bookish
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2021
- Messages
- 13
I have questions about grounding the PV array I'm doing. I'm so glad this forum is here for questions like these where hours of internet searching leave me drawing a blank, or exhausted.
The site is remote and 9 hours from my house, so I'm planning each trip carefully. I've sunk posts for the ground mount for 9, 250 W Santan panels in 3 S 3 P configuration.
On my next trip I'll build the ground mount from wood, and attach and wire the array. The panels are on a pallet in my truck and without cutting the straps I can tell they have plastic frames. I have Z-brackets for mounting them to the wood frame.
Q1: Since the panels are plastic-framed, and the mount is wood, I guess there is no need to link the PV panels together for grounding. Is this correct?
On the mount I'll install a Midnite Solar combiner box ( MNPV6 ) with 3, 15 A breakers, and a 300 V DC SPD (Midnite Solar ). I *think* this is an okay setup so far. Tell me if I'm wrong.
Then I have a #2 solid Cu ground wire sticking out of the foundation just outside of the brick wall forming the side of the shop that will be the battery house. There is ~8 feet between the combiner box and the shop wall with the ground wire. I intend to put metal (?) conduit underground between them, then run it up the outside of the brick wall and over the wall and under the roof to the service panel inside. (Prefer not to remove or drill bricks.)
Q2: Is it a good idea to run to ground from the combiner box through the conduit all the way to the brick wall and then split off and run over to the ground wire? Or go with USE2, in its own conduit from the box to surface grade, then USE2 alone underground to the ground wire?
Or should I keep the grounding wire in conduit all the way inside to the service panel and ground all the components together to that outside #2 Cu ground (by drilling thru the brick -- it'll have to come to that eventually.). From what I understand I do want to ground all parts of the system to the same ground wire.
The site is remote and 9 hours from my house, so I'm planning each trip carefully. I've sunk posts for the ground mount for 9, 250 W Santan panels in 3 S 3 P configuration.
On my next trip I'll build the ground mount from wood, and attach and wire the array. The panels are on a pallet in my truck and without cutting the straps I can tell they have plastic frames. I have Z-brackets for mounting them to the wood frame.
Q1: Since the panels are plastic-framed, and the mount is wood, I guess there is no need to link the PV panels together for grounding. Is this correct?
On the mount I'll install a Midnite Solar combiner box ( MNPV6 ) with 3, 15 A breakers, and a 300 V DC SPD (Midnite Solar ). I *think* this is an okay setup so far. Tell me if I'm wrong.
Then I have a #2 solid Cu ground wire sticking out of the foundation just outside of the brick wall forming the side of the shop that will be the battery house. There is ~8 feet between the combiner box and the shop wall with the ground wire. I intend to put metal (?) conduit underground between them, then run it up the outside of the brick wall and over the wall and under the roof to the service panel inside. (Prefer not to remove or drill bricks.)
Q2: Is it a good idea to run to ground from the combiner box through the conduit all the way to the brick wall and then split off and run over to the ground wire? Or go with USE2, in its own conduit from the box to surface grade, then USE2 alone underground to the ground wire?
Or should I keep the grounding wire in conduit all the way inside to the service panel and ground all the components together to that outside #2 Cu ground (by drilling thru the brick -- it'll have to come to that eventually.). From what I understand I do want to ground all parts of the system to the same ground wire.