Solar help for bus life

[Kike12]

Just to make things more confusing, the solar controller you chose is not a true MPPT, the performance with the selected panels will be poor. It will harvest a theoretical max of 16 amps, a MPPT will give more than twice that.
Here is an example of MPPT......

Amazon.com

I purchased a real mppt controller from renogy

 

[Kike12]

Is copper tinned wire ok to use?

 

[rmaddy]

Is copper tinned wire ok to use?

As long as you mean tinned copper then yes. Make sure you avoid copper clad aluminum. A lot of wire on Amazon that claims to be copper is actually copper clad aluminum.

 

[Kike12]

As long as you mean tinned copper then yes. Make sure you avoid copper clad aluminum. A lot of wire on Amazon that claims to be copper is actually copper clad aluminum.

Ok thank you RMaddy

 

[kjswiley]

As you can see from the chart, 4AWG is way too small to handle 150A. 1AWG or 1/0AWG is the correct wire size.

When in doubt, use larger wire. Undersized wire can be dangerous, especially if there is no fuse or the fuse is too big for the wire.

Agree with this, if you did not buy the wire yet purchase the 1/0 now, so that you do not need to buy and run new wire through your bus if you upgrade to a more powerful system down the road.

 

[rmaddy]

Agree with this, if you did not buy the wire yet purchase the 1/0 now, so that you do not need to buy and run new wire through your bus if you upgrade to a more powerful system down the road.

The 1/0AWG is only good for the 1500W inverter. If the OP upgrades to a 2000W inverter then 2/0AWG would be needed. Upgrade to 3000W inverter and 4/0AWG would be needed. And each would need a bigger fuse. So installing 1/0AWG now does not offer an opportunity to upgrade to a larger inverter.

 

[kjswiley]

The 1/0AWG is only good for the 1500W inverter. If the OP upgrades to a 2000W inverter then 2/0AWG would be needed. Upgrade to 3000W inverter and 4/0AWG would be needed. And each would need a bigger fuse. So installing 1/0AWG now does not offer an opportunity to upgrade to a larger inverter.

I am definitely a noob, but if he lays 1/0 now and down the road upgrades to a a 48V system with say a 5KW inverter why wouldn't it? Or is the argument simply in this scenario the original size we discussed would still be sufficient, so no need for 1/0?

 

[rmaddy]

I am definitely a noob, but if he lays 1/0 now and down the road upgrades to a a 48V system with say a 5KW inverter why wouldn't it? Or is the argument simply in this scenario the original size we discussed would still be sufficient, so no need for 1/0?

Increasing the system voltage along with the bigger inverter may allow the reuse of the existing wire. My previous statement assumed using the same 12V system voltage. Your example of going from 12V 1500W to 48V 5000W could be done using the existing 1/0AWG wire.

 

[Kike12]

My wire will be 6 inches apart from battery to battery, 9 inches apart from battery to inverter

 

[Kike12]

The 1/0AWG is only good for the 1500W inverter. If the OP upgrades to a 2000W inverter then 2/0AWG would be needed. Upgrade to 3000W inverter and 4/0AWG would be needed. And each would need a bigger fuse. So installing 1/0AWG now does not offer an opportunity to upgrade to a larger inverter.

I will not be upgrading as I have other sources of power

 

[12VoltInstalls]

If the OP upgrades to a 2000W inverter then 2/0AWG would be needed.

battery to inverter

Dear kike12:

The cost difference between 1/0 and 2/0 is negligible on the grand scale of things. I’d buy the 2/0. In fact I did- I use 2/0 for my 1200W pure sine inverter. NEVER gets warm or hot.

I purchased a real mppt controller from renogy

Just a thought: other mppt charge controllers like the Epever products have more/better confidence levels than renogey components. Some renogy stuff also has a low max volts spec. I’d consider a different mppt brand.

 

[Whinny]

Renogy controllers are made by SRNE.
Midnite DIY series is also made by SRNE, as are many others.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Ok

The coupe de ville and the cimarron were both made by cadillac