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diy solar

Hydroponic solar project guidance

raymondnorton

New Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2021
Messages
43
I want to run my hydroponic pumps and lights with solar power. Unfortunately, in order to have enough sun to charge my 100ah battery, I need to locate the solar panels 100+ feet from my house. With my limited understanding of voltage drop ratios, I know a 12-volt system will not work. Will it work to wire 2-4 panels for a total of 24v and run the power across an 8 awg wire to a mppt charge controller, connected to a 12 v 100ah battery? My power consumption is low right now and I probably will use a 500-watt inverter off of the battery. This is a test setup, so I can get familiar with solar and better judge how to scale for the future.

Any insight is appreciated!
 
Can you put the MPPT and battery next to the pumps? The MPPT will take the string voltage and convert it to the battery voltage, so if they're close together the drop will be minimal.
 
I was wondering if that would be a recommended design. So, in your opinion, I can connect the panels directly to 0 or 4 AWG copper and install my MPPT on the far end? That would be ideal!
 
Sure. 100Ah battery, you want to charge it at what, 10-15A?
Not a current to worry about.
Your panels will probably put out 20+V, use decent size wire, the voltage drop will be negligible over 100', there will still be enough for your charger.
 
Perfect!! My calculation findings indicated I would need 0 or 4 AWG copper. Do you think that is truly the case? This is my 1st solar project and I am pretty excited to get it implemented as I learn and prepare for a system that will provide power for our house.
 
Knock yourself out :)

Now, this should give you the drop for 15A DC at 12V over 30 metres (roughly 100') with 3AWG wire.
Otherwise, enter the parameters yourself :·)
If you change it to 20V (what your panel likely gives), it's still a .74V drop, so you'd have 19.26V at the controller - which should be plenty.
With 4AWG you'd get .92, so 19.8V.
 
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