diy solar

diy solar

Grounding Rod Necessary

Go outside and put the back of your hand on the frame of the panel, barefoot. If you feel it zapping you, you need to "earth" the array with a rod.

You can put 1 rod or 20. The E- is going to go to the one with the least resistance. They are not going to loop back on themself.
More ground rods are more places to be electrocuted from watch the video.
 
If anyone has actual documentation showing that static accumulates on panels from wind please share that. Nothing I Google is confirming static from wind at all. Only wind lowers the temperature. Says wind causes static on helicopter blades or wind turbine blades but nothing on solar panels.
 
I posted the video.

Did you get buzzed when you touched the panel or not?
Pretty sure nobody should be getting shocked from thier panels......
 

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If anyone has actual documentation showing that static accumulates on panels from wind please share that. Nothing I Google is confirming static from wind at all. Only wind lowers the temperature. Says wind causes static on helicopter blades or wind turbine blades but nothing on solar panels.
It isn’t wind, it is emf from storms. It is REQUIRED that panels be grounded… radio waves, lightning strikes within 20 miles all create emf that needs to be bonded to dissipate static or other dangerous voltages.

Lightning is a crazy thing… it doesn’t strike due to grounding… it strikes due to a buildup of opposite charges in a surface… don’t think that lightning will strike because an item is grounded… grounding to metal aids dissipation of charge buildup. But there needs to be a lightning discharge system for that to happen.
Bonding is to shunt emf buildup to the earth. That’s it.
 
It isn’t wind, it is emf from storms. It is REQUIRED that panels be grounded… radio waves, lightning strikes within 20 miles all create emf that needs to be bonded to dissipate static or other dangerous voltages.

Lightning is a crazy thing… it doesn’t strike due to grounding… it strikes due to a buildup of opposite charges in a surface… don’t think that lightning will strike because an item is grounded… grounding to metal aids dissipation of charge buildup. But there needs to be a lightning discharge system for that to happen.
Bonding is to shunt emf buildup to the earth. That’s it.
Thanks, ya something Mike said in one nec video made me think that pulse would be carried down the panel circuit wires. But another nec video said they need to be brought back to earth with the controller and equipment ground. So I'll run a ground from each panel along the panel circuit wires back to my 1 original ground near the battery. It's completely separate from the house electrical. Basically I'll be bonding the frames to everything else metal in the system to 1 earth point.
 
the more i read about this grounding/earthing topic, the more confused i am lol.

'for dummies', can someone please let me know if i have to ground my panels.

my set up: a few 36v panels laying on the ground (not ground mounted nor roof mounted), connecting to a mppt, then to the battery. battery then goes to a grid tie inverter.

so, do i need to ground my panels? and if so, can i run the ground wire to a what looks like a (AC) grounding bus bar right below my utility meter?

really appreciate your help
 
the more i read about this grounding/earthing topic, the more confused i am lol.

'for dummies', can someone please let me know if i have to ground my panels.

my set up: a few 36v panels laying on the ground (not ground mounted nor roof mounted), connecting to a mppt, then to the battery. battery then goes to a grid tie inverter.

so, do i need to ground my panels? and if so, can i run the ground wire to a what looks like a (AC) grounding bus bar right below my utility meter?

really appreciate your help
Can you touch the panel while you are on the ground? If you feel some juice flow through you, then you need to bond/earth the array.

The most confusing term used is grounding.

You are a lot more resistant to the flow of energy than a grounding rod and a copper grounding wire. If there is a bonded grounded rod, the electricity always goes to the path of least resistance.
 
Can you touch the panel while you are on the ground? If you feel some juice flow through you, then you need to bond/earth the array.

The most confusing term used is grounding.

You are a lot more resistant to the flow of energy than a grounding rod and a copper grounding wire. If there is a bonded grounded rod, the electricity always goes to the path of least resistance.

no, i dont feel anything strange when i touch it, for now anyways. but in the future, what would be the worst if i don't bond the array? would all i feel are 'some juice'?

thanks
 
so, do i need to ground my panels? and if so, can i run the ground wire to a what looks like a (AC) grounding bus bar right below my utility meter?

really appreciate your help
Probably not required in a temporary set up just set on the ground. Yes I still recommend a connection to the common ground next to the meter.
 
the more i read about this grounding/earthing topic, the more confused i am lol.

'for dummies', can someone please let me know if i have to ground my panels.

my set up: a few 36v panels laying on the ground (not ground mounted nor roof mounted), connecting to a mppt, then to the battery. battery then goes to a grid tie inverter.

so, do i need to ground my panels? and if so, can i run the ground wire to a what looks like a (AC) grounding bus bar right below my utility meter?

really appreciate your help
It is very confusing and unless you spend big $$ on grounding systems like TV and Radio stations do it becomes less of a pure science and in some ways science and a bit of guess work. When the Pro's do it they use Earth Ground Test meters and measure the impedance of the ground and do a ton of other things like install rods that go down very deep to get very low impedances that match from Rod to Rod. The wires are bonded to the rods using a small exothermic explosive charge that welds the ground rods to the wire. They use Flat Copper Wire to bond equipment inside the stations to the main grounding points.

I am an Amateur radio operator and many of my friends in the hobby have 80ft towers on their properties. These guys get lightning strikes on their towers or houses every year and do not suffer any damage.
I suggest visiting forums like eHam if you want to get good info on how to properly ground a house against lightning when your on a budget.

When doing it on a budget it's good to know the best practices. I have 6x ten foot rods on my property, they are all bonded with a single length of 2 AWG Wire from the Panel Box to my Generator over to my Antennas.
What you do NOT want to have is separate grounds that are at a different potential to each other as that will cause a ground loop. The basic premise of a proper ground system is that when lightning strikes, the voltage surge in that fraction of a second rises up evenly across the grounds and dissipate evenly into the earth. If done right NONE of your equipment will see a difference in ground potential as their reference voltages all rise and fall together as one.

I had some disagreements with the electrician who certified my system as he refused to let me keep the bond between the Solar Panels ground rod and other ground rods! He required the Inverter and everything else be bonded to them, but not the panels. I am not an expert on solar panels so I am still wondering why he wanted the Bond removed from the panels. The answer I got from him was less than satisfying but I did what was needed to get his signature.
 
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Can you touch the panel while you are on the ground? If you feel some juice flow through you, then you need to bond/earth the array.

The most confusing term used is grounding.

You are a lot more resistant to the flow of energy than a grounding rod and a copper grounding wire. If there is a bonded grounded rod, the electricity always goes to the path of least resistance.
Ok… here is another misconception…
Electricity doesn’t always take the path of lease resistance… it takes ALL paths of conductivity… ALL.
The path of least resistance usually pulls the greatest current… but it will take all paths.

Don’t make a circuit with your body.
 
Ok… here is another misconception…
Electricity doesn’t always take the path of lease resistance… it takes ALL paths of conductivity… ALL.
The path of least resistance usually pulls the greatest current… but it will take all paths.

Don’t make a circuit with your body.
Good point...

Human 10,000 ohms, 1000 ohms if wet.
25ft of 6awg copper = 0.0031665 ohms

Human has more than 3 million times the resistance than the copper ground rod. 300,000 times more if wet.
 
Human has more than 3 million times the resistance than the copper ground rod. 300,000 times more if wet.

Since we're doing misconceptions, I'll add another one: the human body isn't a pure resistor, it's an impedance - typically modeled as a 100pF capacitor in series with a 1.5kΩ resistor. This also explains why AC is more dangerous than DC at the same voltage: the capacitor is a short for AC and open circuit for DC.
 
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