Solar Panel Switch or Breaker

[Sky Noris]

For sure don't use a battery switch since it's designed for super high amps and offers no fault protection other than the ability to manually shut it off. A two pole as everyone mentioned are defiantly ideal as they isolate both ground and positive. I'd personally go with https://www.amazon.com/Miniature-Ci...nect/dp/B095YFQWHK?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1 Rated for 500 volts DC vs 1000 volts DC.

 

[Sethtrosity]

For sure don't use a battery switch since it's designed for super high amps and offers no fault protection other than the ability to manually shut it off. A two pole as everyone mentioned are defiantly ideal as they isolate both ground and positive. I'd personally go with https://www.amazon.com/Miniature-Ci...nect/dp/B095YFQWHK?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1 Rated for 500 volts DC vs 1000 volts DC.

I was just thinking about getting a combiner box that has the fuses and breaker already in it. Just trying to find one for 15A panels and 450VDC or more. I know that 4 to 1 box on watts247 should work, but still looking for other options.

 

[timselectric]

Combiner boxes are a waste of money.
Unless you absolutely have plenty of money.

 

[Sethtrosity]

Combiner boxes are a waste of money.
Unless you absolutely have plenty of money.

My only issue is that I plan on having at least 2 parallel strings, maybe even 4, in the future.
I feel like the fuses, breakers, and surge protection is easier with a combiner box.
The box from watts247 is pretty pricey, but seems to be a good unit.

Honestly, I was thinking about grabbing This Box and just swapping the breaker for what you suggested.
Then I would change the 10A fuses to 15A fuses and call it a day.
I'm just not sure how much watts each input can safely handle.


I appreciate the advice!

 

[timselectric]

I currently have 2 strings and plans for 4 more.
A simple junction box from the hardware store with a couple of bars for parallel connections. Mc4 fuse holders on each string. And that dc disconnect by the inverter for maintenance. Easy peasy and very inexpensive.

 

[timselectric]

The transfer switch and local disconnects for everything came in handy yesterday. When I needed to pull the inverter off the wall. To add a n/g bonding connection.

 

[Sky Noris]

From the limited amount of installs I've seen. Many do use a combiner box / mounted outside. It'd be fairly easy to build your own combiner box though and about 1/2 the price. If your system isn't completly finished I'd consider just using the mentioned 2 pole breakers as they are super easy to install and you can always add a box later or move them into a box. With a combiner box your limited to what it was designed for. I started out with one string of 4 pannels then added 3 more after. Super handy to have control of each bank of panels for either work or troubleshooting. The mentioned 2 pole breakers do work great. I found this out when my wife was helping me run conduit for one of the strings and plugged in the connectors backwards . This caused a short and the breaker tripped quickly. This could have burned up my $750 charge controler or blown and internal fuse. One thing to keep in mind too. A pre built combiner box would not be an exact fit. For example each one of my 4 strings has a breaker to match the amp rating of the panel. So you may end up changing out breakers and fuses anyway for saftey and functional reasons.

 

[Sethtrosity]

Anyone see any reason why you couldn't modify this box by changing the fuses to 15A and breaker to the one suggested?
Being a beginner, I'd rather modify an existing one than building one from scratch.
I'm just wondering how many watts can be on a single string after the modification.

4 String Combiner Box by Eco-Source

ECO-WORTHY 4 String PV Combiner Box with Lightning Arreste, 10A Rated Current Fuse and Circuit Breakers for On/Off Grid Solar Panel System With 10A fuse and lighting arrester, lightning protection,reverse-current protecting, rainproof Plug and play,pre-connected cable, very sturdy organized box...

shop.signaturesolar.us

Amazon.com

In the mean time, I will be using the breaker with a 15A MC4 in-line fuse.

 

[timselectric]

If you want to raise the amperage, you need to make sure that everything you reuse is rated for this.
Other than that, no problem.

 

[Sethtrosity]

If you want to raise the amperage, you need to make sure that everything you reuse is rated for this.
Other than that, no problem.

I didn't know the ES 5000 only allows up to 18A on the PV input until now.
With my panels I would only be able to have 2 parallel strings.
So yeah, the combiner box is pointless in my situation.
Thanks again!