republicmachine
New Member
I have been buying parts over the last year. Nothing is currently hooked up.
From the top I have 10 Solarworld 240 watt pannels *1000
I have a Victron 150/85 *450
I have a Sungold 2k Low Frequency inverter charger at 24 volts *350
And I have 4 GC2 Costco 6 volt batteries and plan on buying 4 more asap. *450
And Finally, I have 24 good 25AH old battery hook up cells plus a couple extra incase one or two need replaced. No BMS just the cells *300
I currently only have the 4 Lead Acids wired up to the Inverter and being charged by a Westinghouse IGen4500 *350
I have been buying all this over the past year and pouring over how to make it all work. Seems as though "solar" isn't one set up or system that you buy or build but each piece is itself a system that takes great care and understanding to move to the next part down the chain of custody. And each of those inbetween spots can be thought of as sub assembly's and/or smaller systems. It's complex, expensive, fussy and can be downright dangerous if any one detail big or small isn't exactly correct. The learning curve here is steep and requires Lazer focus and major dedication. Aside from that you must continue moving forward aggressively so as to not loose your momentum and motivation along the way. We are after all building our own independent infrastructure and it's not to be taken lightly as the reward can be tremendous. Not just saving a few dollars after spending more than a few, but knowing you have direct control over your own will and future.
I'd like this to be my build thread. A place where I share my journey and hopefully gain some help along the way. I'd like to work my way into making flooded lead acid work with lifepo4, getting the auto start feature on my generator to talk to the autostart on my inverter. I'd like to work my way into splitphase and 3 phase power generation using asycroness generators and have solutions for grounding and proper code practices that come from science of saftey. I want to get into building wood gasifiers to run the generators and bio gas but for now I must simply focus on these 4 or 5 main parts. How do I make each piece from PV to load become close friends.
So starting with the Panels---->Victron----->Battery Bank. Seems like the only way to load my 10 panels into the 150/85 is a 2s5p configuration as per the MPPT Calculator on the Victron site. This means that I will have 2 panels in series doubling the volts at 76v @ 8 or 9 amps then 5 "Strings going into one box at 76 volts and 45 amps. How should I safely combine these 5 strings to one then take that 45/50ish amp rated wire to the Victron? A fuse at each panel rated at the panels short voltage? 8.22 volts? Do these 10 amp and 15 amp combiner boxes on amazon work well? So I have a 5 fuse/breaker box with 5 inputs and those 5 come out of one single big 45 or 50 amp output that I take to my Victron?
One more question, Does hooking up 10 panels to my 4 gc2 batteries @24 volts not make sense? For instance, would I want a daytime only load on the system to calm down the amps pumping into the smaller battery bank? Or would I simply hook up less panels to start until I get more battery in the bank?
From the top I have 10 Solarworld 240 watt pannels *1000
Performance Under Standard Test Conditions (STC*) | |||
---|---|---|---|
| SW 240 | ||
Maximum Power | Pmax | 240 Wp | |
Open Circuit Voltage | Voc | 37.6 V | |
Maximum Power Point voltage | Vmpp | 30.6 V | |
Short-Circuit Current | Isc | 8.22 A | |
Maximum Power Point Current | Impp | 7.87 A |
*STC: 1000W/m2, 25°C, AM 1.5
I have a Victron 150/85 *450
I have a Sungold 2k Low Frequency inverter charger at 24 volts *350
And I have 4 GC2 Costco 6 volt batteries and plan on buying 4 more asap. *450
And Finally, I have 24 good 25AH old battery hook up cells plus a couple extra incase one or two need replaced. No BMS just the cells *300
I currently only have the 4 Lead Acids wired up to the Inverter and being charged by a Westinghouse IGen4500 *350
I have been buying all this over the past year and pouring over how to make it all work. Seems as though "solar" isn't one set up or system that you buy or build but each piece is itself a system that takes great care and understanding to move to the next part down the chain of custody. And each of those inbetween spots can be thought of as sub assembly's and/or smaller systems. It's complex, expensive, fussy and can be downright dangerous if any one detail big or small isn't exactly correct. The learning curve here is steep and requires Lazer focus and major dedication. Aside from that you must continue moving forward aggressively so as to not loose your momentum and motivation along the way. We are after all building our own independent infrastructure and it's not to be taken lightly as the reward can be tremendous. Not just saving a few dollars after spending more than a few, but knowing you have direct control over your own will and future.
I'd like this to be my build thread. A place where I share my journey and hopefully gain some help along the way. I'd like to work my way into making flooded lead acid work with lifepo4, getting the auto start feature on my generator to talk to the autostart on my inverter. I'd like to work my way into splitphase and 3 phase power generation using asycroness generators and have solutions for grounding and proper code practices that come from science of saftey. I want to get into building wood gasifiers to run the generators and bio gas but for now I must simply focus on these 4 or 5 main parts. How do I make each piece from PV to load become close friends.
So starting with the Panels---->Victron----->Battery Bank. Seems like the only way to load my 10 panels into the 150/85 is a 2s5p configuration as per the MPPT Calculator on the Victron site. This means that I will have 2 panels in series doubling the volts at 76v @ 8 or 9 amps then 5 "Strings going into one box at 76 volts and 45 amps. How should I safely combine these 5 strings to one then take that 45/50ish amp rated wire to the Victron? A fuse at each panel rated at the panels short voltage? 8.22 volts? Do these 10 amp and 15 amp combiner boxes on amazon work well? So I have a 5 fuse/breaker box with 5 inputs and those 5 come out of one single big 45 or 50 amp output that I take to my Victron?
One more question, Does hooking up 10 panels to my 4 gc2 batteries @24 volts not make sense? For instance, would I want a daytime only load on the system to calm down the amps pumping into the smaller battery bank? Or would I simply hook up less panels to start until I get more battery in the bank?