Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

2 questions, diode and bus wire

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • 2 questions, diode and bus wire

    I've connected all my cells together, but now I'm not sure how I should hook them in to regular wiring to run to the inverter. Also, if I'm not going to be using a battery bank, do I have to have diodes in the panels? Will it draw electricity when there's no sunlight or will the inverter have a diode?

  • #2
    I can't address your construction difficulties

    re inverter
    It will be very difficult to run an inverter directly off a PV panel, when there is no load, the panel will very likely be over the designed input voltage of the inverter, and when a transient load is applied to the inverter, the panel has no way to supply the surge, and it's voltage will collapse.

    The idea of the diode is to prevent the batterys from discharging thru the solar panel at night, no battery, no need for a diode.
    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
      Ahh it's actually a grid tied inverter, however, after reading some of the posts on here, I'll probably just run some extra wiring and have "green" outlets separate from the grid electricity. Is there a reason panels have to be UL approved? Shouldn't the grid-tied inverter prevent any problems that the power company could care about? Oh and one other probably noob question but it seems everyone on here is saying factory built will last way longer than home built but they just make that statement without support and I was wondering why they think this?
      Last edited by williamn2888; 10-28-2009, 11:40 PM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Grid-Intertie inverters need about 300V , and about 1,000 watts, for the smallest, unless you get the magic-micro 200W inverters. Those still need to plug into the grid, for sync, before they will turn on. All connected parts are supposed to be UL or equivalent. But you are right, I'd expect the Inverter to manage the DC, and not care what flavor of PV produced it.

        Homebuilt panels, without exotic sealing compounds, eventually collect moisture, which destroys the cells.
        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


        • #5
          Thanks for the information! From what I was seeing on here I was getting kind of worried that it wouldn't work but I've ordered one of the therm-280gt grid tie inverters and I use EVA encapsulant to seal the panel which is the same stuff the solar manufacturers use (although they use it front and back which actually is bad because the stuff loses transparency, I use glass front, eva back).

          Comment


          • #6
            Going direct to an micro GT inverter, no diodes needed.

            Inverter will sync to the grid for 5 minutes or so, before it switches on, any glitches = another 5 minute reset.
            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

            Working...
            X