How to do I wire dc midnite solar surge protector to dc isolator switch?

[J7now]

How to do I wire DC midnite solar surge protector to DC isolator switch. A diagram would be most helpful please. Thanks.


connect from this to this . The only information I could find is connecting the midnite solar surge protector to a combiner box, but not a DC isolator switch.

 

[sollap]

The DC switch is not a good place for the surge protector. The protector needs a very good (and short) ground path. Any surge the protector captures will be sent to the ground wire. The protector is better placed near your equipment where there is a good house ground.

 

[J7now]

The DC switch is not a good place for the surge protector. The protector needs a very good (and short) ground path. Any surge the protector captures will be sent to the ground wire. The protector is better placed near your equipment where there is a good house ground.

oh. I'm not using a combiner box. The system is totally off grid and the panel string wires go directly from the roof into the power room into the Dc isolators on a wall. There is no grid tie. Everything before the AC panel is DC. So any suggestions? my set up is similar to will Prowse's eg4 lg 6500 setup. Are you suggesting i ground my solar panels separately from the grounding rod connected to the electrical panel? I read where you should not ground twice; that it can cause a ground loop.

 

[J7now]

oh. I'm not using a combiner box. The system is totally off grid and the panel string wires go directly from the roof into the power room into the Dc isolators on a wall. There is no grid tie. Everything before the AC panel is DC. So any suggestions? my set up is similar to will Prowse's eg4 lg 6500 setup. Are you suggesting i ground my solar panels separately from the grounding rod connected to the electrical panel? I read where you should ground twice; that it can cause a ground loop.

 

[sollap]

You must have an inverter to convert the DC to AC. That's one place you can put the protector. I would prefer it a bit further away from the inverter's input. Not at the disconnect switch though, because you'd be connecting the protector ground to the solar panel ground wire which is likely to be energized by the surge as well.
The point of the protector is to grab any high voltages on the pv lines and direct them into ground before they get to into your inverter. To do this, the ground for the protector needs to be as close to the main house ground as possible, but it also needs to connect to the pv lines away from the inverter if possible.
Assuming your main panel is pretty close to your inverter, what would be ideal is as follows: Connect a junction box to the main panel and install the protector there. Run the PV output from your disconnect to that junction box. Then run a separate pair of PV wires from the junction box to your inverter. The ground from the protector would get connected to the main panel's ground. The PV wires would splice together in the junction box and connect to the protector at the same time.
Your inverter isn't going to care that there's a a splice in the PV line, and by putting the protector that close to the main house gound the protector has the best chance of draining the voltage to ground before it gets into your inverter.

 

[J7now]

You must have an inverter to convert the DC to AC. That's one place you can put the protector. I would prefer it a bit further away from the inverter's input. Not at the disconnect switch though, because you'd be connecting the protector ground to the solar panel ground wire which is likely to be energized by the surge as well.
The point of the protector is to grab any high voltages on the pv lines and direct them into ground before they get to into your inverter. To do this, the ground for the protector needs to be as close to the main house ground as possible, but it also needs to connect to the pv lines away from the inverter if possible.
Assuming your main panel is pretty close to your inverter, what would be ideal is as follows: Connect a junction box to the main panel and install the protector there. Run the PV output from your disconnect to that junction box. Then run a separate pair of PV wires from the junction box to your inverter. The ground from the protector would get connected to the main panel's ground. The PV wires would splice together in the junction box and connect to the protector at the same time.
Your inverter isn't going to care that there's a a splice in the PV line, and by putting the protector that close to the main house gound the protector has the best chance of draining the voltage to ground before it gets into your inverter.

Excellent suggestions bro. Can recommend a junction box i can do this with? perhaps and amazon link? Thanks so much