Tmaynard68
New Member
How far can the solar panels be from the equipment. And how far can the equipment be from the house?
Distances from panels to inverter
- Thread starter Tmaynard68
- Start date
With high voltage dc used on modern solar systems the distance between panels and inverters can be quite far 100s feet possible. Inverters and batteries should be close to the house to minimize voltage drop affecting loads in the house.
EJansen
Solar Enthusiast
Engineer775 on YouTube recently posted a job where the array was 800ft away.
Balrog006
Solar Enthusiast
Just depends on your budget for wire and conduit to get the HVDC from one place to the other. After a point, you’ll have more in wire than the panels or inverter…but you can get it there.
Solarcabin Channel
Solar Addict
Need some specs for a system to answer that question.
The smaller the system the more limited the distance.
A single 12 volt 100 watt panel should be kept to 20 feet or under and use 8 gauge wire.
Put 4 of those together and connected in series for 48 volts and you can use 14 gauge wire (smaller diameter and cheaper) and run it 3x that distance with same voltage drop.
Here is a good calculator for voltage drop for different DC and AC applications:
www.calculator.net
ADDED: Today you have controllers and inverters that can handle multiple voltages but when I started out off grid 20 years ago you had basically one choice and that was 12 volt and you needed heavy gauge wire and ran it short distances. I just replaced my 15 year old 12 volt Blue Sky controller that was very expensive and one of the first MMPT controller available. Still works and never a problem but today you can get a better MPPT controller that can handle 12/24/36/48 volts with blue tooth bells and whistles for about half the price I paid.
The smaller the system the more limited the distance.
A single 12 volt 100 watt panel should be kept to 20 feet or under and use 8 gauge wire.
Put 4 of those together and connected in series for 48 volts and you can use 14 gauge wire (smaller diameter and cheaper) and run it 3x that distance with same voltage drop.
Here is a good calculator for voltage drop for different DC and AC applications:
Voltage Drop Calculator
This free voltage drop calculator estimates the voltage drop of an electrical circuit based on the wire size, distance, and anticipated load current.
www.calculator.net
ADDED: Today you have controllers and inverters that can handle multiple voltages but when I started out off grid 20 years ago you had basically one choice and that was 12 volt and you needed heavy gauge wire and ran it short distances. I just replaced my 15 year old 12 volt Blue Sky controller that was very expensive and one of the first MMPT controller available. Still works and never a problem but today you can get a better MPPT controller that can handle 12/24/36/48 volts with blue tooth bells and whistles for about half the price I paid.
Last edited:
cdherman
New Member
I only learned the concept recently, here as a matter of fact.
1) We all know that higher voltage has two benefits, smaller conductors and lower losses. BUT---
2) Since the inverters can digest a wide variety of voltages, within their design tolerances, you can accept a voltage drop in the DC solar feeds that would never be acceptable in a fixed 240v, 60hz AC environment.
3) Thus it comes to trade offs -- you could have perhaps a 10% loss over several hundred feet, say 500v to 450v, but as long as it stays cool and you are OK with more panels to handle the losses, its OK. (Just seat of the pants reasoning there)
1) We all know that higher voltage has two benefits, smaller conductors and lower losses. BUT---
2) Since the inverters can digest a wide variety of voltages, within their design tolerances, you can accept a voltage drop in the DC solar feeds that would never be acceptable in a fixed 240v, 60hz AC environment.
3) Thus it comes to trade offs -- you could have perhaps a 10% loss over several hundred feet, say 500v to 450v, but as long as it stays cool and you are OK with more panels to handle the losses, its OK. (Just seat of the pants reasoning there)
MichaelK
Solar Wizard
It would be best if you actually spelled out your application, and the physical locations. Then people don't have to guess. For my own system, I'm running ~8A through 10 gauge copper at 120VDC with no measureable voltage drop at 125'.
The drop calculator that SCC documented for you is a good start. That's what I used in my design. But, a good rule of thumb is the distance between the panels and the controller can be measured in yards, but the distance between the controller and the batteries should be measured in inches.
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