Conext MPPT 80/600 and 100/600 Wiring Practices

[wkdfarm]

I am building a system with two MPPT 100/600s feeding a single XW Pro 6848 with a mini-PDP.

I would like to mount both CCs on the right side of the 6840 and mini-PDP combination. What is the most safe (and elegant) method of running the wiring from the PDP across the first CC to the second? I see pics of them ganged up but no details.

It looks as if the CCs are intended to have 48 V DC exit on the left and 600V DC come in from the right. But you can't do that when two are attached. I see the lexan divider. Do you run 48 V on top and 600V at the bottom and bend the lexan to form a upper and lower wireway?? My battery wire is UL 600V but I don't like mixing lethal and non-lethal voltages.

I have seen one installation where they made a hole in the bottom air vent - not to code. I could just space them 6 inches apart and run conduit but that takes so much space.

Any best practices?

 

[cotter]

Hello, I have exactly the same concern and was wondering if you ever got it sorted out. I don't see any replies here to a legitimate question. How do you don't "intermingle" DC wires as the manual dictates if you have that Lexan barrier? And what do you do when you have more than one CC in the wall?

If you had acces from behind it would be fine but in my case I would have to go through a 6" concrete block wall with the possibility of getting water intrusion problems afterwards.

 

[400bird]

I don't have a Schneider charge controller but, I'd probably just remove or cut a hole on the plastic divider and run the PV in the right and batt wiring out the left, running them both past each other. As long as the insulation rating on all the wiring is 600 volts, it should be fine.

@pvdude has multiple Schneider charge controllers, maybe he can provide some pics. I know I've seen them, but in my quick search, I couldn't find any.

 

[cotter]

I don't have a Schneider charge controller but, I'd probably just remove or cut a hole on the plastic divider and run the PV in the right and batt wiring out the left, running them both past each other. As long as the insulation rating on all the wiring is 600 volts, it should be fine.

@pvdude has multiple Schneider charge controllers, maybe he can provide some pics. I know I've seen them, but in my quick search, I couldn't find any.

Hello 400bird, thanks for your reply. Yes, there might be several ways of doing this. However, I think Schneider kind of flunked on this. When you have multiple CCs it can become a nightmare if you only have the conduit box leading to the PDP and past two XW inverters. I doubt many users actually feed the PV from behind unless you have a drywall partition behind. I simply don't see having the CC separated from the wall to accommodate at least a 1/2 conduit let alone the 90 deg fitting it would require.

I will be using the same type of wire (ultraflex) Schneider uses for the 48V DC wiring. That might help a bit but anyway it is 2 pairs going to the DC bus and at minimum two pairs of PV wires running counter.

 

[pvdude]

Here is how I did my Schneider MPPT installation & wiring.
The disconnect is on the outside wall, MPPT CC on the inside wall.
(I removed the clear plastic shields for installation, put them back on after.)

 

[cotter]

Hello PVdude, thanks much for your input. I see you entered from the back to one of the CCs (first one on the left). That's what I thought on doing today when faced with the conundrum of how to route these cables. I guess I might have to go that route and make a penetration through the concrete block wall and finish it real good to avoid any water intrusion to the room. Actually, I pondered on making separate holes for each controller if I will be inevitably messing with the rotary hammer.

I am planning on bringing 4-#10 awg cables from a combiner (4 PV strings combined into two separate input circuits - one for each CC) which I guess it's cheaper than bringing 8 pairs from the 4 strings directly to the CCs. The distance is about 150-200 ft. and cable doesn't come cheap.

The idea of having a disconnect immediately behind the CC is good too despite having it inaccessible from inside the room.

You may think I had all this figured out. Not really, I just wanted insights from others already gone through this scenario.

Thanks much again for your replies and Happy New Year to all!