Need Some Help
- Thread starter Johnmahon
- Start date
Justin Laureltec
Bay Marine Supply Tech Support Manager
Hahaha @Johnmahon yeah I dunno who Will Power is, but I wouldn't worry about his comments. I concur with @SolarRat , for this application -and particularly given the near lengths of wire that you're using, don't worry about it.
Grounding, yeah, it's a good idea - I'm more concerned about grounding your panels, since there's a lightning risk there, so those should be frame-grounded to a grounding rod (used to be copper, but these days it'll be a copper-coated steel rod) that gets pounded into the ground and then you use grounding clamps to tie your ground wire to the rod; you should also go ahead and case-ground your MPPT and inverter and anything else on the system that has a case ground screw to that rod. Codes vary by state/municipality, but typically a ground rod should extend at least 24" into the dirt.
Given that this isn't a grid-tie system, you do not want to ground to your household electrical ground, you want a separate ground, so yeah, run by Home Depot and get a ground rod and a bunch of ground wire (will usually be something like 12ga bare copper single conductor) and run your PV panel frame grounds and your component grounds.
Other than that (and the inverter fuse), hell man, looks alright to me... for your intended application, I think you've got it well laid out. If you were putting this into commercial production or selling kits or something, I'd have some notes, but for personal use the question comes down to: is it safe, and does it work?
The answer to the second is yes, and the answer to the first is, it will be as soon as you ground and fuse. Not bad, man!
Grounding, yeah, it's a good idea - I'm more concerned about grounding your panels, since there's a lightning risk there, so those should be frame-grounded to a grounding rod (used to be copper, but these days it'll be a copper-coated steel rod) that gets pounded into the ground and then you use grounding clamps to tie your ground wire to the rod; you should also go ahead and case-ground your MPPT and inverter and anything else on the system that has a case ground screw to that rod. Codes vary by state/municipality, but typically a ground rod should extend at least 24" into the dirt.
Given that this isn't a grid-tie system, you do not want to ground to your household electrical ground, you want a separate ground, so yeah, run by Home Depot and get a ground rod and a bunch of ground wire (will usually be something like 12ga bare copper single conductor) and run your PV panel frame grounds and your component grounds.
Other than that (and the inverter fuse), hell man, looks alright to me... for your intended application, I think you've got it well laid out. If you were putting this into commercial production or selling kits or something, I'd have some notes, but for personal use the question comes down to: is it safe, and does it work?
The answer to the second is yes, and the answer to the first is, it will be as soon as you ground and fuse. Not bad, man!
Johnmahon
What's Your State of Charge?
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2019
- Messages
- 111
Well @Justin Laureltec and @SolarRat - you will both be pleased to find out the system is now completely grounded with an 8 foot rod. The panels, the inverter and the controller are all grounded. Thanks for the help!
see photos!
Jm
see photos!
Jm
Attachments
kenkoh
Solar Enthusiast
Hi John,Hello @Justin Laureltec - just posted a video of the build and there are already negative comments - Ha... too funny. Just wanted to get your take. You can watch the video here and read the comment from Will Power - he says my battery cables should be the same length, which might be true - however, they are only about 6 inches different and everything is within 2 feet of each other - so how big of a deal is this...? I AM in the process of getting a fuse for the battery to the inverter (120A) - but what about grounding...? Can you shed some light there? I can ground it if needed. Is that done to the negative bus bar using a rod pounded into the ground outside connected by a solid copper wire? No problem if that is what I need to do
Thanks!
Jm
What is that wifi gear & service? I'm looking into one for my off grid.
