Buying a Circuit Breaker Box

[John.DS99]

Due to my misbehavior in terms of electrical safety, I am looking at installing a good quality circuit breaker box before I turn on my solar panel system again.

Since I know very little about these things, I was thinking I should spend more money than less on an item that could save my bacon.

I was looking at this one at the local hardware store,
Square D Homeline 100-Amp 20-Spaces 40-Circuit Outdoor Main Breaker Plug-on Neutral Load Center

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Square-D-100-Amp-20-Spaces-40-Circuit-Main-Breaker-Plug-On-Neutral-Load-Center/50311145

Can anyone advise me on a house sized circuit breaker box that is worth the money. I'm not afraid of anything up to $1000. I get the impression that most people buy a cheap box (at least those in that hardware store). I'm wondering how high end (within reason) these things get.

Thanks

 

[littleharbor2]

Are you only referring to using it for ac power only? If you are wanting to run dc power through it you should get the Square D QO line of breakers and enclosure. Home Depot sells both lines. The QO line are rated for dc power as well as ac.

 

[John.DS99]

Thanks, AC lines for me.

Maybe these are simple devices that feature breakers as the star of the show. I thought maybe there are fancier versions that have unique safety features built in. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place,

I'm a simple thinker. Maybe I should start a thread about safety devices in general. It's all I can do to understand inverter, mppt, charge controller, and solar panels.

 

[hwy17]

I like Homeline, they're cheap and you can get all the breakers at Home Depot.

Electricians here like Eaton. You can get most of the breakers at HD, but you have to to an electrical supply house to really have access to the full line of Eaton equipment.

QO is nice, and supposedly better than Homeline according to electricians. If I were installing in an outdoor location I would consider QO.

Wherever you're installing a panel, figure out what you need and then buy one with 1.5 or 2x that number of spaces if you have room. You will end up wanting more if you are electrically inclined, and it's much easier not to ever have to use tandems.

I think you should dive into Mike Holt's youtube videos and buy a code book OP. More equipment or more expensive equipment will not make you safer, a fuller understanding of electrical concepts will.

The AC system wrote the rules, and DC systems bend the rules. So it's good to understand the former before the latter.

 

[rodrick]

I have about a dozen homeline panels in service on the ranch and have never had any problems
that said I would look at what you have already installed and stay with something that take the same breaker I hate dealing with a bunch of different breakers

 

[Mike 134]

Homeline is the cheaper line of Square D panels. Get the better line that uses QO.

<disclaimer since this is a DIY site should tell you I spent 38 years working as a licensed Electrician. Solar is just something I dabble with, much like most folks here dabble with electricity. >