diy solar

diy solar

Need help understanding solar panel connectors, saftey

snm777

New Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2021
Messages
4
Location
Michigan
The short - I need to extend what are two bare end 10 gauge cables from my solar panels to my charge controller, about 25 feet should do. Are DIY ended Solar Panel Connectors a safe and easy thing to make? Everything I see uses those instead of the "SAE" connector that is on the parallel 4 into 1 cable that came with the kit.

The long -

Hello all. I have qty four 110watt Nature Power solar panels purchased as a kit from Home depot. Sadly, most of the rest of the kit is crap, so I have ordered MPP Solar PIP-1012LV-MS "all in one" solar inverter/solar controller/AC charger/automatic transfer switch. Note I have a point load for this, not trying to do the whole house. I'm about to hit go on a Ampere Time LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery 12V 100Ah with Built-in BMS on Amazon - battery will NOT be in a cold environment. I know which cables to buy for the battery hookup.

The kit came with a 4 into 1 system that is wired in parallel, apparently. so I have a 10AWG bare red and black, which COULD be terminated right to the MPP solar, but the panels will be too far away. now, the system came with "SAE" connectors - I'm a bit confused, since SAE is a standards body and usually SAE is followed by a label that designates what SAE standard document a thing is defined in, but not so here. I also see pre-made solar power extension cables, but I'd have to put ends on my bare 10awg, and I'd have to get cable to put the Solare Panel Connectors on when connecting to the MPP. Is it safe to build cables at home with the tools included in the kits on amazon? Is there a better way???
 
The short - I need to extend what are two bare end 10 gauge cables from my solar panels to my charge controller, about 25 feet should do. Are DIY ended Solar Panel Connectors a safe and easy thing to make? Everything I see uses those instead of the "SAE" connector that is on the parallel 4 into 1 cable that came with the kit.

The long -

Hello all. I have qty four 110watt Nature Power solar panels purchased as a kit from Home depot. Sadly, most of the rest of the kit is crap, so I have ordered MPP Solar PIP-1012LV-MS "all in one" solar inverter/solar controller/AC charger/automatic transfer switch. Note I have a point load for this, not trying to do the whole house. I'm about to hit go on a Ampere Time LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery 12V 100Ah with Built-in BMS on Amazon - battery will NOT be in a cold environment. I know which cables to buy for the battery hookup.

The kit came with a 4 into 1 system that is wired in parallel, apparently. so I have a 10AWG bare red and black, which COULD be terminated right to the MPP solar, but the panels will be too far away. now, the system came with "SAE" connectors - I'm a bit confused, since SAE is a standards body and usually SAE is followed by a label that designates what SAE standard document a thing is defined in, but not so here. I also see pre-made solar power extension cables, but I'd have to put ends on my bare 10awg, and I'd have to get cable to put the Solare Panel Connectors on when connecting to the MPP. Is it safe to build cables at home with the tools included in the kits on amazon? Is there a better way???
If you had posted in one of the other forums you would have had a multitude of answers by now. Yes it is very safe to build cables as you are only dealing with 12 volts and all you need to do is make sure you have a good connection and that the polarity is right. I'm in Australia and we generally use MC4 connectors here. Good luck.
 
Sae would be good if you were tearing down and moving weekly but for the long term use you can get some corrosion that would result in voltage drop. I would replace all of them with mc4s. The ones I got from Amazon look as good as any I have seen. Be sure to get the recommended crimper.
 
If you had posted in one of the other forums you would have had a multitude of answers by now. Yes it is very safe to build cables as you are only dealing with 12 volts and all you need to do is make sure you have a good connection and that the polarity is right. I'm in Australia and we generally use MC4 connectors here. Good luck.
LOL - I spent around 30 minutes looking in other forums, and searching the terms I have, and didn't find anything on cabling. So I started with the newbie thread. Seems I've gotten good answers, thanks!
 
Sae would be good if you were tearing down and moving weekly but for the long term use you can get some corrosion that would result in voltage drop. I would replace all of them with mc4s. The ones I got from Amazon look as good as any I have seen. Be sure to get the recommended crimper.
ty, I kinda figured that at this voltage and amperage, I'd be OK, but I also didn't want to order ends that were crapola or had known issues. I have ordered some, and we shall see!
 
The short -
Don’t have shorts!
. Is it safe to build cables at home with the tools included in the kits on amazon? Is there a better way???
Yes
This kit has parts that worked well for me and the crimper is as reasonably good as or better than the other ‘nice’ crimpers I have.

There are other kits that look the same on Amazon. Although the price the same I cannot verify the connectors are any good. The Bouge seem to be good enough quality to not break or leak. There are some European MC4 connectors that cost $10 EACH but I’ve never tried them.
(other cheap inexpensive MC4s break as soon as we get some wind especially if the temps are below 35*F. None of Bouge have broken on me.)
 
Don’t have shorts!

Yes
This kit has parts that worked well for me and the crimper is as reasonably good as or better than the other ‘nice’ crimpers I have.

There are other kits that look the same on Amazon. Although the price the same I cannot verify the connectors are any good. The Bouge seem to be good enough quality to not break or leak. There are some European MC4 connectors that cost $10 EACH but I’ve never tried them.
(other cheap inexpensive MC4s break as soon as we get some wind especially if the temps are below 35*F. None of Bouge have broken on me.)
Thank you! I had already ordered when you posted, but happily, that is the kit I ordered. Thanks very much for taking the time!
 
I use both MC4 and SAE connectors in my trailer. The only SAE is where my ground deployed panels plug into the side of the trailer. Everything else on the roof and on the ground uses the MC4 connectors. I crimped my own MC4 connectors. It took some thinking on my part to figure it out though and in my learning process I burned through a couple of the crimps, which aren't cheap. All my other cables such as 2/0, 6 and 10 gauge were ones I also crimped myself. This is the first project I've done where I crimped cables that large.
 
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