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Ah ok that makes more sense. This was upon connecting the charger to the battery. The idea that the charger was reporting how much it had input makes much more sense. Thank you. Re the voltage chart you posted, I’ve seen those numbers for gel/agm but different values for Lifepo4 than for other...

Thanks @sunshine_eggo. The display is on the battery charger. So I should ignore the battery charger AH reading then?

I have a 12v 200ah LifePo4 battery that gets seasonal use in the warm weather. I’ve been monitoring the voltage all winter while it’s been sitting unused in my basement and finally plugged it in to a charger today to get it ready for the season. The voltage was about 13.04 so I understood there...

Thanks all. The setup is 6 100 watt panels in series charging a 24v 200 ah battery. A controller/inverter sends 220v ac to a water pump that draws 8 amps. Sounds like the cabling is a non issue.

I’m moving panels and controller/inverter to a better spot with more sun that’s further from my water-side pump. To minimize voltage drop I’ll run power down to the pump in ac instead of dc. Have read mixed things about using dc cable to run ac current and am wondering what the consensus is here...

RPS Solar say they don't actually have a firm number on standby watts for the pump. Could be 100 up to 250 depending on what the pump is doing at the moment, such as whether it's sensing the pressure or whatever. It's a little vague. But contrary to what they told me when I ordered it, they're...

Good question. Yes I checked in with RPS Solar on how many panels I can add and they verified I've got lots of room.

Probably the biggest benefit of a tank, it seems, is it could allow us to leave the pump off all night vs just part. Particularly with guests we can’t really not flush the toilet all night so a tank could accommodate that nighttime use.

I think a switch would really do the trick. And I’ll have a trencher this spring when I move the panels so I can add a switch pretty easily. I’ll post back when the new set up is done.

Yeah turning it off at least overnight might go a long way toward solving my problem.

Thanks!

Thanks for the repost @sunshine_eggo. Correct, I’ve got a 24v battery bank powering a 220v water pump via single all-in-one charge controller/inverter supplied by RPS Solar. The panels (connected in series) haven’t been getting enough sun so I’m moving them but I think I need to add panels and...

No pressure tank, just straight pumping to use. Manual in my Dropbox here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gnq4oyc03t472bkbzzq7n/RPS-Tankless-Pressure-Pump-TPP-750-2020-User-Manual.pdf?rlkey=4eclbh3am4zzwjxli0jny19sf&dl=0 Page 6 has details.

Not certain but the company gave me that figure. Have requested confirmation from them.

This system is dedicated to the pump only and is operative April-October.

Shoot that’s right - and why I’m in the Beginner’s Corner! So 4 12v at 100 ah is actually 200 ah when in series and parallel. That doesn’t like enough…? Agree about the array. What would you recommend I upgrade to?

I’ve got 6 100 watt panels and want to add more from another brand. Are these numbers compatible or too far off? Existing Back 40 panels: Proposed additional Rich Solar panels:

Series keeps the same ah but also wiring in parallel should give me 400 ah….

I’ve got an RPS Solar water pump with depleted batteries and am replacing them with LiFePo4 and also need to increase capacity. I’m having trouble calculating my energy needs for this due to the variability of the pump draw and am hoping to get some clarity from you all. Location: Maine PV...

So without a voltage sensor or anything is there a problem with this in terms of the SCC continuing to send charge to the battery even though the battery may be full? I'm wondering about how the SCC controls charge to the battery when there are other devices in the mix.

Not sure if I'm asking this the right way but if the SCC is connected to the busbar along with the battery and devices, how does the SCC differentiate between the battery and devices in terms of knowing when to send power to the battery or not?

I'm upgrading my wiring to 2/0 from my 12v battery and adding a busbar and fuse. The battery is on the floor and the other equipment is on the wall. What's the best way to connect the battery along with a fuse? Can I have the class-t fuse come off the battery terminal at the usual angle and then...

Thanks for the replies. Great to be able to ask and learn.

This seem very very basic and I’m almost tempted not to reveal my utter ignorance but I’m not clear on it: when connecting a battery with a 2/0 cable to a busbar and on to an inverter, why doesn’t the higher amperage the 2/0 can carry fry the smaller cables also connected to the busbar that go...

Isn’t something like the scc’s fuse protecting that device itself, leaving the wire to it from the busbar vulnerable?

This is great information. I had the same question and the discussion here makes sense. But the setups I see using bus bars in this way seem to have a fuse at the battery but not at the busbar going to the scc and dc fuse box. Assuming a much heavier cable coming off the battery, why isn’t there...

Thank you all for your help with this. Much appreciated.

I found a local electrician to come out in a few weeks and review my whole system.

The 10 gauge was explicitly intended for the controller to battery connection. However I notice this same kit being sold on Rich Solar now comes with 4 gauge for that purpose.

Thank you! Just picked up 4 gauge cables to replace the 10 gauge between controller and battery and ordered a 60 amp breaker. From what I can tell that is the correct size breaker but please weigh in if that’s wrong.

@Mattb4 I’m seeing 60 amp circuit breakers available and the general recommendation for between scc and battery seems to be to size according to the scc. Would a 60 amp breaker be appropriate?

My panels each carry a IMP of 9.8 amps so apparently I’ve got 40 amps incoming.

All my cabling (not including that for the inverter) that came with my order from Rich Solar is 10 gauge.

My other circuit breaker is 30 amps. Wonder if that would do for the battery to scc as well. What’s the formula here for calculating this? I obviously have everything to learn.

We have a very modest system with minimal draw. Some LED lighting, a solar fridge. The 4 panels are 200 watts each. I may install the inverter that came with my system but I’m never going to be using a ton of power. The battery is 12v 200 amp hour / 2500 watt hour.