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  • adding more panels & need help

    Hello everyone,

    I have a hybrid wind and solar system. I have two existing panels but I am about to add 5 more that show up next week. The details on my panels are as follows:
    100 watt panel
    Nominal voltage 17.2V
    Nominal Current 5.81
    Open circuit voltage 21.6
    Short circuit current 6.61A
    6 batteries with 220 amp hours each = 1320

    My concern is how to properly add the extra 5 panels to the existing system.
    Do I require more breakers? Or can everything be bundled into the existing breaker? Any and all information is very welcome on this.
    Thank you all,
    Anthony from the Philippines
    Attached Files

  • #2
    As you add panels, you will need to upgrade, or add more charge controllers, as to not over power the controller. With such a large battery bank, you may want to consider stepping up to a 24V system, as many batteries in parallel can become problematic.
    The panels should EACH have a 10A fuse on each. (the sticker on the back of the panel may suggest a different fuse size, use the suggested size)

    You will also have to be careful with a large battery bank, and a small solar charge source, it will be easy to deplete the batteries, and have to take several days to recharge them. More than 24 hours below 70% of full charge, and sulfation of the batteries begins.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

    Comment


    • #3
      Anthony I do not know how much help we in the USA can give you. I have no idea what the Phillippine electrical code requirements are. Mike hit the big issue of properly sizing the panel wattage, charge controller, and batteries, but as for breakers and fuses depends on your codes. I can tell you from a safety point of view each string should be properly fused for your protection, but have no idea if it is required there or not.
      MSEE, PE

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi Mike,

        I am currently operating on a 24 volt system. Right now I have a 500w controller, but with the new panels I am upgrading to a 1KW controller and Inverter. The system has been operational for a while no with no worries. Where I am a novice at is the wiring. I am not sure how to connect all of the panels together. With regards to the Philippines the power here is 220. But my inverter just switches everything back to 220. No code enforcement here in the Philippines.

        Right now the batteries charge up in about 1 day of full sun. Adding the extra 5 panels I can imagine that will cut that time down quite a bit. So all in all everything is good. I am just not educated enough to wire the rest of the system up. Dont want to make a mistake... Your help and feedback is appreciated.

        Anthony

        Comment


        • #5
          Anthony we are just guessing here and can only assume your current 2 panels are wired in series. It is the only way it can work if the output voltage is 16 volts per panel on a 24 volt battery system.

          If that is the case, you have a problem adding 5 more panels, it cannot be done. You have to add them in pairs. So you can only use 4 of them, or 6. 5 is not an even number.

          You have to wire two panels in series to make a 24 volt string. You then wire each string in parallel with each other string. The 5th panel is odd man out and cannot be used. There is no combination you can configure 7 total panels unless you have a MPPT controller that can handle the voltage with all 7 in series which would make a panel voltage of 130 volts input. Very few controllers can do that.
          MSEE, PE

          Comment


          • #6
            in my .sig , click on the link for SOLAR in the pics there, is a schematic ver 1.0 of my layout. You can see 3 groups of 5 panels in series, and in each + lead, there is a 15A fuse (not shown) in the combiner box, which also has the lightning arrester. This is a 48V system with about 70V feeding the MPPT charge controller.

            Hope that helps.
            Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
            || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
            || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

            solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
            gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks Sunking,

              That does make math sense. Thank you for that information. I will do the best I can with everythng I have. Thanks to the Solar Panel board.

              Best Regards,
              Anthony

              Comment

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