The plan is to run some radio equipment using solar (100 watt 12v panel & 100ah battery). All of the equipment (radios, antennas, coax transmission lines, AC power supply, radio/antenna interfaces & etc.) are currently tied into a common earth ground. Each antenna has a separate 8' ground rod and there is another grounding rod at the house, before anything enters the house. All my internal equipment (radio, power system, & etc.) is connected to a grounding bus. The bus is connected to the ground rod at the house. I hope this all makes sense but the idea is to keep the electricity outside the house during a lightning strike.
Anyway, there is no way for me to know for sure but the assumption is that all of my radio equipment uses a negative (-) ground. When I made my solar purchases, I made sure the controller used a negative ground. Of course, the idea was that I would tie the radio equipment into the solar system.
In all my reading, I never saw anything about a positive grounding PV panel but guess what?
When my panel arrived, it had the following instructions:
"For optimum performance, this module must only be used with a galvanic insulated controller where the positive (+) polarity of the PV array is directly connected to earth and protected by a fuse."
The instructions went on to explain the ground could be installed at the positive terminal of the controller or by splicing a ground wire to the positive wire at the PV and attaching it to a earth ground rod.
It warned about a mobile system "without a solid ground" was not permitted although they also mentioned the grounding system can be "exempted only in the case of a 12 Volt" system.
By the time I finished with the instructions written in China, I was thoroughly confused. Not only did I have a positive ground PV and a negative ground controller, now I had to figure out how my radio equipment worked out in this can of worms.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone would fuse a earth grounding circuit. A current flow that blows a fuse would defeat the purpose of a ground. Not only that, if I followed their instructions, I could have a external PV (subject to lightning issues) that would route the lightning into my home and then back out to the ground. That defies all common sense.
I saw some internet chatter about PV ion build-up and that grounding eliminated that issue. That certainly doesn't sound like that deals with lightning issue though or how the solar grounding system ties in with any preexisting electrical grounding system.
So, what do I do? Can I use the current set-up (positive PV, negative controller, & negative radio) I have or do I have to find another solution?
Anyway, there is no way for me to know for sure but the assumption is that all of my radio equipment uses a negative (-) ground. When I made my solar purchases, I made sure the controller used a negative ground. Of course, the idea was that I would tie the radio equipment into the solar system.
In all my reading, I never saw anything about a positive grounding PV panel but guess what?
When my panel arrived, it had the following instructions:
"For optimum performance, this module must only be used with a galvanic insulated controller where the positive (+) polarity of the PV array is directly connected to earth and protected by a fuse."
The instructions went on to explain the ground could be installed at the positive terminal of the controller or by splicing a ground wire to the positive wire at the PV and attaching it to a earth ground rod.
It warned about a mobile system "without a solid ground" was not permitted although they also mentioned the grounding system can be "exempted only in the case of a 12 Volt" system.
By the time I finished with the instructions written in China, I was thoroughly confused. Not only did I have a positive ground PV and a negative ground controller, now I had to figure out how my radio equipment worked out in this can of worms.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone would fuse a earth grounding circuit. A current flow that blows a fuse would defeat the purpose of a ground. Not only that, if I followed their instructions, I could have a external PV (subject to lightning issues) that would route the lightning into my home and then back out to the ground. That defies all common sense.
I saw some internet chatter about PV ion build-up and that grounding eliminated that issue. That certainly doesn't sound like that deals with lightning issue though or how the solar grounding system ties in with any preexisting electrical grounding system.
So, what do I do? Can I use the current set-up (positive PV, negative controller, & negative radio) I have or do I have to find another solution?
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