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diy solar

Need help with choosing correct wire sizes and fuses for my renogy system.

Lexi.t6289

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Mar 14, 2022
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I am currently converting a travel van for work/leisure. I have read so much about solar my eyes are crossing. I am unsure of exactly what type of wiring is needed in between each component, and also what fuses are needed. So far what I have come to the conclusion of is at least 4 gauge wire will be needed possibly even larger than that. I just want to make sure I do this right the first go round. All my products are from renogy ( which I am somewhat regretting due to their horrible customer service)
My components are as follows:
1. (x6) 200 watt monocrystaline panels for a total of 1200 watts ( I have been told these should be wired in two sets of three panels please feel free to give insight on this as well I do have a branch connector & extension solar cable)
2. 3000 watt pure sine inverter
3. Rover 100 amp charge controller
3. 60 amp dc to dc charger
4.(x3) 200 ah deep cycle gel hybrid marine batteries

My questions are:
1. Will wiring the panels in two sets of three work correctly ?
2. What size inline fuse is needed between the solar panels and the charge controller ?
3. Is my battery bank too large ? I do a lot of driving which is why I decided to go with the dc to dc charger as well to maximize what I am able to put into my battery bank , but I am still unsure if I have over done it .
4.what gauge wire is needed from the charge controller the batteries ? (The distance between my inverter and the batteries is about 5 ft )
5.what gauge wire is needed from the batteries to the pure sine inverter ?
6. What gauge wire will be needed inbetween dc to dc charger and batteries
7. Are there any additional fuses needed ?
8. With this set up is it possible to run a small mini spilt unit about 9000 btu with a high seer rating ?
9.if no mini spilt is possible do any of you have any ideas for ac from solar in a van without doing the roof top fans as my solar takes up the
Entirety of my roof ?

Gosh I know that was long , but I am sooo thankful for any advice that could be offered . Thank you for your time !
 
You either need to provide the specs for your items or links to a webpage that has the specs.

Since you have two parallel strings, there is no need to fuse between the strings. Many of us are putting in a DC breaker (dual pole) inside the trailer to use as a switch to turn off power from the PV to the solar charge controller.

Fuses/breakers are sized for 1.25 times the number of amps the wire is expected to see.

With 1200 watts of solar, I question whether you'll need the DC-DC charger at all. I have only 640 watts of PV and 560 Ah of LiFePO4 with no charge from my tow vehicle.

4 awg between the solar charge controller and the battery gives you a 2.13% voltage drop, which is under the 3% that most of us will accept.

Use the wire gauge calculator in the link below.

There should be a Class T fuse between your battery bank and the positive common bus bar. Class T may be overkill for non-LiFePO4 batteries. Victron uses ANL fuses downstream of the battery. You should have a switch between the fuse and the common bus bar on the positive cable.

A shunt for measuring/reporting the overall state of state of charge is going to come in handy.


 
Here is a wizard to help with wire size and fuse recommendations. I put 10,000 Battery CCA and select Main in the upper right boxes, so Blue Sea recommends fuses for LFP.
A fuse is not needed between solar panel combiner and CC. A switch is recommended. There are needs for fuses between panels wired in parallel.
Windy nation diagram. https://www.windynation.com/jzv/inf/how-properly-fuse-solar-pv-system
 
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