A Year of Good Deals, Let's Hook it all up! Victron, Sungold, GC2, IGen

[republicmachine]

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

Performance Under Standard Test Conditions (STC*)
	​	SW 240​	SW 240 Solar Panel​ ​
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?

 

[republicmachine]

So moving forward it is my understanding that having strings in P helps the charge controller not have to work as hard to bringing up the amps for charging the bank. Not sure if this is true but it makes sense if the input is closer to the output. Also the partial shading problem of having panels wired in series seems to not be an issue. This cost for these benefits is a more complex and expensive set up.

1) Combiner box, best one I can find on Amazon with out moving to a more quality name brand unit. I'd like fuses and diodes and a box that is large enough to work inside as some of these Amazon units need reworked. The few extra bucks saved will allow me to purchase a disconnect as well. I'd like to build my own combiner box once I understand each piece and how it all ties together.

2) I will need to simply choose appropriate wire size and connection at each step. I'll need some proper crimper tools and end/connections to make this all happen.

I've been pouring over all these options and it's just a crapshoot. I'll eventually have to simply hit "purchase and hope for the best.

Side note I am going to also purchase an 8s BMS to get these 25ah prismatic cells moving. I'll also probably purchase a cheap benchtop power supply to play with balancing. I'll probably go with one of the bread and butter 100 amp units.