Wiring between solar panels and cabin

[Foreman99]

I plan on mounting my solar panels on a shed about 30 yards from my cabin. I plan on having a 48 volt system. I could locate the controller/inverter and batteries in the shed. This would give a short run for the PV cables and a 30 yard long run for the 120/240 volt cable. However, I would prefer to locate the controller/inverter and batteries at the cabin with a 30 yard long run of the PV cables.

Would the latter arrangement be reasonable or should I stick with the more normal set-up?

 

[JAS]

I'm planning on running about 100' from panels (around 80v) to my SCC using 8AWG cable for a 24v system. You'd have to check some voltage calculators. But, I'm sure charging 48v, you could get away with the same 8AWG (maybe even 10AWG depending on the output voltage of your panels).

I calculated the cost of 100' of solar cable to be quite a bit less than the 6 AWG AC wiring that I would need if I located my inverter closer to the panels...

 

[Rednecktek]

The panels are going to be high voltage, low amperage so it's going to be much easier to run longer PV wire than anything else. Plus keeping your stuff warm is a big plus. Most MC4's are built for 10AWG, so hit up the voltage drop calculators and see if you can stay under 3% drop using 10AWG on the PV. You should be fine.

 

[MichaelK]

Here's the voltage drop calculator I like.

Voltage Drop Calculator

This free voltage drop calculator estimates the voltage drop of an electrical circuit based on the wire size, distance, and anticipated load current.

www.calculator.net

If you get a 200V controller like Epever's 6420AN, you can wire up to 4 250W panels safely, and run the DC through 10 gauge for more than 100'.

For my own system, as described above, my four panels in series has no noticeable voltage drop at 130', which is the distance from my array to the controller.