Hi everyone, big props for all the help so far. I've started being on the grid with 500 feet of extension cords to our tiny house, and a tiny system with the battery structure made of pallets (with no breakers on the panel input of the SCC, no fuse between the inverter and batteries, no cutoff for the inverter, no DC breaker from the SCC to the battery, no battery monitor, and panels literally stacked on 2x4's that look like a Jenga game- somehow they made it through multiple storms with 50 MPH gusts though!)
I now have that existing system set up for a small art studio, but have put a fuse on it, breaker for the panels, breaker for SCC to the batteries, shut off switch for the inverter, panels are mounted with hardware on a solid frame, and panels all have a fuse on them since there are 4 in parallel. Oh and I tore down the pallet box and rebuilt one with 2x4's, plywood, and a metal roof that doesn't have holes in it. No battery monitor on this system- The batteries were purchased as used cell phone tower AGMs, so I'm not really sure what the capacity of them is and only use it while I'm running my 1400W kiln, so I'm not too concerned about it.
Anyway, my question is about the other 2 systems I built. Thus far they are running great, been off grid 100% for a month now. They have all the fuses and breakers mentioned above, as well as a battery monitor on each, and I haven't seen either system get any lower than 75%, usually one is at 95% in the morning and the main house one is 85-90%. (They are Sealed Lead, so I'm trying to be real conscious of my DoD. All you lead acid haters can come live in the coldest part of Colorado and then hate on me for going Lead instead of LifePo. But I do plan on setting up a heated LiFePO system next spring- baby steps)
One of these systems is running just the fridge on an extension cord right now. The other powers the rest of the house. Neither of the inverters is bonded N-G internally.
The main house system is currently N-G bonded in the only panel in the house. The panel is bonded to the trailer frame of the tiny house. The system is not currently earthed, but I was hoping to do that soon. (the panels are not earthed either, and I also want to do that as well.)
I was hoping to put a second panel in the house, that would allow a circuit breaker to be put on the fridge. I am not sure my idea for grounding and N-G bonding this second panel is correct. It wouldn't be a sub panel because it would have its own independent inverter. I am going to attach two diagrams to show how it is set up now and how I was planning on setting up a second house panel. Thanks for any advice!
P.S. I wasn't able to find 6 AWG at the local store here, I have used 10 AWG for all the grounding wire. How bad is this, and when I get to bonding all the solar panels together and earthing them, how bad would it be to use the 10 AWG for that as well? Also I've seen conflicting answers as to whether the solar panels should have their own earth rod or if I should just tie it the the earth rod I plan on installing for the house circuit- any input into this is very welcome.
I now have that existing system set up for a small art studio, but have put a fuse on it, breaker for the panels, breaker for SCC to the batteries, shut off switch for the inverter, panels are mounted with hardware on a solid frame, and panels all have a fuse on them since there are 4 in parallel. Oh and I tore down the pallet box and rebuilt one with 2x4's, plywood, and a metal roof that doesn't have holes in it. No battery monitor on this system- The batteries were purchased as used cell phone tower AGMs, so I'm not really sure what the capacity of them is and only use it while I'm running my 1400W kiln, so I'm not too concerned about it.
Anyway, my question is about the other 2 systems I built. Thus far they are running great, been off grid 100% for a month now. They have all the fuses and breakers mentioned above, as well as a battery monitor on each, and I haven't seen either system get any lower than 75%, usually one is at 95% in the morning and the main house one is 85-90%. (They are Sealed Lead, so I'm trying to be real conscious of my DoD. All you lead acid haters can come live in the coldest part of Colorado and then hate on me for going Lead instead of LifePo. But I do plan on setting up a heated LiFePO system next spring- baby steps)
One of these systems is running just the fridge on an extension cord right now. The other powers the rest of the house. Neither of the inverters is bonded N-G internally.
The main house system is currently N-G bonded in the only panel in the house. The panel is bonded to the trailer frame of the tiny house. The system is not currently earthed, but I was hoping to do that soon. (the panels are not earthed either, and I also want to do that as well.)
I was hoping to put a second panel in the house, that would allow a circuit breaker to be put on the fridge. I am not sure my idea for grounding and N-G bonding this second panel is correct. It wouldn't be a sub panel because it would have its own independent inverter. I am going to attach two diagrams to show how it is set up now and how I was planning on setting up a second house panel. Thanks for any advice!
P.S. I wasn't able to find 6 AWG at the local store here, I have used 10 AWG for all the grounding wire. How bad is this, and when I get to bonding all the solar panels together and earthing them, how bad would it be to use the 10 AWG for that as well? Also I've seen conflicting answers as to whether the solar panels should have their own earth rod or if I should just tie it the the earth rod I plan on installing for the house circuit- any input into this is very welcome.
