Safety Check on Movable Solar Rack

[Hamhawg]

I'm wanting to do this the right way, so fire away with your valuable insights please. I have limited space in my backyard and limited light in the winter. I have two 410 watt panels. I've built a rack with wheels and mounted them with adjustable struts. I want to move the rack when needed for maximum capture. I do have a DC PV disconnect I plan on using and a weather proof junction box for house entry.

Panels will power my Bluetti B300s via AC300s. I have two in split phase setup with a transfer switch.

Where I'm stuck:

1
Do I need to use conduit outside and/or upon entry to the house with this size load? Or can I use 10 gauge PV stranded tinned copper wire from point A to B (a 50 foot or so run)?

2
Is there a recommendation on flexible grounding wire rather than solid copper (to make moving the rack easier)?

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Do I need to use conduit outside and/or upon entry to the house with this size load

I would

can I use 10 gauge PV stranded tinned copper wire from point A to B (a 50 foot or so run)

Probably fine…

have two 410 watt panels

In series? What VOC?

Is there a recommendation on flexible grounding wire rather than solid copper (to make moving the rack easier

PV wire is rugged and flexible. You can color-mark it with green tape.

DON’T use solid copper regardless of how easy it is or isn’t. Use stranded because it’s the right thing for portable installations

 

[Hamhawg]

Thanks for the quick response. Panels will be series. Voc: 37.50…

 

[12VoltInstalls]

So you’ll have ~76VOC, and you’ll be ‘safe’ with if the SCC will take 100V or more.
I don’t know the lower threshold volts for the bluetthi to begin charging but I’d ‘guess’ that’s doable.

have limited space in my backyard and limited light in the winter

I have found at my 44.7x latitude and regional weather which provides short sun-days and many clouded days that winter sunny days I get about 0.5kWh- 0.9kWh of charge per hour per 1000W of panels, and roughly 0.1kWh-0.25kWh+ per hour on clouded days (daily 2kWh-5kWh sunny, ~0.4- 1.5-ish clouded , sometimes zero clouded)
I’d expect you to see similar percentages.

Not sure exactly what I get/do the 2 months either side of Dec21 because it far exceeds my usage and I don’t really look at stuff that psychotically anymore. I do I need to charge from the generator occasionally Nov-mid-Jan. Last year I used ~$60 of gasoline in the generator (20gal?), but this year I’ve only used about 8gals of gas- probably won’t use much if any for household use until Nov again judging on prior years.
IIRC I did use the generator ‘summer’ 2024 about 40 hours for the welders, generator, occasional table saw use but I don’t count that in my plans/calcs because that is just my cost of running shop stuff offgrid extensively with a system I did not plan or design to support shop tools; household use is an ‘expense’ while shop use pays for itself.

For your ~800W of panels plan a percentage-guesswork solar input of average-guess ~200Wh/clouded day and 2000Wh/sunny day. Although on sunny days with snow reflection and low temperatures you could possibly see as much as 4000Wh/sunny day.

built a rack with wheels and mounted them with adjustable struts

I don’t know your latitude or locale but if snow is an issue then do what I’ve done: my panels are vertical so they never get ice or snow buildup; I get charge even when it’s snowing fairly often. Sure, I lose some winter efficiency ‘in the moment’ due to somewhat less than ideal panel angle, but I never have to clean off the panels or chase snowflakes. Often I could get 1/2”-2” every day and our locale temps often don’t induce panel meltoff, so my gain from always getting some charge offsets getting zero when I’m gone all day.
I “lose” way more in the summer-centric 8 months but it doesn’t matter: I get more than enough for my needs.

Bluetti B300s via AC300s. I have two in split phase setup with a transfer switch

Seeing that you already own these I won’t mention anything besides saying that you could get way more bang/$ out of batteries and a good AIO. The suitcase systems sorta come at a pretty high cost comparatively.

 

[Hamhawg]

Vertical paneling:
Interesting thought going vertical. I'll see how it works with the rack already built. We get some snow for sure. Usually a few from January to mid March. I can't go vertical with the rack I built for my first two panels, but would be interested in your rack build and how it holds them solidly vertical.

Bluetti:
I'm very aware of the overpriced Bluetti system. Doh! I bought it because I wanted portability to use when camping. For that purpose it makes sense although each battery is 90 lbs, plus the 60lb inverter. In retrospect I might've gone with a more affordable and expandable option (EG4), but I'm learning as I go and the learning has kinda bit through my wallet and into my keister.

Thank you for all the info I'm definitely in nube mode scratching away at how to do this thing the right way. More challenging than I thought but I dig learning, buiding and solving.