Brewman
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- May 16, 2020
- Messages
- 511
It says nothing in the pdf manual about the PV-1 and PV-2 inputs. but it looks like it will combine them.
Looks to me it will pull from the one giving the most power.
It says nothing in the pdf manual about the PV-1 and PV-2 inputs. but it looks like it will combine them.
Then you don't need to use both inputs. I double checked the math on the Amps from the panels. It is 8.85 per panel. Since you are putting them in series pairs only the voltage doubles. Therefore you will have 4 sets of 8.85 Amp for a total of 34 Amps. You will need some Y connectors to combine those. Some people use a combiner box with separate breakers or fuses on each series pair. It does make diagnosis easier in the future if their are problems.They are rated for 55A.
I sent an email last night to see if i can add a panel to do 3s3p. It takes a day or so to get emails back from the seller so i hope he has not shipped yet. freight shipping to my town was $150. The shipping cost is the same for one panel or ten. i do not want to pay shipping twice for a new order.If you are looking at 80ft one-way / 160ft round trip distance and a 2S4P array (Voc 75.2V, Isc 35.4) and 8AWG wire, Vdrop will be 5-6%, which is less than ideal (the common target is <2-3%) but not an absolute dealbreaker. If you could source one more panel you could go with 3S3P which would drop you into the 2-3% Vdrop range.
I did.. seller contacted me and I added a panel... 9 on the way nowYes that is 3S3P.
That would be great if you can get one more panel added to your order.
I picked up a 3 into 1 splicer pack already ...(rated at 50 amps) and a 10 pack of MC-4 connectors just in case. I also picked up a mount for my 9th panel. With this covid19 stuff some things will take forever to get here and i wanted to make sure i was not waiting on a connector.I also reread the beginning and you mentioned that you think the panels may not have connectors on them and that may make it easier to put them into a combiner box or two than buying expensive MC-4 connectors. When you get them or confirm what connectors they have you can decide.
I bought some used panels that had the old MC-3 connectors and I replaced them all with MC-4 connectors. I actually only needed to replace the four panels that were connecting to microinverters because the other seven were in a 7S string but I had the kit and it made my system more flexible if I wanted to add optimizers later for some shading.
Lots of cost benefit options.