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Looking to fill in the fuse & wire gauge blanks in this schematic

marcfest

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Mar 18, 2022
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Hi, I'm looking to fill in the blanks for fuse ampacity and wire gauges in the schematic below (my first project, and I got all the hardware, except for I'm still feeling quite insecure about wires and fuses). I first posted this in other forums with my own best guesses, but I realize I should have put it here given the depth of my lack of knowledge.

Thank you for any help :)

Wire Gauge
Wire 1:
Wire 2:
Wire 3:
Wire 4:
Wire 5:
Wire 6:
Wire 7:
Wire 8:
Wire 9:
Wire 10:
Wire 11:
Wire 12:

Fuse ampacity

Fuse 1:
Fuse 2:
Fuse 3:
Fuse 4:

Marc 24 W solar schematic - ver C-01.png
 
General notes first:

Wire 11 needs to be connected to the negative terminal of the bottom-right battery, not the top-right battery. As you have it now you will overuse the top two batteries and underuse the bottom two batteries. Moving wire 11 will balance it out.

Make sure the two #9 wires are the same length. No other wires need to be the same length.

Things will be easier if you use a pair of bus bars for the main connections. Split wire 11 and put the negative bus bar between the batteries and the rest of the connections. Split wire 3 and put the positive bus bar between the batteries and the rest of the connections. If you ever add a shunt and battery monitor, the shunt would go between the bottom right negative battery terminal and the negative bus bar.

As a result, let's call wire 11 from the battery to the bus bar. Add wire 13 to be the negative wire from the SCC to the bus bar.

Some math before working out wire sizes and fuses:

24V 200Ah battery bank. 4kW inverter. 4000W / 24V / 85% = 200A of possible load from the batteries.

Do you have any DC loads planned or just the AC loads via the inverter?

Solar:

You have 4 350W panels. That's 1400W on a 24V system. That only requires 58A of charge current. Do you plan on doubling your solar in the future? If not, you do not need a 100A SCC.

Your panels will be in 2S. The Voc is 42V for a total Voc of 84V. You only need a 100V SCC unless your panels will get below about -37ºF/-38ºC. If you get near those temperatures then a 150V would be better. No need for a 250V SCC unless you plan to expand to a 4S setup in the future. So if you will only have those 4 panels and you live with sane temperatures, the Victron 100/50 would be plenty big enough.

Wire and fuse sizes:

Wires 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 all need to handle the 200A to the inverter. 2/0AWG wire can be used for 200A but 4/0 would be better. It will stay cooler when the inverter is maxed out.

Wires 5, 6, and 13 (the new wire I added from the SCC to the negative bus bar) all need to handle the 100A from the 250/100 SCC. I would use 2AWG wire (not to be confused with 2/0AWG). If you go with the 100/50 then you only need 6AWG wire.

Wire 12 needs to handle about 24A. The needed size depends on how long the wires will be from the panels to the SCC. It could be 12AWG to 8AWG or more.

Fuse 1 needs to handle 200A loads so it should be a 250A fuse. Given the 24V 200Ah LiFePO₄ batteries you should use a Class T fuse. This assumes you have no DC loads, just the inverter.

Fuse 2 is largely redundant with fuse 1. But if you want to keep it, it should also be 200A. A MEGA fuse would work here.

Fuse 3 would be 125A if you keep the 250/100 SCC or a 60A if you go with the 100/50 SCC.

Fuse 4 isn't needed at all. What you should have near the SCC is a 2-pole breaker that will act as a disconnect. Make sure it is a DC breaker rated for at least 100V and 30A. It isn't there to protect any wires, just act as a PV disconnect. If you ever add more panels such that you have 3 or more in parallel then you need to fuse each string, most likely using a combiner box.

Bus bars:

The two bus bars should be rated for 300A or more. They must be rated higher than the largest fuse in the system.
 
Last edited:
General notes first:

Wire 11 needs to be connected to the negative terminal of the bottom-right battery, not the top-right battery. As you have it now you will overuse the top two batteries and underuse the bottom two batteries. Moving wire 11 will balance it out.

Make sure the two #9 wires are the same length. No other wires need to be the same length.

Things will be easier if you use a pair of bus bars for the main connections. Split wire 11 and put the negative bus bar between the batteries and the rest of the connections. Split wire 3 and put the positive bus bar between the batteries and the rest of the connections. If you ever add a shunt and battery monitor, the shunt would go between the bottom right negative battery terminal and the negative bus bar.

As a result, let's call wire 11 from the battery to the bus bar. Add wire 13 to be the negative wire from the SCC to the bus bar.

Some math before working out wire sizes and fuses:

24V 200Ah battery bank. 4kW inverter. 4000W / 24V / 85% = 200A of possible load from the batteries.

Do you have any DC loads planned or just the AC loads via the inverter?

Solar:

You have 4 350W panels. That's 1400W on a 24V system. That only requires 58A of charge current. Do you plan on doubling your solar in the future? If not, you do not need a 100A SCC.

Your panels will be in 2S. The Voc is 42V for a total Voc of 84V. You only need a 100V SCC unless your panels will get below about -37ºF/-38ºC. If you get near those temperatures then a 150V would be better. No need for a 250V SCC unless you plan to expand to a 4S setup in the future. So if you will only have those 4 panels and you live with sane temperatures, the Victron 100/50 would be plenty big enough.

Wire and fuse sizes:

Wires 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 all need to handle the 200A to the inverter. 2/0AWG wire can be used for 200A but 4/0 would be better. It will stay cooler when the inverter is maxed out.

Wires 5, 6, and 13 (the new wire I added from the SCC to the negative bus bar) all need to handle the 100A from the 250/100 SCC. I would use 2AWG wire (not to be confused with 2/0AWG). If you go with the 100/50 then you only need 6AWG wire.

Wire 12 needs to handle about 24A. The needed size depends on how long the wires will be from the panels to the SCC. It could be 12AWG to 8AWG or more.

Fuse 1 needs to handle 200A loads so it should be a 250A fuse. Given the 24V 200Ah LiFePO₄ batteries you should use a Class T fuse. This assumes you have no DC loads, just the inverter.

Fuse 2 is largely redundant with fuse 1. But if you want to keep it, it should also be 200A. A MEGA fuse would work here.

Fuse 3 would be 125A if you keep the 250/100 SCC or a 60A if you go with the 100/50 SCC.

Fuse 4 isn't needed at all. What you should have near the SCC is a 2-pole breaker that will act as a disconnect. Make sure it is a DC breaker rated for at least 100V and 30A. It isn't there to protect any wires, just act as a PV disconnect. If you ever add more panels such that you have 3 or more in parallel then you need to fuse each string, most likely using a combiner box.

Bus bars:

The two bus bars should be rated for 300A or more. They must be rated higher than the largest fuse in the system.
This is extremely useful. Thank you. I'm not planning to have DC load for now, and yes, I'm thinking about increasing the number of panels, hence the 250/100 SCC. Thank you again.
 
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