Simple shed system question

[Minimoose]

My son is getting a shed delivered later this month and wanted to solar power it as it's far from the house. He's only planning right now to power a ceiling light,small fan, and a battery tender. He wants to hard wire an outlet or two and a switch for the light. He wants to run a ground rod for the inverter and outlets, but it will have an open ground anyways like an ecoflow. It's a reliable brand inverter and if I'm understanding they recommend not bonding. My question...... Is the grounding rod necessary and if so should the solar panels be grounded there too? The panels will be on a metal roof so can he just ground the whole roof?
The panels will be fused to the mppt. The mppt will be fused to the batteries. The batteries will be fused to the inverter. The inverter has overload and short circuit protection which I'm assuming is the internal fuses. I have the same inverter for backup, but I kept mine portable and don't plan on mounting it because I just use the built in outlets. His system is.....
Four 100 watt panels
mppt 40 amp
Three 100ah agm batteries in parallel
Reliable 3000 watt inverter (which will never see anywhere near 3000 watts) I had him oversize it just in case he wanted to run a power tool or shop vac.
Thanks for any insight.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

FWIW I have a 2000W Reliable/QZRELB psw inverter. It WILL start my shop vac (as did a Giandel 1200W psw) and if the (LiFePo4) batteries are 13.3+ or the sun is full out it will run my makita compound mitre and a Delta 15A cast iron tablesaw.
(I’m curious what your measured idle draw is)

Anyways, this thread has information on bonding/grounding efficacy procedures that will be useful to you. Post 18, but read the whole thing for context.

Is the grounding rod necessary and if so should the solar panels be grounded there too? The panels will be on a metal roof so can he just ground the whole roof?

The panels (frames, mounting rails) should be grounded and you ‘could’ drop a couple 6ga ground wires to the roofing panels to make the array the same potential as the roof.

Read that thread to inform the installation; use GFCI outlet(s) and I’d probably feed the light from one of the GFCI’s as well.

 

[timselectric]

I would just get a better inverter.
Electrical safety is not a good place to save money.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

I would just get a better inverter.
Electrical safety is not a good place to save money.

GFCI is still ‘smart’
I really enjoy the QZRELB 2000W for low idle and dependability. It appears to not want to be bonded, but it works flawlessly upstream of a GFCI.

 

[timselectric]

A GFCI is a definite necessity.
But the AC output is not the only shock hazzard.
It's fine for a portable system in a non conductive (usually plastic) enclosure.
But when you start mixing in solar panels with metal frames and a metal building. There's too many possibilities for a shock hazzard.

 

[Minimoose]

FWIW I have a 2000W Reliable/QZRELB psw inverter. It WILL start my shop vac (as did a Giandel 1200W psw) and if the (LiFePo4) batteries are 13.3+ or the sun is full out it will run my makita compound mitre and a Delta 15A cast iron tablesaw.
(I’m curious what your measured idle draw is)

Anyways, this thread has information on bonding/grounding efficacy procedures that will be useful to you. Post 18, but read the whole thing for context.

The panels (frames, mounting rails) should be grounded and you ‘could’ drop a couple 6ga ground wires to the roofing panels to make the array the same potential as the roof.

Read that thread to inform the installation; use GFCI outlet(s) and I’d probably feed the light from one of the GFCI’s as well.

I haven't really checked the 3000 watt inverter idle, but one person rated it at .8 amps which would be about 12-15 watts at 12 to 14.8 volt range. Thanks for the link. I searched before I posted, but didn't find that one. I know my 3000 watt reliable runs my 10 amp shop vac easily. After reading this and other threads I think running a ground/earth rod and using plastic switch and plug mounts will be okay for now. I may look into finding an inverter that comes with a N/G bond and get him that and take the reliable inverter off his hands for a spare.

 

[Minimoose]

A GFCI is a definite necessity.
But the AC output is not the only shock hazzard.
It's fine for a portable system in a non conductive (usually plastic) enclosure.
But when you start mixing in solar panels with metal frames and a metal building. There's too many possibilities for a shock hazzard.

Any Ideas for an inverter that comes with the N/G bond? Aims LF maybe? I noticed the Harbor freight pure sine waves come with a GFCI plug built in.

 

[Minimoose]

GFCI is still ‘smart’
I really enjoy the QZRELB 2000W for low idle and dependability. It appears to not want to be bonded, but it works flawlessly upstream of a GFCI.

I think he is just going to ground the system and install a GFCI outlet leading to everything else. His main concern is people protection. Equipment can be replaced. Thanks for the help!

 

[timselectric]

Grounding and bonding is only about people protection.
Everything gets bonded, so that it's safe for people to touch.

 

[timselectric]

Any Ideas for an inverter that comes with the N/G bond? Aims LF maybe? I noticed the Harbor freight pure sine waves come with a GFCI plug built in.

It doesn't have to come with it. It just needs to be capable of being part of a bonded (safe) system.