1st timer. solar panel placement and wire size questions

[TacoBravo]

I'm building my 1st solar panel system. I know next to nothing about electricity and am going mostly off of will's video/blueprints for a beginner 400watt system. Also I'm not to bright.

I have most of my core parts which include:

1. 4 renogy 100w 18.6v solar panels
2. 2 100ah chins lithium batteries
3. giandel 220 watt inverter
4. epever tracer 4215bn 40a 150v
5. 50amp circuit breaker
6. 200amp fuse

still need bus bar, wires, connectors, battery meter. am i missing anything?


So I have a choice where to put my solar panels. I have a east/west facing house and can place them facing east but then i will lose some direct sun after midday. Or I can position solar panels in the back yard facing south but I will have to use at least 60 to 100 ft of solar extension wire. I understand either way is not ideal but I was curious as to which choice would lose more voltage.

also i was wondering what wire size/gauge you would recommend from panels to charge controller, controller to inverter, connecting the batteries together in battery bank, and batteries to fuse. I will probably use wires inverter company provided from inverter to fuse.

 

[Rednecktek]

So I have a choice where to put my solar panels. I have a east/west facing house and can place them facing east but then i will lose some direct sun after midday.

Is doing a 2s/2p setup on the roof an option? Put 2 panels in series facing east and 2 facing west? Morning sun on 2 panels, mid-day sun on 4 panels, afternoon sun on 2 panels?

Another option would be to string all 4 in series and run a long cord out southbound. MC4's can take 10AWG and those panels would be pumping 80ish volts at 5a. Someone can throw you a voltage drop calculator link that you can plug those numbers into.

Also, when planning your panel wiring, use the VoC number to calculate the string voltage.

As for wires, I can tell you off the top of my head that 10AWG will be the least voltage drop from the panels. 8AWG from the controller to the batteries. I don't know about the batteries to the inverter (do you mean the 2200w? 12v or 24v?) and the fuse you can bolt between the battery and the inverter.

 

[TacoBravo]

Is doing a 2s/2p setup on the roof an option? Put 2 panels in series facing east and 2 facing west? Morning sun on 2 panels, mid-day sun on 4 panels, afternoon sun on 2 panels?

it could probably be done but i have a lot of large trees on the west side of the house that would block light later in the day. but that is something that i had not considered...

 

[Rednecktek]

it could probably be done but i have a lot of large trees on the west side of the house that would block light later in the day. but that is something that i had not considered...

If you can't avoid the shading hit by scooting the panels around or trimming branches, then southbound and a long wire will probably be the best bet. Shading is your enemy here.