole saws: Drill the pilot hole with a regular drill bit and replace the center drill bit of the hole saw with a steel rod. This gives a cleaner cut for the hole saw.

If the drill bit is used on the hole saw, the flutes on the drill bit bounce on the pilot hole causing a more jagged cut for the hole blade. Furthermore, the bounce gets worse as the flutes tear up the edge of the pilot hole. A straight steel rod rides smoother in the pilot hole and does not tear it up.

Note: Many (most?) Hole saws in the U.S. use a 1/4" bit. 1/4" steel rod is available at most hardware stores
 
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WattAboutThat said:
Q2) If running four EG4 18kPV Inverters,
and for example say Six (6) EG4 battery racks each containing Six (6) EG4 LL (V2) batteries,
for a total of 36 batteries,
what is the required Amperage rating that would be needed on the bus bar connecting all battery racks to all inverters?

And where would I find a bus bar with that capability?
Click to expand...

The combined sustained battery current for 6 EG4 18Kpvs s would be (1500A). The surge current could be even higher. That is a crazy high number of Amps. If I were doing that setup I would keep each of the 6 racks separate and dedicate one per inverter. That keeps the max sustained current down to 250A on any single point in the system. Each rack would have a dedicated set of 4/0 cables (or two sets of 2/0 Cables) to the associated inverter. (Fuse the cables appropriately)

Note: My understanding is that the six 18Kpvs will coordinate to balance the six different battery banks.
 
DIYrich said:
The four parallel inverters require the batteries to also be wired in parallel.
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The 18Kpv does not require the batteries to be in one bank all paralleled together. Each inverter can have a different battery bank.
My understanding is that each of the 18Kpvs will coordinate to keep the separate banks balanced to the same state of charge.
 
FilterGuy said:
The combined sustained battery current for 6 EG4 18Kpvs s would be (1500A). The surge current could be even higher. That is a crazy high number of Amps. If I were doing that setup I would keep each of the 6 racks separate and dedicate one per inverter. That keeps the max sustained current down to 250A on any single point in the system. Each rack would have a dedicated set of 4/0 cables (or two sets of 2/0 Cables) to the associated inverter. (Fuse the cables appropriately)

Note: My understanding is that the six 18Kpvs will coordinate to balance the six different battery banks.
Click to expand...
I'll offer up what I think is a "better" solution:
Dedicate one rack per inverter as stated, but provide an additional 30A breaker with #10 wire from each rack to a common >=200A busbar to balance the system.

I would not trust the communications to be fast enough to work reliably.
 
Yep, that’s 50 kva. From batteries. Anything higher than that, someone might need to look into high voltage batts and forget about 48s.
 
Also, am I the only one who thinks that a Victron Lynx distributor just doesn’t have the “look” of a 1000 amp bus bar?
 
GuyG said:
Also, am I the only one who thinks that a Victron Lynx distributor just doesn’t have the “look” of a 1000 amp bus bar?
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The midnite solar one is way larger, but I'm pretty sure you could push 2000A through that without issue.
 
GuyG said:
Also, am I the only one who thinks that a Victron Lynx distributor just doesn’t have the “look” of a 1000 amp bus bar?
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Keep in mind that Victron targets the marine market and the marine market uses ABYC electrical standards. I don't know if I have ever seen an ABYC bus bar spec, but the Wire Ampacity spec is way more aggressive than the NEC spec.
 
Shimmy said:
I'll offer up what I think is a "better" solution:
Dedicate one rack per inverter as stated, but provide an additional 30A breaker with #10 wire from each rack to a common >=200A busbar to balance the system.

I would not trust the communications to be fast enough to work reliably.
Click to expand...
The latest firmware improved it, but the 18K's struggle when shifting the load to battery. Also the firmware is a little sketchy when managing two inverters in parallel. Hopefully future firmware will improve this. If either inverter drops out while in parallel everything shuts down, regardless of load. They do not synchronize all their settings. The book sez to put them in standby to make any change and change it on all independently. Standby one either does trip on both of mine as expected. I have changed some battery thresholds while running and it seemed to adjust properly to the new settings. I think when in parallel I see three(3) classes of settings: 1) Things that should always be in sync. Anything output related 2) Things you might want synced (ex: Bus vs independent batteries). 3) Things you never want sync'd. The firmware needs to allow you to take down an inverter and stay running on the other if for nothing else, doing firmware upgrades.
 
FilterGuy said:
The 18Kpv can have independent battery banks.
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Grid tie and off-grid? I know it is possible in general (and the patents would have expired by now), but did think any of the PV inverters load share that way.
 
Shimmy said:
Grid tie and off-grid? I know it is possible in general (and the patents would have expired by now), but did think any of the PV inverters load share that way.
Click to expand...
I believe you can have split banks for either off grid or on grid.
 
WattAboutThat said:
I have two (2) questions today:

Q1) I am searching for online links to purchase a wireway wire trough to mount under up to four (4) EG4 18kPV inverters.

a) not sure what terms to use in search
b) have read other forum posts and located
the hoffman trough,
but not sure which to select

I believe I want the following features:

a) 12” x 12” by at least 8’ (feet)
b) a 90 degree corner
c) and another straight piece of 4 to 6’
d) connectors and end caps

I intend to use hydraulic punch
to punch hole patterns for conduit.

——
(this probably should be a different thread)

Q2) If running four EG4 18kPV Inverters,
and for example say Six (6) EG4 battery racks each containing Six (6) EG4 LL (V2) batteries,
for a total of 36 batteries,
what is the required Amperage rating that would be needed on the bus bar connecting all battery racks to all inverters?

And where would I find a bus bar with that capability?

Thank you
Click to expand...
On the wireway, oddly NEC code doesn't require anything specific (as I understand it), just a metal enclosure. Formally titled raceways are insanely expensive, esp. for 12" x 12" x 10 ft...so I just opted for the following, which I'm sure someone will say is crazy, but it's the same metal gauge as a formally titled "wireway," same size, and a lot cheaper, plus accessible via the drop down, lockable door rather than screws:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFQLQYY3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
  1. National Electrical Code (NEC): Chapter 3 of the NEC contains articles (342-376) that outline raceway requirements. According to the NEC, a raceway is defined as “an enclosed channel designed expressly for holding wires, cables, or bus bars, with additional functions as permitted in this Code” 1. While the NEC provides guidelines, it does not specifically require certification for wire raceways.
 
OkieFarmer said:
On the wireway, oddly NEC code doesn't require anything specific (as I understand it), just a metal enclosure. Formally titled raceways are insanely expensive, esp. for 12" x 12" x 10 ft...so I just opted for the following, which I'm sure someone will say is crazy, but it's the same metal gauge as a formally titled "wireway," same size, and a lot cheaper, plus accessible via the drop down, lockable door rather than screws:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFQLQYY3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
  1. National Electrical Code (NEC): Chapter 3 of the NEC contains articles (342-376) that outline raceway requirements. According to the NEC, a raceway is defined as “an enclosed channel designed expressly for holding wires, cables, or bus bars, with additional functions as permitted in this Code” 1. While the NEC provides guidelines, it does not specifically require certification for wire raceways.
Click to expand...
That's actually pretty interesting idea.. can you tell what gauge metal it is using and/or have picture of it installed with wires in it?
 
I did see a comment on Amazon: "The sheet metal is a thin guage which gives it no strength for durability."
 
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