Look at my solar system pics and help me finish the project (:

[Amy@altE]

O great, thnx Im watchin it--> youtube-> Wiring your solar electric system

1. Just to be descriptive. The two poles, each with 12x280w come down underground to a barn where the 12000w inverter is. Can I just use 1 MPPT controller or is 2 ideal?

2. So I'll prob shoot for this option --> 2 $900 Midnite Classics, with 4 parallel strings of 3 in series in each, since we live in a place that never ever gets 15F, central cali, but does get 110F lol. Im not sure what you mean by parallel strongs of 3 in series, are you referring to the panel wiring or batteries?

I was thinking a midnite classic 60a would be too little for the 70a system but with 2, one for each pole, I guess that works great.

3. Is the combiner box to be mounted at the top with all the panels? looks like a nice splice box. Or is it for down below somehow?

4. Wow, so would I buy a specific dc breaker box or are regular home depot ac panels ok to use? Someone told me there are actually ac or dc boxes.

5. And why such a huge 400A fuse? Like an inline fuse? We live way out in the sticks above bakersfield, so getting stuff from wholesale houses and what not is sometimes a pain. One trip is fine, but several trips is a pain. So many things may have to be purchased online which means I dont want to get any wrong products So thanks for the details.

6. Any suggestions on batteries to get? Any good prices around for high quality? What about some good good bus batteries etc?

7. So with these ideas, Im looking at an additional $3k or something

8. Do you suggest alum or copper wire for solar? I just like the weight of the aluminum even if I have to go bigger, its light.

9.
$900 Midnite Classics
$900 Midnite Classics
$200 400a inline fuse and box
$100 60a breaker box
$100 60a breaker box
what else? changes?

1&2. Each 96A charge controller can handle 15 of those panels. So it makes sense to divide the 24 evenly between the 2 charge controllers so that 1 isn't working at its limit. You can get 1 Classic 150 and 1 Classic 150-Lite to save some money.

3. The combiner box is how you wire the 4 strings of 3 solar panels in parallel. The plus and minus from each string go into the combiner box and get wired together through the breakers and bus bars. I just reread your last post and see you have 2 poles, 1 for each 12 panels. I'm changing my suggestion to 2 of the Midnite PV6, 1 for each pole.

4. Home Depot will not have the DC breaker boxes that you need. You need to buy the equipment from a solar company who will do the design work for you to make sure you get everything you need.

5. 12,000W inverter / 44V battery bank (when low) x 1.25 NEC requirement = 340A minimum. Round up to 400A. A solar company will have a 400A fuse.

I'm stopping there, because I really think you need to contact a solar store to help you with the design, and they can help with the other questions. There are some good online stores who specialize in what you are doing, not just the place I work. They can help you down to the strain reliefs and labels, in much greater detail than we can get into here. Call them.

[Mike90250]

Im watchin it--> youtube-> Wiring your solar

Just be forewarned that much of what you see on youtube can be incorrect. Better to look at some of the video from the Midnight Solar channel.

[sensij]

Here comes the part that will be brutal.

You say your load is a 2 HP pump that runs continuously, and a deep well pump. How big is that deep well pump, and how often does it run? 2 HP is about equal to 1500 W, not accounting for power factor or efficiency. 1500 W * 24 hour = 37.5 kWh. Even in summer, with a south facing array at 20 or 30 deg tilt, you aren't going to get that much energy from your 6.72 kW array daily (assuming you are near LA from your handle).

37500 Watt hours / 48 V = 781 amp hours at 100% discharge. If you stick with a more conservative 20% discharge to account for cloudy days and prolong the battery life, that is 3900 ah of batteries. I have no idea what that would cost, but it sounds astronomical relative to the battery sizes most folks on this forum are discussing.

This project looks DOA to me.

[hollywoodtoday]

ok great, so I need the 2 MPPT controllers ok and

O great, thnx Im watchin it--> youtube-> Wiring your solar electric system

1. Just to be descriptive. The two poles, each with 12x280w come down underground to a barn where the 12000w inverter is. Can I just use 1 MPPT controller or is 2 ideal?

2. So I'll prob shoot for this option --> 2 $900 Midnite Classics, with 4 parallel strings of 3 in series in each, since we live in a place that never ever gets 15F, central cali, but does get 110F lol. Im not sure what you mean by parallel strongs of 3 in series, are you referring to the panel wiring or batteries?

I was thinking a midnite classic 60a would be too little for the 70a system but with 2, one for each pole, I guess that works great.

3. Is the combiner box to be mounted at the top with all the panels? looks like a nice splice box. Or is it for down below somehow?

4. Wow, so would I buy a specific dc breaker box or are regular home depot ac panels ok to use? Someone told me there are actually ac or dc boxes.

5. And why such a huge 400A fuse? Like an inline fuse? We live way out in the sticks above bakersfield, so getting stuff from wholesale houses and what not is sometimes a pain. One trip is fine, but several trips is a pain. So many things may have to be purchased online which means I dont want to get any wrong products So thanks for the details.

6. Any suggestions on batteries to get? Any good prices around for high quality? What about some good good bus batteries etc?

7. So with these ideas, Im looking at an additional $3k or something

8. Do you suggest alum or copper wire for solar? I just like the weight of the aluminum even if I have to go bigger, its light.

9.
$900 Midnite Classics
$900 Midnite Classics
$200 400a inline fuse and box
$100 60a breaker box
$100 60a breaker box
what else? changes?

[Amy@altE]

You are a long way from being ready to sizing the wire. Stop buying stuff and figure out the rest of the system first. The charger part of the inverter/charger is AC charging, from the grid or a generator. To charge from the panels, you need 2 MPPT charge controllers. You could use 2 of the Midnite Classic, with 4 parallel strings of 3 in series in each, unless you are in a location that gets colder than 15F during the day, in which case they should be 6 parallel strings of 2 each. You need a good combiner box like the Midnite PV12 and 15A breakers. You need a DC Load Center (breaker box) with a breaker before and after each charge controller, and a 400A fuse between the inverter and the battery bank.

Depending on how you wire the panels (based on the temperature question above), then you can figure out the wire sizing. I did a video that goes through all of the steps needed to determine that size, go to YouTube and search for "Wiring your solar electric system". It will give you the math and charts needed to size the wire.

[hollywoodtoday]

great for ideas

Nah, youre fine sensi, it can be frustrating explaining something to someone and theyre out to lunch.. me lol

1. The inverter sticker pic says "inverter & charger" as you can see in the middle http://prntscr.com/5p9iva, so do I actually need another unit besides the inverter? the MPPT. Thanks for the suggestion on the 2 MPPT units to choose from. I really dont know what it is haha, but Ill need a 70+ MPPT to control power from or to the inverter I would imagine. Maybe you could explain it if you had a moment

2. You calculated to 70 amps output, but then you suggested the aims 60a model, would that be a bit too low possibly if I actually used 70a? So one of the $500 60/80 or the 90a controllers would be ideal right?

3. The new 24x280w panels will have new batteries which we haven't even purchased yet. The old batteries were taken over with the old system to another location. I could use suggestions on how many batteries and types and what not too. A mechanic friend has some good huge batteries, like 16inch tall for $200 each and another solar guy said theyd actually be ideal. Sound like a possiblity? Really the only load on this 24x280w system is 1 2hp 220 water pressure pump that pumps almost all day during the summer for our 5 acres of park like area AND a second load of the deep well pump that pumps the water up to the 20k gallon tank.

hm ok, ya I need to really learn the basics of solar lol. Ive got some nasa guys tutorial i need to watch too.

4. Ya wire size is kinda where Im at atm, I was about to head to ace to grab some more stuff today, but would like to grab the wire as well, but I really dont know what size would be ideal. So still on the fence without the knowledge.

5. thanks, Ill look at that inverter size vs battery size tut.

anybody else want to chime in with ideas.... (: (:

[sensij]

Sorry, I was a bit frustrated earlier, I didn't mean to be a jerk. For more help, you might check out the sticky threads in the off-grid section of the forum. You haven't mentioned batteries at all yet, but as far as "other thoughts" go, I am wondering how you sized your bank. This sticky in particular is one that might be helpful on this topic.

[sensij]

1. Will I need this PPW or charger that people keep talking about?

Yes, you will need an MPPT solar charge controller, enough to handle the current your system will generate. Roughly, 12 * 280 W = 3360 W / 48 V = 70 amps. AIMS sells a 60 Amp model. Midnight Solar, Outback, Xantrex make then as well, among others. The Midnight Solar model handles 96 amps, the Outback handles 80 amps, so either should work. Double check with the sizing tools available on their webpages. If you plan to put the 54 W pole into the same batteries, it should have its own controller as well, 12 * 54 W = 648 W / 48 V = 13.5 amps. It is small, you might be able to find a cheaper controller than the above to handle it. The two controllers might need to talk to each other so they charge the batteries correctly, but I'm not sure.

The controller manages the voltage of the PV array to get the most power, and delivers the correct voltage to your battery to charge and maintain it. The DC In to your inverter will come from your batteries.

I would design the rest of your system, but not for free. I am not licensed or trained in any way, but am only sharing knowledge I've come by from reading these forums and some more reliable sources of information out there. You might want to spend some time and do the same if you want to understand what is going on. Wire size will follow from other decisions you make about how to design and install this system.

[hollywoodtoday]

I started a second thread on this system so we dont get confused from my previous false information about the system (:

This is my current status--> http://prntscr.com/5oyx6l -

This is a solar system upgrade from 1 current pole to 2 poles, so some copper wire is already plumbed to 1 pole as you can see in the right image, but it will need to be increased in size. I'm hoping you guys can tell me a few things as I upgrade from the 12x54w to the 24x280w system.

1. Will I need this PPW or charger that people keep talking about?
2. Will I need any additional devices to complete this setup.
3. As I see from the inverter sticker, it says "inverter & charger", so I think Im complete, am I?
4. What additional wire will I need for the current pole upgrade to 12x280w?
5. What wire size will I need for the new pole with no current wire, it has 12x280w.
6. Also, I went looking for wire sizes via that wire size website previously but hadnt figured out what "load" means. Is it the motor and house load or is it something else? Please provide your best answers then showing me how to find the answers myself would be wonderful.

Any additional thoughts is super helpful (: