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FYI, For mobile use, tying batteries together with solid busbars put a LOT of stress on battery terminals as they jiggle around. You should consider ones made with copper braid instead.

The heating element (and other wiring) should be electrically isolated from the tank and water, so no electrolysis should occur. Standard 240 volt is line to line voltage (no 'zero' volt neutral), any electrical connection to the tank or water would be a serious shock hazard.

2 gauge is NOT the same as 2/0 gauge. Several posts here seem to be confusing the two gauges.

This video gives a good demonstration why you need DC rated breakers for arc supression.

:)

This video gives a good comparison of AC vs DC arcing issues.

You do not want to connect a non-solar panel power source to the solar input of an MPPT charger. The way they figure out the maximum power point is to briefly load the panel(s) with an increasing load to measure where the target point should be. This load sweep normally brings the panels down to...

Reminds me of back in the 1950's and 60, there was a company called Heathkit that made electronic kits you'd assemble yourself. They were high quality and you could save a significant amount over store bought electronics prices be doing it yourself. I built many of them growing up back then...

Designing for worst case, the diode should have a reverse blocking voltage greater than the maximum string voltage (not too hard with modern diodes). It also needs to be able to handle the maximum current of the string. This also affects the heat generated in the diode. When we were running...

The best attractant I've found with mousetraps are cashews...even old stale ones work well.

I do not think Will started this site to make money AT ALL. Most sites make money through advertisers, and he has made this site with NO ads...makes it much nicer for the users. Some other sites it's a full time job Xing out all the pop up ads that keep appearing as you're trying to use the site.

And shading issues. :)

You can put a momentary pushbutton switch next to the main power switch for the inverter. Use it to connect a lightbulb across the main switch contacts. Then before you turn the main switch on, hold the pushbutton on for a few seconds to charge up the caps through the lightbulb, then throw the...

:)

Remember the old bulletin board systems (BBS) via dialup? :)

From first looks...:) Looks like battery bank should be two 12 volts in series for 24 volts, and 3 parallel strings. Also your AC and DC wiring is not well defined. Does the generator AC go to both inverters? The inverter on the right has red and black wires labelled AC out. Each inverter will...

FYI, Combining more than 2 panels or strings of panels in parrallel can be dangerous if each panel or string is not individually fused. If any panel or string develops an issue, it can be back-fed by the combined current of all the other strings, which may well be above it's ability to handle...

The MPPT charger first measures the PV output by applying an increasing load on it, and measuring voltage and current at the various loads. As the load increases, the voltage slowly drops until it approaches the maximum current the panel(s) can supply, then the voltage drops much more quickly...

The wire has insulation to protect the copper wire from corrosion, the lugs are out in the open, so they tin them for added corrosion protection.

You want the normal load disconnected when power is diverted to the water heater? If yes, then double throw relay(s) would be called for, it would supply power to the normal load when de-energized, then switch over to the water heater load when energized. Something along these lines:

Actually, the town I live in now has one of the highest installed solar capacity per resident in the country...enough that it screws up the overall grid loading vs time of day from the duck curve...so they put a moratorium on new solar installs. They just recently got a 2 megawatt grid connected...

One possibility is a latching relay. There are 2 types, one alternates states...apply power and it turns on and stays on until power is applied again, then it turns off. A second type has 2 coils, one will turn it on, other coil turns it off...

You'd need to run them into a combiner box. It's unsafe to combine that many panels in parallel without each being protected with a fuse or breaker. If any panel has an issue, it can be backfed with the combined current of all the other panels, about 100 amps into one panel and panel...

Wired similarly, make sure you use a fuse or circuit breaker at the supply to protect the wiring. Here's a panel I did for 24V DC and several circuits.

My comment applied to ALL wiring, solid wire is not safe to use in a mobile environment. Just because one user hasn't had issues yet doesn't change the fact it's not safe. Another user may not run any fuses and not had an issue in years....doesn't mean it's safe to do.

Maybe she's AC-DC...:)

He was referring to Osborne Computer Company, one of the original PC companies. They had a very successful Osborne 1 model and was doing well, then they announced a new and improved Osborne 2 model before it was really ready...the model 1 sales plummeted as people stopped buying it, they wanted...

This may help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_management_system

You should also consider a backup generator, just in case you have issues with the solar system, and you have freezers stocked with perishables.

According to the specs: Technical Specifications Model: P4400 Operating Voltage: 115 VAC Max Voltage: 125 VAC Max Current: 15 A Max Power: 1875 VA Weight: 5 oz Dimensions: 5 1/8″ H x 2 3/8″ W x 1 5/8″ D