Extra wire, connectors, "stuff"

Renogy rover40 amp and the first of two 100 watt panels here... SO EXCITED. Only batt I have is a marine starting batt (for now).... My question is : If I have say 400 watts of panels going to battery banks does the gauge matter if 12/24/48 it will all be on my smoker roof (see my pic in hello for
Seems like from Will's excellent vids that 24 is a good starting point.... So I wanna order batts today. And am thinking should I but copper wire, ring connectors to batteries, crimper.... Need recs and best brands and places to buy...please


The 40 amp rover states 400 watts max...does that change, and thus the amounts of panels I can place, if a do 24 volts?

Lastly: bus bar? fuses?

Thanks

Pippin said:

Renogy rover40 amp and the first of two 100 watt panels here... SO EXCITED. Only batt I have is a marine starting batt (for now).... My question is : If I have say 400 watts of panels going to battery banks does the gauge matter if 12/24/48 it will all be on my smoker roof (see my pic in hello for
Seems like from Will's excellent vids that 24 is a good starting point.... So I wanna order batts today. And am thinking should I but copper wire, ring connectors to batteries, crimper.... Need recs and best brands and places to buy...please


The 40 amp rover states 400 watts max...doesthat change, and thus the amounts of panels I can place, if a do 24 volts?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Amperage, distance and voltage all factor.

For wires that are exposed to sunlight they should have insulation that is UV resistant.
Its called PV wire.

Pippin said:

Renogy rover40 amp and the first of two 100 watt panels here... SO EXCITED. Only batt I have is a marine starting batt (for now).... My question is : If I have say 400 watts of panels going to battery banks does the gauge matter if 12/24/48 it will all be on my smoker roof (see my pic in hello for
Seems like from Will's excellent vids that 24 is a good starting point.... So I wanna order batts today. And am thinking should I but copper wire, ring connectors to batteries, crimper.... Need recs and best brands and places to buy...please


The 40 amp rover states 400 watts max...doesthat change, and thus the amounts of panels I can place, if a do 24 volts?

Thanks

Click to expand...

For solar panels to SCC just get 12 AWG solar cables, renogy has good cables for that purpose you can get them from amazon.

Also, if you dont want to make your battery cables you can always buy windynation ones.

Check Will's page for recommended wires.

If your SSC says 400w for 12V it should support double (800w) for a 24V battery, just check the SSC specs.

Pippin said:

Renogy rover40 amp and the first of two 100 watt panels here... SO EXCITED. Only batt I have is a marine starting batt (for now).... My question is : If I have say 400 watts of panels going to battery banks does the gauge matter if 12/24/48

The 40 amp rover states 400 watts max...does that change, and thus the amounts of panels I can place, if a do 24 volts

Click to expand...

The 40 amp Rover will accept about 800 watts panels with a 24 volt battery.
Find and Read the manual for all that info.

Your 400 watts of panels connect to your SCC Rover 40 amp with X number of feet of wire. 10 AWG is standard out of the panel so as in your case a short run use 10 as it is common and cheap.

400 watts panels at 12 volts will be too much charge for one starting battery.

sad face....thanks MBR.... so while I wait for my lifepo4 battery? whats a good , inexpensive "test " battery....thought the marine start would do the trick

Pippin said:

sad face....thanks MBR.... so while I wait for my lifepo4 battery? whats a good , inexpensive "test " battery....thought the marine start would do the trick

Click to expand...

Maybe just use one 100 watt panel to the starting battery. That would be 8 amps at 12 volts. Is it used or new?
What are you running with this starter battery until you get LFP?
Starter batteries are not designed to be deeply discharged.
What loads and devices are you planning on powering with your finished solar system?

live in florida, so if hurricanes...maybe fridge, fans, window shaker( not all at once)-- Ultimately . For now I would like to charge my EGO lawn mower batteries and my Ryobi batteries... want to build always with an eye to expand-ability....

For NOW-- I would like to run an oscillating fan to my back patio
and run led lights for my smoker

I built the roof for my smoker (it stinks when it pours when doing a 16 hr brisket)and it occurred to me that solar panels would do quite nicely there...( the roof when down like that faces east, goes to west, built it to move and would be cool to track the sun from morning until 2-3 pm then the trees in west would interfere....thinking I can Arduino or pi it

The marine starting battery powers the ATV winch that I have moving in... Can I conncet and just do that for now? occasionally move the roof using the marine battery, and connect to panels if thats ALL I'm gonna do for now?



I am totally open to design assist and suggestions!

Pippin said:

live in florida, so if hurricanes...maybe fridge, fans, window shaker( not all at once)-- Ultimately . For now I would like to charge my EGO lawn mower batteries and my Ryobi batteries... want to build always with an eye to expand-ability....

For NOW-- I would like to run an oscillating fan to my back patio
and run led lights for my smoker

I built the roof for my smoker (it stinks when it pours when doing a 16 hr brisket)and it occurred to me that solar panels would do quite nicely there...( the roof when down like that faces east, goes to west, built it to move and would be cool to track the sun from morning until 2-3 pm then the trees in west would interfere....thinking I can Arduino or pi it

The marine starting battery powers the ATV winch that I have moving in... Can I conncet and just do that for now? occasionally move the roof using the marine battery, and connect to panels if thats ALL I'm gonna do for now.

Click to expand...

If you are Only running small loads like a fan and led lights right now the starting battery will be ok if you lightly discharge and dont leave it discharged.
Just dont cook the one battery with the charging amps from 4 100 watt panels.
Only connect one panel to your SCC.
One 100 watt panel at 5 hours sun is 500 watt hours.
400 watts panels at 5 hours sun is 2000 watt hours.

Florida has lots of sun hours so your rotating display idea is a fun project but I dont think you need the extra output?

Are your Ego and Ryobi battery chargers 120 volts or 12 volts?

The rotation of roof came because I was building it by myself. It was also the inspiration to get solar.
I think that it might matter seasonally. But we’ll see.

also , I would have to plug in to an inverter to charge ego and ryobi ..... thinking of giandel pure sine

I did go to Rural King and got a Nautilus deep cycle battery

Pippin said:

I did go to Rural King and got a Nautilus deep cycle batteryView attachment 14504

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How much did that cost?
Is that a true deep cycle battery? Ah's?
How long before you get LFP?

The battery was $80 groupbsize 27 550cca 675ca 182rc mins. to get to a 24 volt system I guess I can get two for now right? just for experimentation? Because I would like to buy the inverter now too. and inverters are specific on input 24 or 12v or whatever it seems.

so given this set up: need what fuses? a busbar, and shunts (are they the little displays on battery stats???

Pippin said:

The battery was $80 groupbsize 27 550cca 675ca 182rc mins. to get to a 24 volt system I guess I can get two for now right? just for experimentation?

Click to expand...

Thats a starting battery which is only designed for shallow discharge.
Look at AGM deep cycle
or 6 volt golf cart batteries that are 200Ah or more.
100Ah AGM is going to be $150 or more.

says deep cycle on the battery....this will work I believe for a start, it is definitely not a starting battery, and with two hundred watts of panels, one hundred currently, I am not wanting to spend a ton on batteries that I hope to not need in a years time

thinking of getting a second, then 24 volting the system. This should work for led lights and a fan for a bit.....no????

specs:

I ended up with two Duracell dt31 agm batteries