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  • #61
    Originally posted by Mike90250 View Post

    Nope .. There is so much crap and hype out there, I don't know of any others worth reading. Morningstar has some nice white papers on their site, talks about their charge controllers and sings the praise about their algorithms. But the papers are pretty decent and not too technical. (once you have the basics)
    https://www.morningstarcorp.com/white-papers/
    Will do read the papers. I found the dummies book online pdf and have my To Do for tomorrow. Thanks

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    • #62
      Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post

      There was and is no sarcasm intended in that post. Sounded like you might have appreciated a point or two in a helpful direction. It was meant as a serious and respectful suggestion. It won't happen again.
      Dont worry!!!! Actually found the book and will read tomorrow

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      • #63
        Sorry for the hand writting but its a diagram of my system design. Advice is welcomed before I proceed to install in the comming weeks
        Attached Files

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        • #64
          How cold does it get where you are ? I'm concerned that the Voc, on a cold morning, at sunrise, will exceed the 150V limit of the controller.

          You will only have 16A of charging @ 48V, and at 54V only 14A. (best case). 230ah battery needs 23A charge current to keep flooded cells stirred up and de-stratified. If you pull very much out of the bank, it may take several days to fully recharge

          You are calling out 1/O welding cable. The standard Coarse Stranded lugs won't fit Fine Strand cable. Welding 1/O lugs are seldom tin plated for long life, and DIY crimp for 1/O requires hydraulic crimpers

          I don't see any mention of grounding, either lighting or safety.
          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


          • #65
            Originally posted by Mike90250 View Post
            How cold does it get where you are ? I'm concerned that the Voc, on a cold morning, at sunrise, will exceed the 150V limit of the controller.
            The 38 V x 3 = 114 V listed on the drawing is the Voc for these panels, not Vmp. It looks like it would safely be under the 150 V max input almost anywhere, but especially in PR.
            CS6P-260P/SE3000 - http://tiny.cc/ed5ozx

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            • #66
              Sir
              I am from India where generally voltage from grid is 200V but in my area in winters it drops to 120V. I have recently installed grid tie solar inverter of 2KW which does not function because of low voltage.The requirement for the inverter to run is 180V. Can anybody help me to solve this problem?

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              • #67
                Originally posted by Mike90250 View Post
                How cold does it get where you are ? I'm concerned that the Voc, on a cold morning, at sunrise, will exceed the 150V limit of the controller.

                You will only have 16A of charging @ 48V, and at 54V only 14A. (best case). 230ah battery needs 23A charge current to keep flooded cells stirred up and de-stratified. If you pull very much out of the bank, it may take several days to fully recharge

                You are calling out 1/O welding cable. The standard Coarse Stranded lugs won't fit Fine Strand cable. Welding 1/O lugs are seldom tin plated for long life, and DIY crimp for 1/O requires hydraulic crimpers

                I don't see any mention of grounding, either lighting or safety.
                Coldest we get is roughly 70F around winter and 60 in the mountains.

                What type of cable do you recommend for batteries and from batteries to inverter?

                Everything will be grounded with 10 or 12 AWG run to a rod

                Anything else you suggest?
                Last edited by Emorales; 01-07-2018, 10:37 AM.

                Comment


                • #68
                  Originally posted by Emorales View Post

                  Coldest we get is roughly 70F around winter and 60 in the mountains.

                  What type of cable do you recommend for batteries and from batteries to inverter?

                  Everything will be grounded with 10 or 12 AWG run to a rod

                  Anything else you suggest?
                  Where are you ? That's pretty warm for a minimum (record low) sunrise temp.

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                  • #69
                    Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post

                    Where are you ? That's pretty warm for a minimum (record low) sunrise temp.
                    Puerto Rico

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                    • #70
                      Recommended wire and size for battery bank and from bats to inverter?

                      Comment


                      • #71
                        Originally posted by Emorales View Post
                        So is this accurate? With a 50A 150v max Mppt.the maximum combination (series/parallel) of panels 260W I can use? Is it 6 3s3p
                        What voltage is the battery? With a 50 amp controller and 1560 watts of panels, the only correct answer is 48 volts and only configuration with your 6 panels is 3S2P. With a 50 amp controller maximum panel wattage it can accept with respect to battery voltage without limiting power is: You cannot do 12 or 24 volts with your controller. It is possible to do 24 volts but essentially you are throwing a panel away trying to do so and possible damage to the controller.

                        650 watts @ 12 volts
                        1300 watts @ 24 volts
                        2600 watts @ 48 volt

                        3S3P is 9 panels.
                        Last edited by Sunking; 01-07-2018, 08:53 PM.
                        MSEE, PE

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                        • #72
                          Originally posted by Sunking View Post

                          What voltage is the battery? With a 50 amp controller and 1560 watts of panels, the only correct answer is 48 volts and only configuration with your 6 panels is 3S2P. With a 50 amp controller maximum panel wattage it can accept with respect to battery voltage without limiting power is: You cannot do 12 or 24 volts with your controller. It is possible to do 24 volts but essentially you are throwing a panel away trying to do so and possible damage to the controller.

                          650 watts @ 12 volts
                          1300 watts @ 24 volts
                          2600 watts @ 48 volt

                          3S3P is 9 panels.
                          Yes the battery bank is 48v. Right now it's only 3 panels of 260w in series. Just making sure what is the highest combination of panels I can safely add without adding another mppt

                          Comment


                          • #73
                            Originally posted by Emorales View Post
                            Yes the battery bank is 48v. Right now it's only 3 panels of 260w in series. Just making sure what is the highest combination of panels I can safely add without adding another mppt
                            With your panels on a 48 volt battery only gives you one option of 3 panels in series with a 150 Voc input controller. 2 is not a high enough voltage, and 4 is to much. With a 50 amp controller and 48 volt battery your maximum power Input is around 2600 watts. You only have one option for growth at 48 volts. You must use 3 more of the same panels in series up to 3S3P. You are married to 3 panels in series in a Catholic family, so no divorce is allowed.

                            3S
                            3S2P
                            3S3P
                            Last edited by Sunking; 01-07-2018, 09:39 PM.
                            MSEE, PE

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Originally posted by Sunking View Post
                              With your panels on a 48 volt battery only gives you one option of 3 panels in series with a 150 Voc input controller. 2 is not a high enough voltage, and 4 is to much. With a 50 amp controller and 48 volt battery your maximum power Input is around 2600 watts. You only have one option for growth at 48 volts. You must use 3 more of the same panels in series up to 3S3P. You are married to 3 panels in series in a Catholic family, so no divorce is allowed.

                              3S
                              3S2P
                              3S3P
                              That was what I thought. I'm planning on buying 3 more panels tn the coming months and wire the panels in parallel. Now is this accurate 0AWG for 48v 230a/h battery bank series connection?

                              Comment


                              • #75
                                Originally posted by Emorales View Post

                                That was what I thought. I'm planning on buying 3 more panels tn the coming months and wire the panels in parallel. Now is this accurate 0AWG for 48v 230a/h battery bank series connection?
                                What section of wire are you talking about? Distance and Current dictate what gauge you use
                                • Panels to Controller wire is fairly small. One of the advantages of a MPPT Controller and wiring your panels in series is to allow you to use smaller gauge wire like 14, 12, or 10 AWG.
                                • Controller to Battery wire is a short run where voltage drop is not normally an issue which allows you to use NEC minimum size conductor. Example for 50 Amp controller 6 AWG should work.
                                • Battery to Load (Inverter) wire is again dictated by length and amount of current required for the Inverter. 1/0 or what you are calling 0 AWG is likely much larger than you need. With a 230 AH battery I cannot foresee anything larger than 6 AWG. It depends on the length and current requirements. Example a 48 volt 2000 watt Inverter requires around 50 amps at full power. Assuming you keep the distance to 5-feet one-way 6 AWG is more than adequate.





                                With low voltages, you want to control voltage drop to minimize wire power losses. You want to keep loses to 2 or 3% between each component. If held to 3% would mean roughly 8 to 9% total wire losses at full power. So two conditions must be met. One is a performance (voltage/power loss), and second is safety (NEC). With very short runs calculations of 3% or less can lead to wire that is too small to meet safety requirements.

                                This is where wire calculators come in handy as they take both consideration into account. Here is a good Calculator you can use. Just keep this in mind, do not use anything smaller than the calculator suggest. No problem going larger.

                                1. To use the calculator first select the percentage of 2 or 3 %. I used 3% in the example
                                2. Be careful with Panel Voltage and do not confuse it with Battery Voltage. Example you would use the total Panel Vmp voltage. Just guessing with 3 of your panels in series should be around 90 volts. Just add all three panels Vmp up.
                                3. Enter the current. Example a single string of your panels enter the Imp value which is likely about 9 amps. Round up.
                                4. Use the 1-way distance, so lets use 20 feet as an example.

                                If you did it correctly you should get 12 AWG. If you get an odd number like 11 or 13 move up to gauge larger larger because not many supply vendors stock odd number wire. For the Controller to Battery, and Battery to Inverter use the battery nominal voltage of 48 volts.

                                Although the drawing below may not match your actual numbers, the drawing is the correct way to wire everything up. Your wire and fuse size will likely be different. Ignore the Battery Isolator as the drawing is for an RV.



                                Last edited by Sunking; 01-08-2018, 02:28 PM.
                                MSEE, PE

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